July 15-21

July 15
Off

July 16
6.66 miles in an hour on CR 203, rolling hills between 8500 and 9000 ft. 30 minutes “subtempo” in the middle. Felt pretty good, even though the subtempo middle section averaged slower than 8-minute miles.

Ankle pain 3/10

July 17
4.1 miles easy on CR 210 to Pass Creek in 41 minutes. 500 ft. gain, four max hill sprints at the end. Pass Creek road is one of the rockiest roads I’ve run on since the injury, but it felt ok.

My form on the first hill sprint couldn’t have been much more awkward, but they got smoother. I guess that’s the point!

Ankle pain 3/10

July 18
6.98 miles in 77 minutes on CR 224 and the Colorado Trail. About 1600 ft. of gain between 8500 and 9600 with rollers on the Colorado Trail.

I ran on a trail! I think that makes it my second or third trail run of 2019, though the last time I ran on clear trails that weren’t covered in snow or ice was probably October 2018. Felt good, but I took it super baby easy on the trail section, just because running on uneven surfaces is a very delicate thing for me mentally and physically right now.

Ankle pain 3/10

July 19
45 minute pool jogging, deep and shallow end. I never forward to pool jogging, but I always feel great after doing it.

July 20
Went to the track! Goal was 5 x 1k in 4 minutes on 2 minutes rest. Basically a broken-up 20-minute 5k.

Had friends over last night and we had a late-night jam session, so didn’t get out until nearly 9 am, when it was roasting. Did the first 3 right on the money at 4 minutes, the 4th in 3:58, and then decided to call it a day. Whether it was the heat or my general lack of fitness, it felt harder than I’d like to admit. I could have done one or two more, but I would have been really straining to get there, and just not looking to do that right now. Want to finish every session knowing I could have done more.

Ankle was only really an issue when I switched into lighter shoes (Mizuno Wave Hitogamis) for the first interval. Switched back to Hoka Cliftons for the second interval, and the ankle actually felt decent. Tracks are a nice surface for running when you have ankle problems.

The problem is just that my fitness is crap right now. But you can’t force fitness. Just gotta be patient.

Ankle pain 4/10; 5.39 miles total.

July 21
8 miles on old monarch pass road, 1:16:07; 1400 ft. gain.

Felt good, felt strong. More than 30 seconds a mile faster than last week at the same level of effort. Ankle felt good. Encouraging day.

Ankle pain 3/10