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I’m currently on Week 7 of my “Return to Running” program, which includes:
- 3 to 5-minute walking warmup
- 30-minute run /1-minute walk
- 15-minute run / 1-minute walk
- 10-minute run / 1-minute walk
- 3 to 5+ minute walking cooldown
Tuesday AM Run (Day 44)
I met Nathan at the Bellevue Church of Christ parking lot, and we ran through the streets of Bellevue, and a couple of miles on a stretch of the Harpeth River Greenway that we don’t frequently use. As it stands right now, the Greenway exists in several separate sections, though it is eventually supposed to be all connected. There are three ongoing construction projects that are extending parts of the Greenway, including the section we ran on Tuesday. After about 3 1/4 miles we reached the place where they are working, and actually spent a few minutes talking with one of the workers. The new section will include a hairpin turn that leads to a steep down-hill going closer to the river. As we were talking to the construction guy, he kept saying over and over again “They call this section ‘The Switchback,'” and it was quote obvious that he was proud of that name. Anyway, it will be awesome when all of the sections are finally connected, and we will have access to all those miles of greenway in the Bellevue area.
As for the run, even though the humidity was tough, my legs kept feeling better and better throughout, and this was evident as the average pace of each running segment got progressively faster (8:50, 8:23, 7:53). In total we finished 55 minutes of running and just over 8 minutes of walking for a total of 6.94 miles completed, which was my longest effort since coming back from injury.
- Miles: 6.94
- Time: 1:03:22
- Pace: 9:36
- Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 3 (#7)
- Route: Belle Meade / HR Greenway
Tuesday PM Run (Day 44)
My orthopaedist has talked to me about adding some doubles into my training plan on the day before a rest day, as a way to get in more mileage without sacrificing the extra day of rest I’m planning on taking each week leading up to NYC in November. Well, Tuesday was the first day I gave this somewhat of a try. My daughter Kate and I went out to the White trail in Percy Warner Park for a 2.5-mile run/walk. I knew this would be a very easy effort since Kate would not be able to run the whole way on the hilly terrain. Even though I didn’t keep track of specifically how much time we spent walking vs. running, I would estimate it was about 50/50, and it was a quite enjoyable time spent with my daughter. In total we finished 2.5-miles with a pace of 15:04 per mile.
No running on Wednesday (Day 45) – Scheduled rest day
Thursday Run (Day 46)
Nathan and I met in the parking lot at the Bellevue United Methodist Church, and ran through the surrounding neighborhood, and made a big loop on the HR Greenway. The humidity was crazy intense, and my legs felt pretty trashed throughout. This was one of those runs where I was just glad that I stuck with it until the end, because I absolutely didn’t have it. In total we finished 55 minutes of running and just over 7 minutes of walking for a total of 6.57 miles completed.
- Miles: 6.57
- Time: 1:02:32
- Pace: 9:32
- Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 3 (#8)
- Route: Belle Meade / HR Greenway
Friday Run (Day 47)
I couldn’t get my lazy self out of bed to do a solo run on Friday morning, so I ended getting this one done in the late afternoon. I again started from parking lot of the Bellevue United Methodist Church building, and started out through the surrounding neighborhood. I ended up running an out-and-back on the middle, disconnected section of the HR Greenway, and then another out-and-back on the initial section by Ensworth High School. The humidity was nasty, and storms were threatening, but this was by far the best I’ve felt from start to finish on any run since coming back from injury, and I actually wanted to keep going when it was time to stop on the last interval. During the last interval, I passed by the spot where they are expanding the initial section of the HR Greenway. There is a Danger…Construction sign at the start of this expansion, but it was obvious that it was now paved. I decided to ignore the sign, and ended up running the entire length of the new section, which unfortunately comes to an abrupt dead-end, with no option but to turn around and come back. I was hoping this new extension would connect with the middle section that was finished last year, but it looks like we’re going to have to wait a while longer for that. Anyway, In total I finished 55 minutes of running and just over 12 minutes of walking for a total of 7.42 miles completed, which was my longest effort since coming back from injury.
- Miles: 7.42
- Time: 1:07:19
- Pace: 9:05
- Shoes: adidas Energy Boost (#8)
- Route: Belle Meade / HR Greenway
No running on Today (Day 48) – Travel day for vacation
A New Threshold
Even though I only ran 4 days this week, it was still my first time to cross the 30-mile threshold for weekly mileage since coming back from injury. Feels good to be building back up:
Cross-Training
- None – Gotta do better on this front.
For students in my Wednesday night class on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: Handouts and Notes for Ephesians Chapter 1 are now available online. Lord willing we will begin covering this text during class tomorrow night at 7pm at Bellevue Church of Christ!
Today’s Run (Day 43)
After a schedule rest day yesterday (Day 42), today I started Week 7 of my “Return to Running” program, which includes:
- 3 to 5-minute walking warmup
- 30-minute run /1-minute walk
- 15-minute run / 1-minute walk
- 10-minute run / 1-minute walk
- 3 to 5+ minute walking cooldown
I met Nathan in Percy Warner Park near the Iroquois Steeplechase, and we ran a modified version of our normal “Steeplechase Loop” though Percy and Edwin Warner Parks. The temps were a little more mild than last week, but the humidity was still intense. My legs felt pretty good throughout, even through the first couple of miles which were mostly uphill. We finished up the opening 30-minute running interval near the end of of a long downhill, and took the 1-minute walk break just as we reached the bottom. Right when we started off the 15-minute interval, a chipmunk came shooting across the road right in front of Nathan and directly at my feet. I actually had to hop on one foot for a second to keep from squashing the little guy. Right after this another another chipmunk came flying across the road a little bit ahead of us. This lead to Nathan saying that they looked like “Chipmunk Torpedos” that were being launched across the road.
Anyway, we thankfully avoided any subsequent chipmunk encounters, and kept the pace fairly chill throughout. In total we finished 55 minutes of running and just over 9 minutes of walking for a total of 6.69 miles completed, which is my longest effort since coming back from injury.
- Miles: 6.11
- Time: 1:04:10
- Pace: 9:36
- Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 3 (#8)
- Route: Steeplechase Loop
Cross-Training
- Balance Squats x 25 reps (each leg)
- Calf Raise Squats x 25 reps (2 x 20lb dumbbells)
- Wall Squats – 90 Seconds
- Step-Back Lunges x 15 reps (each leg with 2 x 20lb dumbbells)
- 3-way lunge x 15 reps (each leg)
- Chair Salutation x 2 (30 sec each)
- Toe Roll Iso Lunges x 20 reps (each leg)
- Hip Hike 2 x 30 reps (each leg)
- Monster Walk with Band 3 x 12 reps (each leg)
- Clamshells with Band 2 x 15 reps (each leg)
- Toe Flexor x 75 reps (each leg)
- Dorsiflex Raises x 75 reps