Fivos' Training Log

The road to CIM

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 20:22:00 +0000

Only 3 weeks to go before I set my foot on the starting line of the California International Marathon, attempting my debut at the distance. Before I get into more details, though, there are some gaps I need to fill since my last update.

The last time I showed any signs of life was all the way back in January, when I was getting ready for the Cyprus national half marathon championships. I was unfortunately sidelined with injuries in both of my hamstrings, which ended up keeping me out of any serious training for almost 3 months. The rest of the season didn't have any highlights and I was really looking forward to being fully healthy again and getting ready for CIM.

I started to put in the miles in preparation for the marathon in mid July. I took a very cautious approach, though, and focused more on staying healthy instead of trying to pile on the miles. I was only running 5-6 days a week at first and included some biking to get some supplemental cardio work. I also started practicing yoga 1-2 times a week, which has helped my strength and flexibility. I did eventually get the mileage up to a decent number and had a few weeks in the 75-85 mile range. I was on pace to hit 95 last week (I did reach a rolling week max of 94) but got sick and had to take a couple days off, thus falling a bit short.

In terms of quality my training has been pretty solid. On a typical week I would run a track workout on Tuesdays, a tempo on Thursdays and a long run on Saturdays, which would include a stretch of marathon pace in the middle. Here are my last workouts for reference:

Track workout: 3x3000m w/ 5' rest between intervals: 10:00, 9:54, 9:53
Tempo: 10K, 6' rest, 8K: 35:46, 28:30
Long run: 33K (~21 miles) with 14K at 3:43-3:44/Km (just under 6:00/M) between the 10th and 24th kilometer.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how my training has progressed. I would have liked it if the volume was a bit higher but considering where I was last spring I've managed to put in some decent mileage. My workouts have been really good, though. I've been consistently hitting or exceeding my goal times and still feeling like there's something left at the end of each workout.

With only 3 weeks left there's not much more I can add at this point. Only one more week with harder training and a couple of weeks of tapering. To some extend I'm not sure what to expect out of my race. The marathon distance is a complete unknown to me and a bit intimidating. My first goal would be to make it through the race without blowing up and hopefully feeling good at the finish. I will most likely start out at ~6:00/M pace and try to negative split the 2nd half, hopefully finishing in the 2:30-2:35 range. I keep reminding myself, though, that this is a just a new beginning. I'm more excited about the possibility of staying healthy over the next year or two and hoping that there's still some fast running left in my legs.

Silicon Valley Turkey Trot

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 05:23:00 +0000

41st place in 15:43

Splits: 4:54, 10:05 (5:11), 15:11 (5:06)

I drove down to San Jose on Thanksgiving morning to race a 5K in the country's fastest turkey trot. I was entered in the PA/USATF championship, which was run together with the elite race and was featuring a loaded field. I made it to downtown San Jose around 9am and had about an hour and a half to spare before the start of the race. It did take me a while, though, to pick up my race bib and figure out where the start of the race was. There was also an open 5K and 10K before the championship/elite events, which were ran in the same area but on a different course. Any information I could find about the race only applied to the open race and asking event staff didn't help much either. I ended up starting my warm-up and wondering around, hoping to find some indication of the race start. Fortunately I went by the start just as the elite women were taking off and I had some time to sit for some stretching and to run enough strides before the start.

The course was flat and fast, consisting a 200m initial stretch and followed by 4 loops around Guadalupe River Park. I was expecting the field to go out fast and it did not disappoint. I was gaped by a big group up front early on and I had to turn back to check that I wasn't dead last. I did try to settle into my own pace but it was rather inevitable to get carried away and get out faster than planned. I didn't have a good sense of pace and was even worried that I might have gotten out too slow but seeing the clock as I was finishing the first lap was reassuring. I was shooting for sub 16:00 and coming through the first mile in 4:54 meant that I had put plenty of time in the bank. I was running alone after the first half mile or so and started losing focus after the first mile, slowing down to a 5:11 for the second one. I was still under my goal pace so I kept thinking that I would post a good time if I kept it together reasonably well. I managed to pick things up a bit heading into the 3rd mile and I started closing on one guy ahead of me, which helped me stay focused. I passed him with about 1K to go and made a push to the finish, trying to close up on another couple of guys ahead. I didn't manage to get close in the end but had a good finish, including a good kick at the end, which made me think that I still had something left in the tank.

The race exceeded my expectations so I was fairly content with the result. I did feel that I wasn't race sharp, especially for something as short as a 5K but I put together a good effort. The field helped in dragging me to a fast time and even though I lost focus somewhere in the middle of the race I still managed to finish strong. This was my fastest race in the last 4 years so it's exciting to be getting back into competitive shape. It's still very early in the season and it's encouraging to see that my fitness is progressing well.

Week Recap (25 March 2012 - 31 March 2012) - 65 Miles

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 05:40:00 +0000

Sun: 11M.
Nob hill - GG Park. Not feeling very motivated today and ended up wasting time on the couch until I finally dragged myself out around 2pm. Didn't really get into it much and put in a rather slow run.

Mon: 10M.
Bay Club - Presidio. This has pretty much become my standard loop these days. It's the only loop from the Bay Club that allows me to spend some time on trails and it definitely beats most other options by far. I also can't get through the Presidio with anything shorter than 9-9.5M so opting for this route doesn't hurt the mileage.

Tue: 10M.
2x(3x1000(3:05), 1x1000(2:55)).
3:05, 3:07, 3:05, 2:58, 3:07, 3:05, 3:05, 2:57.
This workout was similar to last week's but broken into 2 sets, with the last interval of each set at a faster pace. Rest was 2:00 between intervals, like last week, and 5:00 between the two sets. I worked from home today and had a bit of an adventurous trip to Kezar. I decided to run to the Civic center station and catch the N to Carl & Stanyan, just outside Kezar. I headed out in pouring rain with my sweats, a spike bag with my Hyperspeeds for the workout, my clipper card, which had just enough value for a one-way trip, and a $20 bill to reload it. I didn't account for the bill getting wet on the way there and I couldn't get any of the machines to accept it. Trying to find someone to trade $20 bills with me didn't work out either so I just headed out and hoped that I would find a way to get back on the MUNI after my workout. I guess the unexpected turn of events left me in a somewhat confused state as I ended up catching the wrong train and not realizing it until I was at the Church station. It's only a couple of miles to the track from there so I got out and run to Kezar for my warm-up. I would have preferred to get to the track first so I wouldn't have to run my warm-up with a spike bag on my back but it wasn't really a big deal. I didn't spend much time stretching since it was raining and I was already fairly soaked so I just wanted to get the workout underway. The rain kind of starting dying out during the workout but since it had been raining all day, the track was covered with a few inches of water. Despite the less than ideal warm-up and the adverse weather conditions I ended up running a good workout. For the slower intervals, I was right on my goal of 3:05 for 4 of them and pretty close on the other 2, mostly because of getting out slow on the first lap. Switching gears on the last interval of each set to get to a 2:55 wasn't an easy task in these conditions but I came pretty close. I got out in 70 for the first one but didn't hold it together in the 2nd lap, coming through the 800 in 2:23. I managed to close with a 35, though, to hit a 2:58. The last one was rather similar, out in 69-70, 2:22 and a 35 again for the last 200. I was pretty wiped by the end of it but content from having run a good workout in rather bad conditions. I ran a few laps on the grass for my cool-down and added a few strides before heading out to catch the N back. To my disappointment I noticed that the train wouldn't be there for another 20 minutes and of course I didn't want to wait around with wet clothes, especially not knowing for sure if I could pay for a ride back. I started running back but soon enough realized that running another 4 miles wouldn't be the greatest idea so I pulled over a cab and got a ride home. The wet $20 bill did come in handy after all.

Wed: 8M.
Started out from the Bay club as usual and headed towards the Embarcadero. Ran along the Embarcadero through Fisherman's all the way to the Marina and made my way back from there, going through the Broadway tunnel. Feeling a bit tired today so I was running fairly slow the whole time.

Thu: 11M.
1x5k(17:30), 1x3K(10:00), 1x2K(6:20).
16:49, 9:58, 6:22.
I was supposed to be in the office at 8:30 this morning so we could get an early start for our company trip to Lake Tahoe. I knew that I wouldn't be able to run later in the day, let alone try to run a workout in Tahoe, so I had to get up early and get my workout out of the way. My alarm went off at 6am and I was up without much trouble. It always amazes me that I can easily wake up in the mornings if I'm meeting someone or if I must absolutely get my run out of the way but if running later in the day is an option, waking up early becomes an almost impossible task. I walked over to the office first to drop off my bags before heading over to the Bay club to start my run from there. I did the usual warm-up along the Embarcadero to AT&T park and didn't spend much time stretching or running strides before getting the workout underway. The goal for the 5K was 3:30/km but I was fairly confident that it wasn't a very ambitious pace. I was at the 1K mark in 3:22, feeling fairly relaxed, and more or less maintained that pace the whole way. I had 5:00 between intervals which was plenty for me to be recovered before the next one. The 3K was fairly relaxed too and since it was only slightly faster than the 5K it didn't feel like I had to switch gears much. I had to make a more conscious effort to get out faster for the 2K but managed to get the legs moving fast enough to finish off the workout with a good last interval. I felt pretty good at the end of the workout and I could have added a longer cool-down but I didn't have enough time for that so I just ran straight back to the Bay club for a quick shower before heading back to the office. It definitely felt good to get a good workout out of the way early and not have anything to worry about for the rest of the day.

Fri: 3M.
I didn't get to bed until around 3am last night so waking up early this morning wasn't an easy task. I managed to get myself out of bed around 9:30 and thought I'd have enough time for a decent run before meeting everyone else at 11 to head to Squaw valley. Unfortunately after checking my work emails I realized that I had some urgent work to do and I wasn't able to get out for a run until around 10:30. I only had time for a quick 3M, out and back from Granlibakken resort. I stayed on the roads for the most part but had to run for a bit on snow when I tried running on a bike path. I'm not sure when the last time I had to run on snow was, probably 4-5 years ago. It was sunny and in the low 40s though so I had no trouble still running with shorts and a t-shirt. It was only a short run but I felt pretty good and I was wishing I had some more time to extend it. I was considering going for a second run after coming back from Tahoe but I didn't make it home until almost 10pm and I was just too tired to lace up my running shoes again.

Sat: 12M.
Started out from Nob hill and made my way to Crissy Field along the Marina. Continued on to Lincoln Ave and picked up the Bay trail towards Park Blvd. Went down park trail to Presidio Blvd and made it to Golden Gate park before heading back home. It was a relatively short run for the week's long run but I kept the pace faster than usual and worked the hills well. I'm racing the 10,000m at the Cyprus national championships on April 20th so over the next 3 weeks I'll be focusing more on quality over quantity.

Week Recap (18 March 2012 - 24 March 2012) - 78 Miles

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 03:47:00 +0000

Sun: 12M
Nob hill to Golden Gate park.

Mon: 9M.
I had to be in the office at 9:30am and I knew I wouldn't be able to run in the afternoon because some other work commitments so I had to get my run out of the way early in the morning. I set my alarm for 7:20am and surprisingly managed to get myself out of bed right away. I walked over to the Bay club and started my run from there, doing the usual Presidio route. It was already after 8am by the time I started and realized that I'd be cutting it close so I tried to keep the pace fast. The second surprise of the day was that I felt great, something which rarely happens in the mornings. Finished the run in one of my fastest times for that loop and managed to make it to work just on time.

Tue: 11M.

2x200, 8x1000 (3:05).
33, 34, 3:03, 3:07, 3:05, 3:06, 3:07, 3:07, 3:05, 3:01.
I got out of work around 6pm and took the MUNI from Montgomery to Church station, which is only a couple of miles away from Kezar. I ran to Kezar for my warmup and did the usual stretching and strides before my workout. The conditions were a lot better than last week so I didn't have to rush my pre-workout routine. The two 200s were at a gradually increasing pace so they were basically two longer than usual strides. I would start at a casual pace and gradually increase the pace until I got close to full speed in the last 20 meters or so. I took 45'' after the first 200 and about a minute after the second, before getting into the meat of the workout. I was fairly consistent with my splits throughout the workout and I would usually come through the 400 in 74 and the 800 in 2:28/2:29. I took 2:00 of rest between the intervals, which was enough to recover aerobically but my legs were definitely feeling it by the end. My calves were already feeling a bit sore before the workout and probably still feeling the effects of last Tuesday's workout. I hadn't run anything as fast in a while and I was fairly sore afterwards, plus I had a few hilly runs afterwards so I didn't really let my legs recover enough. I was starting to hurt a bit on the 5th and 6th one and decided to take off the t-shirt for the last two. The benefits of the reduced weight started to show right away. I was back on my goal pace on the 7th and started the last one feeling strong. Came through in 72, 2:25 and thought I could perhaps kick in for a sub 3:00 but reminded myself that this was just a workout. My legs were pretty tired at the end but aerobically at least I felt like I could have run another couple intervals at the same pace. I ran a few laps around the infield, on grass, followed by some strides and didn't really feel like adding more mileage for cool-down so I tried to catch the N just down the street from the track. Unfortunately I saw the train going by as I was running over and the next one would take more than 10 minutes to show up so I decided to run back. Kezar is about 4 miles away from the Bay club and I was dreading a bit having to run that far but I didn't want to sit outside and wait for a train after just having finished a workout. I ended up running to the Van Ness station and catching the MUNI there, saving myself about 1.5 of running. It still ended up being a fairly long day and definitely a good one.

Wed: 10M.
Bay club - Presidio. My calves were pretty sore from yesterday's workout and running a hilly route didn't help much.

Thu: 10M.
4x2K (6:20)
6:27, 6:23, 6:26, 6:24.
Same workout as last Thursday and once again I headed down to AT&T park along the Embarcadero, did some stretching and strides by the Willie Mays statue and started my workout. I wasn't feeling that great on the warm-up and my calves were even more sore than yesterday. Since I had gone out in a 6:10 for the first one last week, I wanted to be a bit more conservative but got out a bit too slow. I came through the 1K in about 3:18 and had to pick things up to finish in 6:27. Rest was 4:00 between the intervals and it was sufficient to recover aerobically but my legs were feeling the burn and I knew that things wouldn't get any better. I tried to get out faster on the remaining intervals but I struggled to get close to my goal pace. Not my greatest of workouts but not too bad either I suppose. I guess my legs need some time to adjust to running some faster intervals on the track.

Fri: 9M.
Nob hill - Presidio. Ran in the morning and thought of doubling up but I decided that my legs could use some recovery.

Sat: 17M.
Nob Hill - Crissy Fields - Lands End - GG Park. Felt very good today, cruising at a good pace the whole time.

Week Recap (11 March 2012 - 17 March 2012) - 73 Miles

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 04:26:00 +0000

Sunday: 12M
Nob hill to GG Park. Back to longer runs after a recovery week. My legs definitely appreciated the lighter load.

Monday: 10M
Headed out from the Bay Club around 6pm and thanks to daylight savings time I was still able to get a run with daylight still out. I took advantage of it and ran the usual day route to Presidio, down park trail to Crissy Fields and back up Colombus Ave.

Tuesday: 9M
2x(8x400).
66, 72, 68, 71, 71, 71, 71, 71.
69, 69, 70, 70, 69, 70, 70, 68.
Rest was 45'' between the 400s and 4:00 between the sets. I started my workout around 6:30pm and the track at Kezar was still pretty crowded. I got out fast in the first one to go around a big group and got too excited, coming through the first 200 in 30-31. I eased up to finish the first interval and still hit a 66. I overcompensated on the 2nd one and only ran a 72 then overcompensated again in the other direction for the 3rd one. I finally got into a consistent pace after than and hit 71s for the remaining intervals of the set. The goal was to run 70s but since it was rainy and windy I was content with running a second slow. After 4:00 of rest I was feeling almost completely recovered and managed to run the second set better than the first. With the track clearing up I didn't have to run through the crowds any more and I was able to get into a nice rhythm. On most intervals I would come through the 200 in 34 and focus on maintaining a good turnover to the finish. Pretty happy with how the workout turned out, especially considering the conditions. Not too long ago I would almost need to go all out to run a sub 70 quarter so it's definitely encouraging to be running 16 of those with short rest. Definitely excited with how my fitness is progressing.

Wednesday: 8M
Out from the Bay club to the Embarcadero, continued along the water to the Marina and back through some random streets. Rather uneventful run.

Thursday: 9M
4x2K
6:10, 6:36, 6:32, 6:30.
Headed out from the Bay Club around 5:30 and ran a 2M warmup to AT&T park. I wanted to find a bathroom before starting my workout but I couldn't find anything nearby so I just stretched out, ran some strides and started the workout. I measured a distance of 2K from AT&T Park north along the Embarcadero and went back and forth for 4 intervals. I started the workout well, although I could sense my stomach getting uneasy early on. The goal was to run 6:20s and I was a bit surprised to see a 3:04 at the 1K mark. I didn't want to slow too much for the rest of the interval and managed to hit a rather comfortable 6:10. I ran straight into the ferry building after the first one and tried to find a bathroom for a quick pit stop. Managed to find one and came out to start the 2nd interval about 5:00 after I had finished the first one. I started the 2nd interval well, coming through the 1K mark in 3:07 then things started going bad. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my stomach and I inevitably slowed down for the last half of the interval. I thought about stopping the workout right there and spent a few minutes walking around, hoping the pain would go away. I did feel a bit better and decided to continue the workout but I was nowhere near the pace I had originally started the workout at. My legs were feeling ok but it felt like I was running with a full stomach and had trouble moving fast. I was pretty disappointed at the end of it but in retrospect it's not a horrible workout. I did put in a fairly hard effort, which in reality was the goal of the workout. I guess I'm more disappointed thinking that I could have ran a very good workout, considering how well I felt after the first interval. These things happen every now and then, though.

Friday: 10M
Out from the Bay club to Golden Gate Park, ran a small loop in the park and headed back. It was pouring rain at times, which I started enjoying once I was completely soaked. Felt pretty good and kept the pace fast the whole time. I forgot that the Bay Club closes at 8:30 on Fridays (as opposed to 9:30 the rest of the week) and I casually walked in around 8:40. Fortunately there was still someone at the front desk and they were kind enough to let me jump in for a quick shower. While I was still out I was contemplating adding another mile or two so it turned out to be a good thing that I didn't. Not sure what I would have done if I was locked out with nothing but a soaked pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

Saturday: 14M
Started from my new temporary apartment in Nob Hill and picked up my usual route towards the Presidio. Continued west on the Bay trail instead of going down towards Crissy fields and eventually picked up Lands End trail and continued on to Golden Gate park. Ran up the north side of the park to Presidio Blvd, headed north from there and started making my way to Nob Hill after Geary Blvd. Felt a bit tired today and I was running slow, especially on the hills.

A whole new beginning.

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 03:22:00 +0000

Once again, I'm back after a long hiatus from blogging to give you a long overdue update. You probably expect to read the same old story; a few months with little training but an improvement in consistency as of late. Well, that's sort of true I guess but things are a bit different this time. On quite a few occasions over the past 3 years, I was getting excited and optimistic about a return to competitive running once I started running close to 40-50 miles a week. This time I've actually had 2-3 fairly solid months of training and even competed in a couple of national championships. I've been running consistently over 60M/week over the last 3 months and close to 80M for the last 3 weeks. In the beginning of January I competed in the 10K at the Cyprus national XC championships and placed 4th in 35:42 (probably 300-500m longer than 10K though). Three weeks later I raced at the half marathon national championships and finished 3rd in 1:13:37. Having put in another month of training since then, where I've been increasing the mileage and running progressively faster workouts I can definitely say that I'm getting fairly fit and I really look forward to racing again.

Perhaps one of the biggest reasons that my training is back on the right track is that I'm now a member of Dromea Racing , one of the few running clubs in Cyprus. Dromea was founded about 3 years ago and has grown to a few hundred members, including people with a wide range of running abilities. There's a social part to being member of the club but I also get to train with a couple of pretty fast teammates, at least while I'm in Cyprus. I'm also being coached by George and Stavros Loukaides and having a coach has definitely helped me structure my training a lot better. I took a VO2 max test as soon as I joined and we based my training on the outcome (my VO2 max was calculated at 69 ml/kg/min). My first workouts were at a pace where I was getting a good workout but also feeling like I had more to give at the end of it. I hadn't run any track workouts in a long time and it definitely helped my confidence to come out of the first ones feeling strong instead of struggling to run an ambitious pace. The workouts have been gradually getting faster and more challenging but I'm still feeling strong at the end and I haven't had a bad workout yet. My race results also reflect the leap in fitness as I went from running a 35:42 10K (albeit a long one) to running a 35:05 10K enroute to a 1:13 half, only 3 weeks later. Having put in one more month of training since then I'm getting pretty excited and I'm thinking that I could be getting close to PR territory in another month or two.

So what's in the plans for the future? There's nothing definite yet but my long term goal is to pick things up where I left them before my Achilles surgery and move up to the marathon. That's not gonna happen in the immediate future, though, as I want to build up a solid base and have a few months of consistent training before I attempt to race a marathon. In the short term, I'll focus more on shorter distances, try to run some 5Ks and 10Ks and return to the track for the national championships. Interestingly enough I've never ran a 10K on the track and haven't really trained to run a 5K either so it will be good to see what I can pull off. One thing is for sure; I'm motivated, I'm having fun running and I can't wait to be a competitive runner once again.

Week Recap (1 May 2011 - 7 May 2011) - 40 Miles

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Mon, 09 May 2011 05:37:00 +0000

Sunday: 15M
Started the week off with a nice 15 miler. Headed out from home and to the Presidio up Arguello Blvd. Picked up the bay trail towards Lincoln Blvd, then continued along the Coastal trail and finally headed home through Golden Gate Park. Averaged right around 7:00 pace which is pretty decent for this loop since it includes a fair amount of rolling hills and some slow parts on the trails along the coast. Felt pretty good too, probably the best I've felt in a long run in quite a while.

Monday: 8M
Pretty slow run at golden gate park.

Tuesday: 0M
Day off.

Wednesday: 10M
Hill repeats, 2x up Hayes St, 4x back and forth on Divisadero. I decided to run some hill repeats, partly in preparation for Bay to Breakers. I started from home and made my way to the botton of Hayes St hill after a couple of miles. The B2B course includes a rather brutal climb up to the top of Hayes St by Alamo Square. This workout brought back memories of workouts we used to run up Summit Ave in Boston and it was surprising how similar Hayes St and the long side of Summit ave are. They are both close to half a mile with similar elevation gain. Hayes St starts out a bit more gradual though and is a lot steeper near the top, making it pretty hard to top well. I started my workout as soon as I crossed Laguna St and started working the hill well. I slowed down as I was getting closer to the top, as expected, but I managed to put in a good effort. My legs we already feeling it though and I wasn't looking forward to heading back down and running another repeat. Even the downhill part was rather brutal and I was running on tired legs on the second one, making it noticeably slower. I was feeling pretty tired for the rest of the workout and I didn't feel like I was running very fast but it was a somewhat decent effort. I was considering adding a couple more short repeats but opted for a longer cool-down instead. I even stopped by Kezar and ran some barefoot strides before heading back home.

Thursday - Friday: 0M

Saturday: 7M
10x400 with 200m rest: 75, 76, 73, 73, 73, 70, 69, 70, 69, 67. Some speedwork to close out the week. I wasn't expecting a very challenging workout since I was taking 200m of rest between intervals and my head wasn't entirely in it when I started. I came through in 36 on the first one but relaxed too much on the second half. The second one didn't go much better and I was a bit surprised to see a 38 turning to a 39 at the 200. At that point I starting getting worried that it was going to be a rough day and even thought about cutting the workout short if the next interval continued on the same trend. Fortunately I managed to get into a better rhythm from then on and pulled off a decent workout. The last half, especially, felt pretty good and it was good to see that I still have some kind of speed in my legs.

Zippy 5K

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Wed, 04 May 2011 06:03:00 +0000

16:38

Splits: 5:17, 10:50 (5:33)

I had a range of goals heading into this race, ranging from conservative to very aggressive. On the more conservative end I wanted to run under 17:00, which would give me a seeded spot for Bay to Breakers. I knew of course that was a very soft goal and I thought something in the mid 16s would be more realistic. After my last workout, though, I started raising my expectations a bit and even entertained thoughts of running sub 16. And if I was gonna shoot for sub 16 I thought I might as well try to run faster than Schmeck's recent 15:52. In all seriousness, though, it was hard to know what to expect. I've been getting in better shape but I hadn't raced a 5K in ages and the biggest challenge was to get myself into a competitive mindset. After some thought I decided to shoot for a 5:10 opening mile and play it by ear from then on.

The race was at 8:30am and I got myself to Golden Gate Park around 7:15am so I had some time to spare. The weather wasn't great for sitting around, it had been raining overnight and everything around was wet. A few minutes before the start we got some more rain but it more or less died out by the time the gun went off. I was near the front at the start and stayed close to the leaders for the first few hundred meters. I knew of course that I had no business following those guys and I tried to settle to my goal pace. I didn't really have a good sense of pace and I kept trying to evaluate how I felt. I wasn't too excited to see a 5:17 at the mile mark as I wasn't too comfortable and I was hoping that I had perhaps gone out a bit too fast. I made an effort in the second mile to move up a bit and passed a few people but was a bit surprised to see a 5:33 split. It probably makes sense though as the second mile is the slowest of the course. There's a couple of short hills, some turns going around Stow Lake and not all that great footing. I ran this race 3 years ago and back then I had run a 15:34 with 4:50 and 5:10 for my first two splits. I can't really say that one should expect a 15-20 second deviation between the first two miles but I think it's safe to say at least that mile 2 is somewhat slower. I tried to push myself to finish strong but I wasn't really able to switch gears. I was sort of in no mans land, there was a group ahead of me but I wasn't able to gain on them much and I could hear some guy running behind me but I never got to see him either. I had a decent kick at the end and I finished feeling that I had more in the tank. I even went for an 8 mile cool-down afterwards and was feeling rather fresh.

I can't say that I was very pleased with my race although not terribly disappointed either. In the back of my head I was hoping to be close to 16:00 but maybe that was a bit overambitious. There's no doubt that I could have raced better but I can't beat myself up about it. I'm just starting to push myself in workouts and I can't say yet that I've managed to get outside my comfort zone. Even before my surgery I was training for a marathon and running longer races so for a long time I hadn't been in a competitive situation where I needed to be aggressive from the start. It's gonna take a while to get myself race sharp and saying there's quite a bit of rust to be busted would be a huge understatement. So I guess there are some positives to take away from this race; I am getting in better shape and I just need to stay motivated and keep at it.

Post Kaiser updates

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 23:28:00 +0000

I know that over the last couple of years it hasn't been my habit to post frequent updates, mostly because I haven't been running all that much and didn't feel motivated to write about my lack of training. Things have been getting better lately so hopefully that will be motivation for more frequent updates, although I'm not promising anything. We'll see how things progress from here I suppose. In any case, the latest thing I have to show is a 16:38 5K, at the Zippy 5K about a week ago. I'll write a race recap in another post so this one is intended to fill the gap between the Kaiser half and this 5K.

The Kaiser half took quite a bit out of me and I was pretty sore for about a week after. I didn't run for a couple of weeks in an effort to recover and before I knew it I was falling into the same pattern as before. Sign up for a race, get motivated for a while then go back to mediocre training after the race. Throughout February and March I was only running 2-3 times a week so about 25-30 miles. Things got better over the last month though, to a big extend because I finally got a gym membership at a gym pretty much right across from work. Being able to go for a run in the middle of the day has helped out a lot since I hate running in the mornings and getting the run out of the way early in the day is the best way to avoid skipping it. This way I managed to get my mileage closer to 50M/week and while I still have ways to go before I'm as competitive as before at least I'm now seeing myself heading in that direction.

Besides the increase in mileage, I'm starting to put in some better workouts as well. I had some good fartleks and tempos but what got me pumped the most was the last track workout I ran before Zippy. I ran 4x1600 the week before the race, trying to get a sense of what I should be shooting for. I was shooting for 5:20s to begin with and started out with a 5:21, followed with a 5:20. I felt a lot better than I expected and picked things up on the 3rd, hitting a 5:11. I still felt that I had more in me and tried to shoot for a sub 5 on the last one. I started out on pace, coming through in 74 and 2:29 but lost some focus on the 3rd lap and came through in 3:47. I made a bid for it on the last lap but came just a little short, rounding up the workout with a 5:00. It would have been nice to see a 4 on the watch but I was still pretty happy with the workout. In general I'm happy with the way my fitness is progressing and I'm getting excited about pushing myself more and racing at a more competitive level. Hopefully my motivation levels will remain as high moving forward.

Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 00:41:00 +0000

A couple of months ago I ran the Kaiser half and started writing a race recap afterwards but somehow managed not to save most of it. I didn't feel like writing it again but I figured I should at least write a shorter version. The very short version is that I ended up running a rather painful 1:19:50, averaging ~5:50 pace for the first 7 miles before slowing down significantly for the last few miles. Here are my splits:
5:48, 11:34(5:46), 17:36(6:02), 23:37(6:01), 29:33(5:56), 35:11(5:38), 40:52(5:41), 46:54(6:02), 53:05(6:11), 59:36(6:30), 65:59(6:23), 1:12:39(6:40),1:19:50(7:11 for the last 1.1 mile)

Before getting into some more details about the race I should I guess mention what I've been up to since the last time I showed up signs of life on this blog. Last September, as I was getting ready for Alumni XC, I was starting to get a little more consistent in my training and I was hoping I would carry on and increase my volume even more afterwards. Unfortunately that hasn't happened and I was actually less consistent over the last few months. I've been good about running on weekends and in general I would run 8-10 miles on Saturday and follow that with a 13-16 mile long run on Sunday. Weekdays though were pretty much hit or miss and most weeks I would only manage to get out the door once or twice more. So I probably averaged something around 30-35 miles per week and wasn't running any workouts either.

A few weeks before Kaiser I started thinking that I needed something to motivate me and that's why I decided to sign up for the half. I knew I wasn't really in shape to run a half and I wasn't expecting much but thought it would be good to get in a race again, even if I would run it as a workout. When I signed up I was thinking that I'd probably start out running 6:30s and try to finish up the last few miles at a tempo effort. Two weeks before the half I ran my first workout since September and ran 3200-1600-4x800 in 11:16, 5:15, 2:32, 2:32, 2:31, 2:31. The following week I ran 5x1600 in 5:21, 5:21, 5:21, 5:25, 5:16. I was definitely surprised as I was running considerably faster than my last workouts without really having trained much in between.

After those workouts I wasn't sure what to shoot for and thought it would be best to start out somewhat conservatively, somewhere around 6:00, and push the last half if I felt good. That plan kind of went out the window once the race started and the adrenaline rush I got from racing again made the first couple of miles a little faster than what I wanted. I was feeling rather comfortable though so I just went with it. I settled a bit in miles 3-5 but got faster again on miles 6-7, thanks in part to a downhill section through the park. I was still feeling pretty good at mile 7 but soon things changed once we turned along Ocean beach. While I was still feeling fine aerobically, my legs started having trouble handling the pounding and soon I was in survival mode instead of racing. I struggled to keep myself moving and got passed by quite a few people, which was a bit disheartening, but at that point I wasn't thinking about racing and only wanted to get myself to the finish. I somehow managed to get to the finish line without completely falling apart but was pretty much wiped out. I walked straight to my car afterwards and headed home without doing any stretching or cool-down. It was definitely one of the most painful races I've ever run.

I had mixed feelings after the race but after thinking about it for a while I wound up feeling fairly good about it. I know it's hard to get excited about running almost 10 minutes slower than my PR but it's not too bad considering how much I've been running. In September I only managed to average just under 6:00 for 5 miles and now I was just over 6:00 for 13. I know the comparison between cross country and the roads is not exactly fair but still, that's quite an improvement in my book. So, a step in the right direction I suppose.

Reviving the blog

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:41:00 +0000

It's time to bring this blog back to life. I think the timing is good, right after competing at the Alumni cross country meet this past weekend, my my first race in 23 months. I'll follow up with a race report in another post but first there's some gaps I need to fill in.

First of all, the big question; where are am I at at the moment? The short answer; in good enough shape to run a 29:28 at Franklin Park. Training-wise I've been running around 45-50 miles for the past few weeks and even started running some track workouts about a month ago. The important thing is that the Achilles is feeling good but I'm still being a bit cautious and intensionally only running 5 days a week to give my foot some recovery time.

I know it seems like my recovery process has been pretty slow, especially if you consider that in my last post, which was over a year ago, I was raving about how I was starting to feel like a runner again. Back then I was thinking that it wouldn't be long before I'd be able to get back to some solid training so 20 months after the surgery it's obvious that things haven't exactly progressed as I was hoping to. I could definitely try to analyze everything that happened during all this time but that might take a while so I'll just try to sum things up in a hopefully not too long way.

Back in June 09 I was very happy with my training. I was riding 120-130 miles a week on my bike, even doing a couple of 60+ mile rides. In addition to that I was running 1-2 miles, 2-3 times a week, I was going for physical therapy 2 times a week and even had the occasional session on the elliptical. In general I was very motivated, feeling like I was in pretty good shape and excited about getting back to regular running.

Things took a different after my summer vacation in Cyprus. I didn't really do much for 3 weeks, which was pretty much what I was expecting as I wanted to enjoy my vacation and wasn't really in a position to worry about losing fitness. My summer laziness alone shouldn't have been a big deal but what got me into trouble was that I got a little impatient as soon as I returned to the Bay area. I had been very patient up to that point but suddenly I was really anxious to get back to running and pushed myself more than I should have. I was starting to feel good and thought I could both start running longer and faster at the same time, which I did without much trouble at first. Unfortunately my legs, particularly the calves, were still not strong enough and the faster pace put too much stress on the Achilles. One thing I started regretting about my laziness in Cyprus is that I neglected the stretching and strengthening exercises which I had been so diligently doing in physical therapy over the previous months. In retrospect that could have been one of the reasons of my setback as I lost some strength and flexibility and probably paid for it when I tried to run faster.

With the Achilles flaring up again I had no option but to take a break from running and shift my focus towards increasing my strength and flexibility. It was a frustrating thing to do as it felt like I was going back to where I was 4 months earlier. The frustration was followed by a significant decrease in my motivation levels. I did a decent job with my strengthening program and did as much walking/jogging as I had planned but besides that I didn't feel motivated at all to do any additional cross training. I could barely get myself to stay on the elliptical for more than half an hour and didn't manage to get any good bike rides either. Eventually I felt that I was so out of shape that I didn't see any reason to cross train. Two or three months later I slowly started getting back to running but I took things really easy this time, taking my time to progress from jogging at 10min pace to something I could actually call running.

It wasn't until late last year / beginning of this year that I was able to get back to putting in some decent runs. It wasn't exactly smooth sailing from then on but at least things were heading in the right direction. I was gradually able to handle longer runs but I couldn't get myself into a consistent training regiment. In part that was because I was being cautious and didn't want to ramp up mileage quickly. Also on a few occasions the Achilles would feel tight at the end of a run and I would give it some time off to make sure I wouldn't have another setback. These definitely sound like legitimate excuses but I can't say that I was giving this comeback my 100%. As much as I hate to say it I have to admit that at some point running was no longer my top priority. When you are only trying to run 3 or 4 times a week it doesn't seem like a big deal to skip a run and when you are not exactly in shape and don't have any real goals it's easy to let other things come in the way of running. It was kind of a weird situation overall and it took me a while to bounce out of it.

I can't really isolate a single turning point but I did get more consistent eventually, about 2 months ago. I guess the alumni meet gave me some motivation and seeing how Schmeck was falling behind in his training I started thinking I might have a shot at winning our bet. If it weren't for the alumni meet I would have probably waited a bit longer before starting track workouts and definitely wouldn't consider racing for a while longer. I think it helped though to start doing some faster stuff as I finally started feeling like I was getting more fit. In the end time kind of run out and Schmeck managed to come on top but I have to say I'm very pleased with the progress I made over the last couple of months.

That was kind of a long summary I admit. The last question I guess would be, what's next? Well, I haven't exactly figured that out yet. The important thing right now is to remain consistent and keep putting in more miles. I still need some time to get my base fitness back up to a good level so I probably won't get into any more races any time soon. We'll see, I'm playing things by ear for now. At least for the first time in quite a while, I'm being optimistic and getting excited about the future.

Once again, a runner

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:54:00 +0000

A monumental day! I think I can now call myself a runner again. Technically I have been "running" for the past 2 weeks but today I crossed the line from jogging to actual running. I had started doing some fast walking on the treadmill almost a month ago, gradually adding some intervals of light jogging until I managed to jog my first continuous mile 2 weeks ago. My jogging pace was only marginally faster than walking, though, I was walking at 12:30 - 13:00 pace and started jogging at just under 12:00 pace. For the past 2 weeks I have been jogging a mile every other day and gradually increased the pace but didn't really get much faster than 11:00 pace. I didn't have any issues with the Achilles but trying to get my legs moving again felt a bit awkward at first. Not surprising I guess after not having run a step in 4.5 months and still lacking strength in my legs. There was steady progress of course but no dramatic changes from one day to the next. The last few days I have been feeling stronger but I was still cautious and didn't try pushing myself much. Well, today I thought it was time to take a leap to the next level. It was a pretty good day overall, I managed to get myself out of bed early enough to ride my bike to work and had a really good ride on the way back. I'm either getting stronger or finally started figuring out how to climb hills on my bike as I was doing a really good job at it. I ended up back home around 8PM, finishing off a total of 32 miles on the bike, and despite having worked my quads quite a bit I was pumped about going for a run. As soon as I got home I switched out of my biking and into my running clothes and headed down to the treadmill for the usual mile. So far I had been doing some walking for a few minutes before starting my jog but this time I jumped right into it. I started at slightly faster than 10:00 pace for maybe a minute then brought it down to about 8:30. I kept it steady for a while and dropped down in the low 8s for the last couple of minutes. I felt like I could easily go faster but I thought it would be smarter not to get carried away. My legs are getting stronger and cardiovascularly I think I managed to keep myself in good shape. Sure, I still have ways to go but for the first time since the surgery I got a glimpse of how it feels to be running again. And what a great feeling that is. Never take that for granted.

4 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Sat, 23 May 2009 17:51:00 +0000

4 months have come and gone since the surgery and I'm staring to feel like my return to running is fast approaching. I know of course that I still have ways to go before I can get back to a regular running routine so perhaps I shouldn't be getting too far ahead of myself but it's good at least that I'm almost ready to take the next step. I met with Dr Oloff this week and he was happy with my progress, everything seems to be going according to schedule. I've been cleared to start doing some fast walking and gradually progress as tolerated to some light jogging. I got on the treadmill once this past week and walked a mile, starting at 20 minute pace and progressing down to about 13 min pace. A few times I tried to jog a couple of steps, just to see how it felt, and the result was rather encouraging. I didn't feel any pain but trying to run did feel a little awkward, which shouldn't be surprising I guess. I think my Achilles could tolerate some light running right now but I first need to build some more strength in my left leg, especially in the calf. I'm still not able to fully do a single leg calf raise on my left foot and I need to be strong enough to push myself off the ground before I can start running. Hopefully I'll get close enough by the end of this week but I'm definitely not gonna rush into it. I've waited long enough so far and I don't mind waiting a few more weeks to ensure that I don't have any setbacks. After all it's not like I'm gonna jump into running right away. I'll probably start with jogging a mile every other day and gradually build up the mileage and intensity. I'll continue to cross train until I get to the point where I'm running sufficient mileage, which of course won't be happening any time soon.

Speaking of cross training, this past week has been pretty solid. I started the week with a 29 mile bike ride on Sunday, got on the elliptical Monday-Tuesday and rode my bike to work the last 3 days of the week. Saturday was off as planned. In total I biked about 130 miles and spent a couple of hours on the elliptical. Here's the summary:

Sunday - 5/17
29 mile bike ride

Monday - 5/18
1:30 on elliptical

Tuesday - 5/19
Physical therapy
30:00 elliptical
1 mile fast walking, some jogging

Wednesday - 5/20
Biked to work
~32 miles

Thursday - 5/21
Biked to work in the morning, biked to PJCC for physical therapy, biked back to work and home in the afternoon. ~38 miles

Friday - 5/22
Biked to work
~32 miles

Saturday - 5/23
Off

Back on the open road

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Sun, 17 May 2009 05:56:00 +0000

I'm not quite ready to start running again but last Sunday I stepped outside for my first post-surgery bike ride on the road. It was pretty exciting to be doing something outdoors again. It's not really the same as running but at least time flies by a lot more quickly when there's a change of scenery, making it easier to get a longer workout. I was a bit concerned at first about riding outdoors but I didn't have any trouble with it. The riding was actually smoother since with the clip on shoes my feet were not jostling around like on the stationary bike. I didn't have to make any sudden stops and opted to stay on flat ground so I didn't really do anything that would put too much stress on the Achilles. I rode 18-19 miles on my first ride last Sunday and rode once more on Tuesday, making it to work on my bike, about 32 miles round trip. The only drawback of starting to ride outside is that it made cross training more boring and I had to force myself a couple of times to stay on the elliptical for long enough. It ended up being a good week though, the best ever since the surgery. I spent about 3.5 hours on the bike and almost 4.5 on the elliptical in 6 days, with Saturday being a planned day off. Timewise that's about the same as running a 70 mile week which is not too shabby. If you even consider that I've been going for physical therapy 3 times a week and on those days I usually end up spending about 3 hours in the gym, plus I do a lot more stretching and strengthening exercises on a daily basis, it all adds up to a fair amount of time spent in training and rehab. One of the goals I had set for this recovery period was to go diligently through the rehab and do a decent amount of cross training and I think I'm easily meeting if not exceeding my expectations. For someone who hasn't run a step in almost 4 months I actually feel that I'm in decent shape. I know it's gonna be a while before my legs can handle a decent running volume but in the meantime I think I'm doing a good job at keeping the cardiovascular system functional.

Here's a recap of what I've done since the last update:

Thursday - 4/23
Bike 40 min

Friday - 4/24
Physical Therapy
Bike 35 min

Saturday - 4/25
Day off

Sunday - 4/26
Bike 25 min

Monday - 4/27
Elliptical 30 min
Bike 30min

Tuesday - 4/28
Bike 30 min
Elliptical 30 min

Wednesday - 4/29
Swimming 45 min

Thursday - 4/30
Elliptical 1h 30min

Friday - 5/1
Bike 1h

Saturday - 5/2
Day off

Sunday - 5/3
Day off

Monday - 5/4
Physical Therapy
Bike 15min
Elliptical 35 min

Tuesday - 5/5
Elliptical 1h

Wednesday - 5/6
Physical therapy
Bike 45 min

Thursday - 5/7
Bike 20 min
Elliptical 1h

Friday - 5/8
Physical therapy
Elliptical 1h

Saturday 5/9
Day off

Sunday 5/10
Bike ~19 miles, 1:30

Monday - 5/11
Physical therapy
1h 20min elliptical

Tuesday - 5/12
AM: Bike to work, 17 miles, 1:09:45
PM: Bike from work, ~ 14.7 miles, ~55 min

Wednesday - 5/13
Elliptical 30min

Thursday - 5/14
Elliptical 1h

Friday - 5/15
Elliptical 1h 30min

Saturday - 5/16
Day off

Some numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:00:00 +0000

I thought about putting all the details of the workouts I've done over the past few weeks in my last post but I figured it was worth breaking into a different one. No interesting stories here, I guess this is mostly for my benefit to keep track of what I've been doing and help me stay motivated. I realize that the times I had for my swimming workouts might not be very meaningful (they don't make much sense to me either) but I put them here so I can see how much I've been improving.

Sunday 3/29
Swimming
150 warm-up
800, 600

Monday 3/30
Swimming
150 warm-up
5x200
4:01, 4:03, 4:25, 4:15, 4:19

Tuesday 3/31
Strengthening and core work at home.

Wednesday 4/1
Swimming
2x1000
22:57, 23:50

Thursday 4/2
Lifting

Friday 4/3
Swimming
150 warm-up
800-600-400-200
17:35, 13:33, 9:08, 4:14

Saturday 4/4
Nothing

Sunday 4/5
Swimming
3000
65:12
1K splits: 21:21, 43:18 (21:57), 65:12 (21:54)

Monday 4/6
Nothing as far as I can remember. Probably worked out a bit on my fitness ball.

Tuesday 4/7
Swimming
300 warm-up
10x200

Wednesday 4/8
First day of physical therapy at MORE. Worked with the trainers for about an hour then swam for about 20 min.

Thursday 4/9
Swimming
1000-800
20:25, 16:49

Friday 4/10
Physical therapy

Saturday - 4/11
Nothing

Sunday - 4/12
Nothing

Monday 4/13
Physical therapy
10 minutes on bike. First time on a bike so I was pretty cautious.
Swimming
2000
1K splits: 18:31, 19:01

Tuesday 4/14
Bike
15 min

Wednesday 4/15
Physical Therapy
Bike
20 min

Thursday - 4/16
Swimming
25 minutes

Friday - 4/17
Physical Therapy
Lifting
Achilles felt a bit sore so I opted out of the bike or swimming.

Saturday - 4/18
Nothing

Sunday - 4/19
Nothing

Monday - 4/20
Physical Therapy
Bike
30 minutes.

Tuesday - 4/21
Bike
40 minutes

Wednesday - 4/22
AM
Physical Therapy
Bike 30 min

PM
Swim 30 min

A long overdue update

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:00:00 +0000

It's been a while since the last post so an update was long overdue. The last few weeks have been rather eventful but I've had little time to write about it. My recovery has been going well, it sure is a long road but things are progressing well.
Over the last 3 weeks I gradually eased out of the walking boot and today was the first day I didn't wear at all. Walking without the boot felt awkward at first and for the first few days I was walking pretty slow, even slower than the first days on crutches. The lack of flexibility in my Achilles and strength in my left calf were the main limiting factors. Things progressively got better and by now I can almost walk like normal. My Achilles still gets a little stiff if I'm sitting down for a long time but after taking a few steps it loosens up and I can walk without a noticeable limp. I have to attribute the improvement to a large extend to the physical therapy sessions which I started a couple of weeks ago. I have 3 physical therapy sessions a week and I'm doing a lot of strengthening exercises on a daily basis so I've been spending a lot of time in rehab. I haven't been swimming as much mostly because between having some busy weeks at work and spending a lot of time in physical therapy, I didn't have the time for it. On the plus side, I started working out on the stationary bike so I can now have some variety in my cross training and the option of a workout which relates more to running. Overall I'm happy with the progress I made so far and I can only hope that my condition will continue to improve at the same rate. The most optimistic estimates put me back in my running shoes in about a month, which is starting to seem so close. It's hard to believe that it's been 3 months already since the surgery.

Wishing I could run

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 23:45:00 +0000

It's been 9 weeks since my surgery and until the last couple of days I made it through without letting the fact that I can't run get me down. Perhaps that wasn't the hardest thing to do while I was on crutches since running is not the first thing on your mind when you can't even walk. Even after I started walking though, I managed to keep a positive attitude and think of the bigger picture. Any other time I was injured in the past I couldn't get out of my head that as long as I was sidelined I was losing fitness day by day. The most frustrating thing is that there was usually a lot of uncertainty on the period of time I'd need to sit out and that can drive you crazy when you are eager to get back to running. My current situation is somewhat better in that respect since I have a better idea of what the recovery time frame is. This will be my longest break from running ever but knowing that ahead of time at least allowed me to prepare mentally and so far I hadn't though about running much. On Friday evening, though, I went to watch the Stanford invitational and started feeling the need to run again. As I'm getting close to the track I see lots of people running and getting ready for their races, meanwhile the radio starts playing Tom Petty's "Running down a dream", and I can't help but wish I could be racing myself. It hasn't helped that the last couple of days the weather has been sunny and in the 70s (I don't mean to make the Boston people jealous), the kind of weather that makes you hate yourself if you are not outside. Anyway, writing more about this won't help either so I'll move on to what I've been doing this past week...

It was a rather hectic week at work so I didn't do that much. I swam on Tuesday, extending my longest swim to 1500m (it's possible that this is 1500y as I'm not sure if the pool at Club O is 25m or 25y long). On Wednesday I didn't feel like swimming when I got to Club O and thought I'd lift instead. After lifting, though, I decided to go for a swim after all and did a short workout, doing a 150 warm-up, then swimming 200, 150, 100, 50 as fast as I could and finishing off with 100 cool-down. I haven't lifted in a long time but still managed to bench 3 sets of 6 repeats with plates although I was pretty sore the next few days. I didn't do much on any other day of the week as I wound up working late and with the pool closing at 9:30PM I didn't have time for a swim. Next week I'm taking the boot off and hopefully I'll be able to start doing some biking (on the stationary bike at least). I'm definitely more comfortable with swimming now but it would be good to get some cross training variety.

Back on my feet!

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 05:25:00 +0000

Last Tuesday, 54 days after my surgery, I took my first steps without crutches. I doubt there will be a bigger milestone than this in my recovery process. Sure, I still look forward to walking without the boot, getting on the bike and ultimately starting to run again, but nothing is as important as the ability to walk. There are some fundamental things that we take for granted and we can only appreciate after spending some time without them. It will take some more time of course to get back to walking normally but at least I now have my hands free and I can carry stuff, which makes a huge difference. My walking abilities are not too bad actually, I was pretty slow the first day I was back on my feet but I'm walking more comfortably now and I'm mostly limited by the clunky boot on my foot. A little over a week and I'll be back in my own shoes. Now onto the past week... I went swimming on 4 days and swam more each time compared to the previous week's sessions. Wednesday was my best day, swimming almost a mile in total and breaking my longest interval record with 1K interval. I swam that 1K in just over 26 minutes, which I'm guessing puts me in the slow jogger category in equivalent running terms but if you consider that I could barely swim 100m-200m without a break when I started I've definitely come a long way. I was hoping to put in a couple more swims like that later in the week but I came back home from work early on Thursday, feeling a bit sick and was still a bit under the weather on Friday so I took 2 days of complete rest. I went back for a swim on Saturday morning but was a bit lazy and only stayed in for half an hour. Still a good week overall, I couldn't expect to be doing much more at this point.

A good start to the week

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:09:00 +0000

Last week was not that great as far as training goes. I only swam Monday and Tuesday and worked out on my fitness ball Wednesday and Thursday. I wouldn't say I was slacking since it was mostly work getting in the way or the pool being way too crowded for me to swim in. I suppose I still did a lot more than what the average person on crutches would do but I like to hold myself to higher standards. I'm trying to make it to the pool on weekdays or get some other kind of workout on days I don't manage to swim. I'm not obsessing much about working out on weekends and I'll gladly skip a workout if I have something else planned. It's not that I'm obsessing much about my training in general at the moment but if on any given day my options are between sitting on the couch at home and going for a swim I feel like I owe it to myself to do the latter. In any case, things got off to a better start this week with a nice 40 minute swim. I didn't have anything planned for the day and since I hadn't swam the last 5 days I figured it was worth driving up to Club O. I had a good session, swimming something over 1K. That's probably really unimpressive but I'm only using my arms, I don't know much about swimming, which means my technique is probably horrible and I can't make a flip turn (I made a couple of unsuccessful attempts, maybe I should try it out some more) so I'm wasting a lot of time each time I get to the end of the pool. I feel at least that my swimming abilities are improving and I'm getting more comfortable in the water. In a few weeks I should be able to start biking so who knows, maybe after all these I could give a triathlon a shot.

Swimming!

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 07:05:00 +0000

I'm about a week late posting this but it's still pretty exciting news. Last Wednesday (March 4) I went swimming for the first time since my surgery and finally got a real workout. I don't think I have ever been excited about swimming, in fact I always dreaded heading to the pool, mostly because it was associated with me being injured. Funny how your perspective changes when you can't even walk for 6 weeks. Being able to swim suddenly feels a lot more liberating, even though, in my case, getting in and out of the pool is quite a process. Between switching from my street clothes to my swim truncks and back, I had to take off and put on my walking boot 3 times (which has a bunch of straps and flaps to remove). Making my way with crutches from the locker room into the pool must also look rather entertaining. I'm not complaining, though, and I've actually been feeling very motivated to work out these days. I went for a swim 5 times so far, going every day since I started except the weekend, when I didn't feel like driving up to Club O, and today when I got held up at work and didn't have the time to squeeze a swim in. Even on those days I worked out a bit at home, doing some strengthening and core stuff. So I no longer feel that I'm a lazy bum, like the first few weeks post-op.

Now on to the actual swimming part. I can't say that I've been pushing myself much but I think that I've been getting some decent workouts. I started with a 15 minute swim and progressed to about half an hour. I'm also gradually cutting my breaks shorter and increasing the actual swimming time. I know it doesn't seem like much but things are tougher when you suck at swimming and cannot even use your legs. Even in just a few days I've noticed some improvement so hopefully I'll be better and stronger soon and I'll be swimming more. I don't expect to become a competitive swimmer any time soon but what's important is that I'm doing something to stay reasonably fit.

Cast-free

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:19:00 +0000

I had another post-op follow up with Dr Oloff today to check up how my recovery is progressing. Everything seems to be going well and the doctor even said my foot looked better than he was expecting. There's not much swelling and the incission has healed nicely. I was expecting that I would get another cast but I ended up leaving in a walking boot, which has both advantages and disadvantages. I almost got the option of choosing between getting another cast but getting rid of the crutches then switching to the walking boot in a couple of weeks or going straight to the walking boot but sticking with the crutches for two more weeks. In the end Dr Oloff thought it would be best to go with the walking boot mostly because the skin on my foot was a bit irritated and the boot would allow it to breathe better. It would have been nice to get rid of the crutches but at least I can now take a shower without a cast. My foot certainly appreciated getting a good wash after being covered up for almost 6 weeks. I can also take the boot off at night and replace it with a splint, which will make things a little more comfortable. The best news though is that I can now get in the pool so I can finally start getting some exercise again. Tomorrow I should be going for my first swim.

1.5 feet on the ground

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 09:16:00 +0000

I'm closing in on 5 weeks after the surgery and an update was long overdue. I had every intention to post some more regular updates about my progress but I never got it. The truth is life isn't very exciting when you have to walk around with crutches so I can't say that I had much to write about.

There haven't been any dramatic changes since the first days after the surgery, just a gradual and steady improvement. My left leg is still in a cast and I still need crutches to walk around but as you may have figured out from the title I can at least put some weight on the operated foot. I was on a non-weight bearing cast for the first 3 weeks and spent a lot of time trying to balance myself on one leg. It took some getting used to and for the first few days it felt like I was getting a workout everytime I had to walk. Not a bad thing I guess since I spent most of my days lying or sitting down. I think it helped improve my upper body strength along with my sense of balance and coordination, getting to the point where I could comfortably walk a decent distance.

I changed over to a weight bearing cast about a week and a half ago so things are even more comfortable now since I can stand on both feet. It took a few trips to the doctor before I could get a weight bearing cast as they had to push my foot up to a 90 degree angle before I could stand on it. My foot was pretty stiff the first couple of times I replaced the cast and I went through a few intermediate stages where they kept pushing my foot further up each time. They got it up to a 90 degree angle eventually and I gradually started putting weight on it. I was supposed to be putting only 25% weight for the first week, which basically meant my foot was touching the ground but pretty much just used for balance, with all the weight on the crutches. I'm now at a 50% weight so it almost feels like I'm walking normally, with some support of course from the crutches. Next week I'll start using only one of the crutches and a week later I'll be crutch-free. I'll be walking with the cast at first then getting a walking boot for another couple of weeks so I'm looking at almost another month before I'm walking around with my own shoes on both feet.

It goes without saying that all this time I've been eager to get some kind of exercise. It's tough to do much when you are standing on one leg so I was fairly sedentary for the first 3 weeks. I did some crunches every now and then but nothing particularly demanding. I made it to the gym once and even had the bright idea of trying to work the stationary bike with one leg but that was rather unsucessful. I guess I'll need to wait a couple more weeks before doing any form of cross training. In the meantime I'm trying to stick to an almost daily program of core work and upper body strengthening.

That's all for now. Hopefully I won't take another month to post an update.

The first few days

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:41:00 +0000

It's been 3 days now since my surgery and my recovery has been going well. I haven't experienced any side effects from the surgery or the medication I've been taking. No drowsiness, nauseousness, stomach pains or anything. I only watched out my diet on the day of the surgery, just to be on the safe side and not because I felt that I'd get nauseous from eating something. The day after the surgery I was already back to my regular diet.

The pain has been rather mild although I should probably attribute that to the pain killers, which seem to do a good job at masking the pain. I had been taking pain killers every time I started to feel some pain, which would happen every 4-6 hours. I was also using a cryotherapy unit, which is a cooler-like box with a motor that pumps ice cold water to my foot to reduce the pain and swelling. Basically instead of icing my foot I had this unit attached the whole day (I only plugged it off when I went to bed at night), constantly cooling my foot. I stopped using the unit last night and today I only took a pain killer in the morning and I'm still pain free 9-10 hours later.

Everything I mentioned so far makes it seem like the surgery hasn't affected me much but it goes without saying that my mobility has taken a big hit. I need to be walking around with crutches for 2-3 weeks without putting any weight on my left foot. For the first 3 days my foot was just wrapped around with bandages and a splint on the back of my leg but today I had that replaced with a cast. Even with the cast, though, I can't put any weight and I'll rely on the crutches until I can switch the cast to a walking boot. Even the simplest tasks become challenging when you have to balance on one foot and can't walk and carry anything in your hands at the same time. One of the toughest situations is waking up in the middle of the night, needing to use the bathroom, and having to find my way there while half asleep. At least I've gotten the hang of it by now and I can walk around rather comfortably whenever I'm fully conscious. I still spend most of my day lying in bed or on the couch, which doesn't take long to get boring. I watched as much TV as I could take this past weekend but I'll be back at work this week (still at home but working nonetheless) so I'll have things to keep me busy. I'll be able to start driving on Wednesday so I'll even be able to get out of the house a little bit.

All things considered I'm happy with how things are progressing. I still have a long way to go before I'm fully recovered but the worst part is over with.

Surgery

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 06:28:00 +0000

I went back to Waverly Surgery center today and this time everything went according to plan. I was in at 6:30 am, in the operating room at 7:30 and on my way back home by 10:30. I was actually a bit surprised at how quickly everything was over with. I remember being rolled into the operating room and starting to doze off along the way then waking up in the recovery room a couple of hours later. I was fully concsious 5 minutes after I woke up, not feeling any drowsiness or pain (thanks to some good pain killers of course). I didn't have much trouble the rest of the day either besides having to deal with some discomfort from lying in bed all day with my leg elevated. I was able to walk around with crutches right away but was instructed to restrict my movements to only the necessary trips to the bathroom. It's good to finally have the surgery out of the way and knowing that everything went well.

A break from daily posts ...

noreply@blogger.com (Fivos) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 07:14:00 +0000

I haven't had much to write about for the last couple of months but I never got out of the habbit of posting daily updates. With my surgery coming up in a week I won't have any running to write about for quite some time so I'll only write whenever I have something that's worth mentioning. Look out for updates on the surgery and my recovery process.