Hamstring Treatment - Day 40 - NO RUN today -- Hamstring was sore...

I bailed on doing another run with Ange and Molly today. My hamstring was a bit sore, so I decided to err on the side of caution and give it a day's rest. I'm playing hockey tomorrow night, so I'm not sure if I'll run or not. I may just go out for 3 miles during the day. I'm walking a fine line between gradually building the strength and "internal calluses" in my legs, and over-straining my hamstring again, thereby causing a setback in training.

There are now less than 16 weeks until Boston. At this point I don't know if I'm just "running" Boston or if I'll actually be able to race it. Time will tell. I'll just keep walking that fine line.

8.4 km Run from Lucan

Ange O'Handley and her dog, Molly, and I went for an easy run from Lucan -- down Saintsbury, on Airport Road to Coursey, up to William and back to Timmy's. 8.37 km total in 47:34 for an average pace of 5:41. I was still a bit tight from Saturday's 9.5 km run, but battled through it. Here are my splits:

5:53
5:21
5:42
5:48
5:47
5:36
5:38
5:41
5:48 (366 m.)

After the run, I actually feel pretty good -- so I may be right back out there tomorrow!

Christmas Eve Run - 9.5 km... (15.9 miles total on the week)

Today we met in Lucan for our annual Christmas Eve run. Jenny, Karen and Tori came out, as did Ange O'Handley and her two boys, Will (5) and Cohen (3). Everyone did a 1-k run out and then back to Tim Hortons for some hot chocolate -- 2 k total. Cohen hitched a ride with Ange for much of the run, but Will did the whole thing!

After the hot chocolate, I ran home and managed to bang off 5:21 per kilometre average pace. Here are my splits over the 7.5k run home:

5:28
5:13
5:07
5:14
5:14
5:23
5:33
5:33 (500 m.)

I felt good at the end -- but really didn't have a lot more in my legs to take me faster. All told, I did 15.9 miles on the weeks, so another 4 miles and I'm good to start looking at improving my speed.

Hamstring Treatment - Day 35 - 5 miles on the treadmill -

I'm definitely feeling better. I did 5 miles on the treadmill tonight and I felt strong. I got my speed up to 6 MPH for a couple of miles and did the rest at 5.5 MPH -- but I got through the run feeling good.

Hamstring Treatment - Day 32: 4 miles on the treadmill

Pumped out 4 miles on the treadmill tonight. Uneventful. I tried to build my speed up to 6 MPH for this run, but couldn't hold it. I toned it back to 5.3 and then ramped it up to 5.5 MPH for the balance of the run. I ran for around 45 minutes.

Hamstring Treatment - Day 28 - 4 miles on Treadmill...

I ran 4 miles on the treadmill tonight. Early in the run I ramped it up to an audacious 6 MPH, but I started to feel it in my right knee, so I backed off to 5.5 MPH. I varied the speed between 5.0 and 5.5 depending on how I felt, but managed to get the 4 miles in within about 45 minutes. Not great, but not terrible.

Both hips were a bit sore -- possibly due to playing hockey 2 nights ago, and my right knee was a bit sore tonight. But I went and rode Gamble for about 45 minutes and as I write this post, nothing hurts.

Hamstring Treatment - Day 26: Played hockey!

I played hockey for the first time in a month. Felt good. By the end of the day, I felt comfortable pushing the leg harder than at the start of the game. No soreness at the end or the next morning.