June 24-30

June 24
Am: 47 minute pool running; 35 deep end, 12 shallow end

Pm: 30 minute treadmill incline walk, 15% incline, pace 3.1, 3.2, then 3.3 and to 3.4 for a bit HR <140, mostly in the low 130s.  1.63 miles

77 total AE

June 25
31-minute run on CR 220, 3.47 miles, just over 8:40 pace. Average HR 141.

Ankle pain 4/10. Tried to focus on form but still a little labored.

Why I keep this log: It’s encouraging to watch the progress. Two weeks ago I averaged 10:23 pace on a run. Today was nearly 2 minutes faster. Steady, steady.

June 26
35-minute run on CR 163, 3.94 miles. Average HR 144.

Ankle pain 4/10.

June 27
45 minutes pool, 35 deep end, 10 shallow end;  1 minute on; 30 seconds off

I’ve decided to turn my easy days into pure easy days, with no treadmill incline, yoga, or even PT. The swelling in the ankle isn’t going down as quickly as I might like, so I feel I need to prioritize healing over fitness a few times a week until I make more progress there.

June 28
30 minutes easy plus 4 x 20 second strides

Took it super easy on the jog. Strides felt better on the ankle than expected but the whole chain felt super wonky. Right hamstring felt particularly tight. Strides started at 7:40 pace and the last one was just over 6-minute pace.

Total of 3.91 miles in 38 minutes, CR 220

Ankle pain 4/10

June 29
3.32 miles in 30:29, with a few hundred feet of elevation gain. Fastest mile was 7:30 (downhill). Felt pretty good overall.

Ankle pain 4/10

June 30
4.58 miles in 40 minutes at 9000 ft, average HR 147.

Today was the longest run since the injury and the first time I had run three days back to back to back. I felt both. This run hurt. Fitness-wise felt fine. 8:44 miles MAF at 9000 ft on rolling hills is totally fine at this point of the comeback, but the ankle/leg felt weak the whole run. Looking forward to the day off tomorrow.

Ankle pain 6/10

296 minutes of total aerobic exercise

June 17-23

Am:
3.25 miles in 29:30 with about 270 feet of elevation gain. Fastest pace was a 7:54 downhill mile. CR 210.

There was a lake next to CR 210 that isn’t usually there. The South Arkansas has completely overrun its banks. Lots of snow run off.

Pm: 1.55 mile treadmill walk, 15% incline, 30 minutes

4.8 miles and 60 minutes total AE

June 18
Am: 39 minute pool jog, mostly deep end

Actually pretty sore today. I’m guessing because I hadn’t run downhill or run a sub-8-minute mile in four months before yesterday.

Pm: 30 minute treadmill incline walk, 15% incline, pace 3.1, 3.2 the last ten minutes. HR <140, mostly in the 120s.  1.6 miles

70 minutes AE

June 19
25 minute jog on CR 163, 2.77 miles, HR <150

June 20
30 minute jog on CR 203, at 9000 ft., on rolling hills. 3.36 miles/8:56 pace, fastest mile in 7:53, HR <150.

Every run is exhilarating and frustrating at the same time. Great to be out there, but it’s frustrating how sore and stiff the ankle still is and knowing how far I am from being fully recovered. I know I’m less than six weeks removed from surgery, but once you’re out there and moving you want to be able to move to your full capacity, and it’s going to be a while before I can do that.

Pm: Iyengar yoga

June 21
45 minutes pool running; 35 deep end, 10 shallow end

June 22
25 minutes, super duper easy, with a non-runner friend; 2.2 miles

June 23
3.87 miles, 34:16, CR 220, 8:51 Average HR 137

Best and longest run since the recovery started.

According to the surgeon, I can expect the bones to be fully healed six weeks after the last surgery. That’s this coming Tuesday.

With that, I'm hoping to start dabbling in super easy strides and super-duper-light tempo paces (probably 7-7:30 miles) in the coming weeks. We'll see how it all feels.

290 minutes total aerobic exercise.

June 10-16

June 10

Leg’s definitely feeling the increased volume the prior couple of days.

40 minutes pool jogging, deep end only. Pool felt great.

June 11

1-minute walk, 15-minute jog, 2-minute walk, 15-minute jog; 3.21 miles; average pace 10:23, fastest mile 9:16; CR 165

Felt ok, though the leg ankle is still sore from the weekend.

June 12

am: 40 minutes pool running, hard in the deep end, easy jogging in the shallow. Ankle feels better today, not as swollen or sore.

pm: 1-mile treadmill incline, building to 3.4 pace with 15% incline, in just shy of 19 minute. Just looking to get some more aerobic work in without pounding. This felt pretty good on the leg with only modest tension at a few points, so I might try to build to 3 or 4 sessions a week.

58 minutes aerobic exercise

June 13

am: 1-minute walk, 20-minute jog, 2-minute walk, 10-minute jog, 3.32 miles total in 32:17. Avg 9:44 with fastest mile in 8:37. Definitely the best and strongest I’ve felt on a walk-jog so far. Took a bit to ease into it, and it’s all still wobbly, but much better than a week or two weeks ago.

This was the last of the walk-jog sessions. After this, if all goes well, it’s just jogging.

Pm: PT session; 25 minute treadmill walk, peaking at 12 incline and 3.3 mph; 1.35 miles, max 130 HR

4.67 total miles on day; 57 minutes aerobic exercise

June 14

No formal exercise; brother and family in from out of town; feeling the leg a bit from big day yesterday

June 15

2.7 miles on CR 140 with the wife in 25:50. Pace topped out at 9:17 pace. First time running on asphalt. Lots of walking in town and standing with the local Fibark festival. Leg felt pretty sore by the end of the day.

June 16

Brother in town in the morning; father in law in town in the evening. No exercise.

214 minutes total aerobic exercise

June 3-9

June 3

2 walk, 7 jog, 3w, 7j, 3w, 7j, 4w; 2.55 miles total, jogs in 10:21, 10:09, and 11:29 (uphill); felt so awkward on the first one, but then developed a shuffle-stride that was a little smoother. Just not able to push off much off the right ankle, so the whole chain gets thrown off. Hoping that a little over 10-minute pace might be a safe equilibrium for the next few weeks. 

June 4

40 minutes pool running, pushing a bit in the deep end and then jogging for a bit to practice pushing off on the ankle in the shallow end

June 5

1 walk, 8 jog, 2 wk, 8j, 2w, 7:30 j; 2.21 miles; 12:22, 11:55, 11:54 pace for the jog blocks

Good news is that the ankle is feeling stronger. Bad news is that in three days of jogging fewer than six miles at much slower than 10-minute pace, I’ve already managed to develop mild-to-moderate piriformis issues in the right hammy/glute. Optimistic it’ll be manageable at the current joggy-paces but will require additional piriformis PT on top of an already bulky PT routine.

I'm super nervous about the high risk of injuring something other than the ankle in the return to jogging, but this early incident seems to underscore just how constant the injury whack-a-mole is likely to be. Just trying to keep things easy and gradual to limit the damage. 

June 6

Am: 39 minutes of pool running, mostly in the deep end with aqua jogger and with about five minutes of shallow-end jogging to get some more practice pushing off on the injured leg. 

Piriformis still sensitive but feels a bit better.

Pm: 90 minutes, Iyengar yoga. Wife is a fairly serious yogi (she can do an unassisted headstand in the middle of a room), and she’s been trying to get me to go to her favorite yoga instructor for years. This lady is in her 60s (but moves like she’s 20) and trained under the Iyengar guy that the Iyengar yoga style is named after. I figured now is a good time to focus on alignment, seeing as how my two legs are now shaped quite differently. 

As Aish used to say (and probably still does), “aw, it was magic.” After one class, the piriformis was 90% gone. Back feels better and feel more limber overall. Will definitely be back.

June 7

1 minute walk, 10 minute jog, 2w, 10j, 2w, 8 j, 1w; 11:47, 11:06, and 9:58 on the jog blocks. With the wife, 2.83 miles. CR 220.

Way better than Wednesday. Form felt smoother. Slight step forward after a small step back.

June 8

Long hike with a friend on the Arkansas Hills trails. 5.05 miles. Plus two dog walks. 5.55 miles total. That’s nearly twice as far as I’ve gone in a single day since February. Probably a bit too much, and the slightly technical bits were a little scary. It was great to get out. The wildflowers are already blooming in a way I’ve never seen on those trails and pretty early in the season, too. It’s going to be a great year for color in the high country. 

June 9

1-minute walk, 12 jog, 2w, 12j, 2w, 10j, 1w; 3.66 miles, 39 minutes total; slowest jogging mile 10:40, fastest 9:24. At some point soon here I might cross the threshold into running.

Very happy with the progression. All credit to good yoga and good luck. Day by day I try to remain cautious to stave off the muscle-imbalance-injury whack-a-mole. So far so good.