Morning!  I have Pilates and 8 tonight.  My knee is still achy so I might tape it.  Sometimes I freak out about it because it's the one where I had the tear but it can suck it up and run, so...

I'm either due for an injury or my breakthrough race this fall is gonna be KILLER. 3rd Q day this week.

Didn't want to do a workout but wanted to do something a bit more upbeat than just easy pace, ended up with mile warmup, 9 mi progression, mile cooldown. Felt GREAT through most of the prog, but really wish I'd brought water - just the last mile was tough as I was daydreaming about like, waterfalls and ice cubes and smoothies, lol. Timed the progression to end right by my house, chugged a small glass of diluted Gatorade and switched to my big ol' comfy trainers before cooldown mile.

6 miles.

 August 31, I Love WI 10k: This is on a course by the lakefront where I run ALL the time. flat. small race, not certified. not very exciting because I run here several times a week. I never heard of this one but races are frequently held in this location. Likely I can get one of my RP's to run with me- RRP lives nearby. Convienient and short drive. 8:30am start.

 

Sept 1, Buffalo Grove Stampede 10k: This is about an hour's drive. Certified course (although it looks like they are changing the 10k for this year). 2 loops (yuck). Smaller race. Looks pretty flat. 7:30am start.

 

Personally I’d go with one of these. For a 10k, I look for convenience and PR potential, not necessarily excitement. I think the Chicago one would be coolest race environment, but I imagine more challenging logistics.

Re: the 10k race dilemma from yesterday. Coach voted for I love WI or Buffalo grove. So we decided to wait for the weather forecast and go with whichever one (Aug 30, 31, or Sept 1) had the more favorable conditions

I don’t think I was ever given appropriate credit for picking the same two races as your coach ultimately did. What do I win?

So I’m trying to decide how to move forward. I’ve been getting my mileage back up to a moderate level (albeit all easy), and things have more or less held up. But I still get twinges in my hammy and/or calf; not sure if I should take them as warning signs that I need to back off, or just consider them part of the normal ongoing aches & pains we all live with. If the latter, I’d think about inching the mileage up further and/or adding back in some speedwork. There is a 10k on 8/11 that I’d like to do. Trying to decide whether to go for it, just to get back into racing, even if I won’t be in tip top shape by then. Of course I’d better try some kind of fast running first. Ideally then I’d like to be ready for a half on 10/13 and a marathon on 12/1. For either, I need to get back to business pretty soon.

Maybe start with some strides? If that's not good, then you probably aren't ready for speed work.

 

Maybe start with some strides? If that's not good, then you probably aren't ready for speed work.

That's what I would do too. Strides to get used to a bigger range of motion/harder pushoff again, and if that goes well maybe try ending an otherwise-easy run with a mile or two around MP or a touch faster, just something to see how ham + calf hold up to sustained effort without a ton of workout stress.

A couple of miles a little faster than easy also works.