1/29/2011

Bagel Run

Yeah man! The first Bagel Run in about 14 months felt awesome! This week has offered us a chance to see lot of familiar faces and Bagel Run continued that streak. At last I met Tom who I thereafter followed through pretty messy (icy, snowy, covered with fallen branches) Centennial Lake loop. I ran totally a 13 miler which about 67% of my total mileage in December. I felt quite good, but that's mainly because of the pedestrian pace. After I met Carlos, Seth and Tim, pace was brutal for me considering my current shape. But still I was able to finish today's long(ish) run.

Sweetie ran with the stroller (andw/  Lil' D of course) and we have an opportunity for a breakfast at Bagel Bin. Just like in the old times... In the evening Stephen and Kerrie provided us (again) a venue for a get together which was assembled by Mr. Captain himself. It was the most fun way to finish our visit in the US. Till the next time...

1/26/2011

Snow

The planned Wednesday run with HCS crew did not happen as planned. Damn you, you reliable weather forecasts!!! We didn't drive to HCC and instead I ran with Jason twice around Centennial in a pretty heavy snow. I think that I saw an unicorn and a fox which wasn't red.

1/23/2011

Awesome!

I just did my first fast (sub ez pace) run after May 14th of 2010 and I feel great! The goal was hit sub 20 mins. 5k which was easy due to slightly too short course. But the estimated time would be around 18:40! It was so great to see many familiar faces: Jason, Mark, Weems, Mike, John, James, Karsten, both Gregs etc. It felt like I haven't away at all. This is going to be an awesome week! Only thing is that now I'm barely able to keep my lungs inside me because of all coughing.

1/21/2011

New experience

Sweetie went to collect our babyjogger yesterday. It meant only thing: today we had our first run as a family. It rocked! D was sleeping almost throught the whole 5 miler out and back to the Mall. Pace was not important today so I don't mention about it.

Instead, I might have to start pay attention to the left knee which has been bugging or then I just forget it and it will vanish, right?

1/20/2011

DC time

Dude! No ice and some gravel paths make wonders!

I was flying this morning remembering the current level of my running shape. I rolled down the 14th St. and soon found myself running at the Mall. Mind was traveling the memory lane, and I didn't pay too much attention in the pace. When I started to crawl back to the hotel I noticed that I was running way faster (6 miles, 6.40s) than last Sunday (7.40s). I blame the fast morning runners for that. Oh, and the nice weather, moon light, and all the memories deserve a mentioning. Or maybe couple days off (due to severe running conditions in Turku) and traveling for 15 hours helped, too?

1/18/2011

Ice

What you expect when it's raining and temperatures are around 31F. Yes, ice. This morning I was barely able to walk on slippery wet ice to the trail. The trail looked maintaned but there was a layer of ice on the gravel. So, after 100 meters running and having almost fallen down three times I decided turn back which I did. Then I slept for an hour. I'll give another try in the evening after the cultural activities.

And tomorrow we will begin our journey to the US. Awesome!

[edit:] Another try my ass... it's still too slippery AND we had a dinner at the theather, so my next run will most likely take place in DC on Thursday.

1/16/2011

Still feeling fine

Today's run was helped (not) by snow blizzard, and I had energy to finish 11 miles which was the longest run after the surgery. Week was 30+ miles. Happy happy joy joy.

Tomorrow I will join Hell and ski like hell.

The some wise words from Lasse Viren (the legend): "When you watch outside before the run and think what to wear, you are ok. When you watch outside before the run and think should I go outside, you are finished."

1/15/2011

I'm alive

I expected that the first run when I hit at least 1 km sub 6.30s would be in few months and painful. But no, it was today (5F, not wind) and it just suprised me. I joined Dr. A's afternoon run during which all of a sudden the pace (per 1k) accelerated from 7.50s to 7.14, 7.03, 6.46, and 6.22. That felt awesome albeit the last k stinked pretty badly.

Achilles was ok but hamstring/gluteus showed me a conditional middle finger. I gotta keep that in mind, too. Rehabilitation exercises have to be excented to cover more and more deficiencies.


1/13/2011

Weird week

This week I've reached the most productive state at work. I'm delivering research papers and results like a badass. That's weird. Maybe it's because of the running conditions are the worst ever (no, the real reason is that I just had 3 weeks of vacation). After two days of rain roads turned into a icy layer a.k.a achilles killer.

Still, on Tuesday I ran my first run (after the surgery) with decent grip even if roads were close to unrunable. Our backyard provides (in addition to Paavo Nurmi Stadium) a trail (about 0.9 miles long) which is maintained in excellent shape for walking and running through the winter. Due to the fact that I wasn't running on snow/ice/their combination, the achilles felt pretty weird. Moreover, I postponed alternating skiing days and did some core workouts instead. That's okay since xc skiing sucks and it especially sucks if you have to ski on ice.

Today I ran in the evening after traveling to Tampere and back. Just out of curiosity I took HRM with me and was amazed by how off my engine really is. But it will be humming again. Oh and an update: I have lost 3.3 pounds.

1/09/2011

Early bird

It was 7:30 AM and I had done my long(ish) run. The conditions were surprising because after several days of snow this morning was rainy. It meant only one thing - icy conditions. And roads were really icy but I was able to rumble through 11 miles (still @ pedestrian pace) without any pain in the achilles.

This week's totals:
Running 16 miles
XC skiing 15 miles
1 core workout
3 sick days

1/08/2011

More snow

Yeah man!!!!

Our trip to the US is getting closer and I'm eagerly looking forward to see friends over there. Maybe that's why this morning's skiing wasn't bad at all. I'm pretty sure that it has been snowing three days in a row, so xc skiing is decent choice for a physical workout, right?

Good news is that achilles is feeling now quite good. It didn't make a sound yesterday even if I ran and walked a bit. That has been a painful combination during the last weeks, but not anymore (I hope).  So you can recover from injuries even if you're getting older...

1/07/2011

Back in business

At last I'm healthy. Last physical activity before today's 6 miler was Monday's xc skiing. Even if there was an additional layer of fresh snow keeping company this morning, running felt so great! Suck on that you lazy snowplowers.

1/04/2011

And then came the illness

Friday and Saturday was a preview and then today I got ill. Mucus outcome, sneezing, raspy voice and of course 10% of the lung capacity. I have to get better. Now!

1/02/2011

Yeah yeah yeah

I had a nice Friday on sofa. I had cold and as usual I "lost" my lungs. So I did nothing but rest. Yesterday I gave xc skiing a chance but I felt too sick to do any decent workout. I skied only half a mile and returned to car.

Today I, however, went running and had a nice grispy morning jog. Oh, running felt so heavy and good at same time. I really had work a lot to back home even if I ran only 8 miles (@ pedestrian pace, 7.50s). Still, it was my longest run since last May.

Currently, legs and the rest of the body are not at all adjusted for running. It means a long, but enjoyable road ahead.