Monday: Ran to the gym, 3.6 miles, and did a full "tony" workout session. The workout was great, i did the full routine and aded two hip abductor workouts. It kinda surprises me that i am now able to lift way past my weigh and not be as exhausted as i was the previous sessions. My run on the other hand was great. I was able to run from home to the gym without any problems or dis-confort. This is huge news for me because before i was not able to run for stretches like this on plane ground without feeling my knee problem 15 minutes in the run. This is amazing and i am so excited to get 100% healthy.
Tuesday: Walked 1 mile to bart station to go to the gym and ran back home 3.6 miles. Today i did a session of a "dynamic stretch/core workout" at the gym. After feeling a little low on fuel this past weekend and forcing myself to have a good effort workout yesterday i decided to buy a baby blue color Gatorade today and i was amazed at how much energy it gave me. Is been a long time since i had one of these and it brought back memories on the kind of energy i had in the past. As i got off bart 10 blocks away from the gym and as i was walking there i was feeling like everyone was on my way just blasting past everyone with such a fast stride. At the gym i did a 30 minute dynamic stretch/core workout that incorporated some conventional workouts like jumping jacks, high knees, and but kickers to other nonconventional workouts i picked up at a video from indiana university runners at a sports facility.
My run back home was fantastic. I ran the first 2.5 miles at a comfortable pace and once i saw that it was safe, and since i was feeling fantastic, i gradually increased the pace the last mile. I had no dis-confort in my knee or any sharp pains, i was just gliding like i hadn't done in a long time. Is weird how i had forgotten how it felt like to run without worrying if my knee was ok, or trying my best to run properly to not irritate my knee and get the sharp pinch at the side of my knee. Today was just pure pleasure. I cant wait till i go to Montara or Sausalito for spring break and run a bit. In the mean time, i think i will continue to run to or from the gym. I don't want to run too much right now specially this recent in my recovery and specially in concrete. What a fantastic news!
Wednesday: Boot camp and spin tonight. After having a rough night of not sleeping at all, don't know why, i survived both classes with a great effort. Boot camp tonight was brutal, Tony's torture chamber as Nick says was at full speed. Usual rotation of 7 stations with assorted exercises that just drain you out drop by drop. Spin was as usual, torture. I just can't believe how the girls do so well at that. They seem not to get tired, every time i look towards them i see them doing the workout watching every little detail. I noticed that they also hardly sweat, while i soaked my shirt completely tonight. On the other hand i just fall apart on certain sections and have to retreat a bit to not completely stop. I will get stronger and my endurance will increase. It has been no more than 8 classes since i started these classes and i also need to point out that i had absolutely no quad strength. I should provably say leg strength in general. Great results this week overall.
Thursday: Early morning Whale's cove trail run, 6.7 miles at about 1:20 hours (50 min. up to peak 30 min. down). I felt tired borderline exhausted from boot camp and spin yesterday but i gave it a shot and managed to pull through with about the same effort as i usually do. This morning unlike the last couple runs here i have avoided running down-hill, not today. As i ran up to north peak i felt like, although tired, i wanted to test my knee and see where i was at considering my great effort over the last two weeks in the gym. About a mile down-hill, i noticed a pinch similar to the usual one that bothers me on a different place however. The pinch was a bit below the usual one on the side of my left knee. It was on the lower side of my left knee and only pinched for about two minutes and then it went away for good. The rest of the run was solid and a lot of fun. Good sign but still about two weeks in to the estimated six week rehab at Valencia Muscle. I should point out that i still need to focus on gym work and minimal runs. I noticed that my leg, from feet to hip, tensed up like it usually happened in the past. It happened today after this run. The weird part is that i had come from a couple days of uninterrupted gym workouts and no long runs like this one and no tension on my legs. What i get out of this is that 1) My leg tenses up when i run long runs. 2) My leg seems to be free from tension when i work out at the gym. Why does this happen? I can't be certain of anything in specific. It could be that the heavy lifting is really helping my legs and it could also be that the stretching i do after every workout is also helping. Maybe its the boot camp and spin class responsible. I don't know for sure. And so the solution is going to have to be a mix of about 80% of the gym work i have been doing at the gym and 20% running just to remind my body that it needs to keep strong running form. I would do gym work 100% but then after i would have to start running from scratch when i finnish my treatment.
Friday: Light evening dynamic stretch/core routine at the gym with about 15 min. run in an incline treadmill. The routine was from the U of Indiana program and it consisted mainly of leg stretching exercises while on your feet and some laying down. Routine, nothing interesting to say besides that.
Saturday: Boot camp and spin. Super tough sessions today with Jeff torturing us at boot camp and John at spin. Worked very hard today. Is interesting how on spin i am pushed to the limit and so far can't do the full routines. At some points specially when doing the sprint i need to abandon the sprint 5 seconds before the session finishes. The sprint consists of you standing on your bike and pedaling as fast as you can working your quads for about 30 seconds sometimes a full minute. Towards the end of the 30 seconds i hurt so much that the fight or flight sets in and have to stop. It is important to mention that i still don't have the quad strength that i should have due to my injury and avoiding a lot of leg work. Looking back on the limit thing, it is interesting to constantly, twice a week in my case right now, visit that limit and try to re-write that line that holds me back due to current fitness. To think that that limit is going to be pushed further and further every time i set foot in that class and work hard is motivating me in a different way. I have never looked at my fitness from this perspective before and so i feel in a way supported. I think that is what happens when you have a clear goal in mind, one that is visible and in your face. It is not the same as running where you compete against someone else and have variables that you can't control and in spin where the only opponent is your fitness. Your current fitness, which keeps changing for better or worst, is your only opponent and once you hit that point of intensity you just can't do much about it.
Sunday: Off
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