Another Week

I've finally got some decent mileage in and can't wait to get ready for a good marathon build up for the fall. I've only got the rest of this month to mess around with mileage and whatever races I feel like doing until I'll follow a specific Jack Daniels Marathon plan that I devised, which will not involve drinking heavily amounts of the Brand Whisky... I believe it's going to force me to train specially for the marathon and not allow me to venture off on another tangent of random races; which I've done in the past and ended a "season" on a marathon. This time, starting July, I'll just pound our marathon workouts, and the end goal will be a nice race finishing in Central Park in November.

Although, this week didn't go as well as I'd liked, I still got some good workouts in. The track workout on tuesday was a pleasant taste of some speed, which I haven't touched in a very long time. My tempo workout on friday was a little hectic as a large forest fire in easter Arizona created massive smoke inhalation throughout New Mexico. This forced me to save my lungs form inundating them with smoke, and move my tempo workout onto the treadmill. This wasn't something I was completely pleased about, but it was kind of nice to try something new. I just ran 6 miles at tempo effort, and it went really well as I started off at 5:40 and came down to 5:22. I averaged 5:34 pretty comfortably, and was very happy with that. Although, this hard effort would take its unknowingly toll on my long run on sunday with some of the guys. That long run was only 17 miles; the longest I've run since my injury, and by the time we hit 14 miles, I started to fade as the rest of the gang started to hit their stride and drop some quicker miles on me. Nevertheless, I was still happy with it and will continue to increase my mileage as the USA Outdoor Championships approach.

Getting in the Groove of things

Things are starting to feel better on/in my knee. I know it is not 100% healthy, but its getting there. I've been slowly increasing my mileage and using some local races as workouts. But, I think I'll start to incorporate some workouts in the next few weeks. It's starting to feel good to just run more, but I can feel the lack of fitness in me, so proper workouts will help throughout the next few weeks.

Kris, Fristoe and I figured out a good marathon schedule that will lead us to the New York Marathon in November. We will do a couple of half marathons here and there, but my main focus is going to be a huge PR in New York! It would be nice to run a fast half marathon this fall and hit the USA Olympic Trials Standard, but we shall see how things turn out.

A few key points to recovery; in my opinion, have been using a rope for Isolated Stretching. This method of stretching has seemed to lengthen some of my quad and hamstring muscles and lessened the tightness on my kneecap. I've also used a variety of Acupuncturist/Eastern Doctors here in town. One lady; Judy Lui, used a machine called ONDAMED, which is complicated enough to explain, except that Paula Radcliffe sought her out to be treated by that same machine. Another Eastern Doctor/Acupuncturist named Karla Koch has been really great! So all in all, I should be 100% soon, and my confidence in my health and the help I've received from these wonderful people is greatly appreciated!

Road to Recovery

The MRI showed nothing of significance, but the pain still lingers on...

I've decided to continue running small amounts on it for the time being, and get any type of treatment to help with recovery. This includes: swimming, running, more stretching, core, acupuncture, Glucosamine pills, Krill pills, icing, topical anti-inflammatory cream, massages, and anything else you can think of. Either way, I've excepted that I cannot training at 100%, but will do other things to stay active and somewhat aerobically fit for a fall marathon; which I've also added to the crazyness of being addicted to running. 6-7 miles a day has been the normal routine, and I think I'll gradually increase it as the knee seems to stay the same, perhaps even slightly "better" (?). At any rate, spring is in the air, and its nice to feel the warm sun, and a cool breeze every once in awhile.

Still Hurt

It goes on...

Last tuesday I had an MRI and I'm still waiting for results. I think the worse thing about being hurt is not knowing what is going on. Once that is determined, then I think I can accept it and recover. But, until then, it is a struggle... and very depressing.

A few weeks down

After a few weeks of running, I am feeling more confident with myself and what goals I have for this upcoming spring. Each day isn't as hard as before, and the fitness is coming around. I have sat down a few times with my coach (Henry Rono), who has been forced to move in with us after coming back from Yemen. He has a new direction with his coaching philosophy; actually he has just implemented more things into his program. It is very exciting to discuss with him what the future brings to both of us.

My injury is gone, and as I begin my base phase of training, Henry and I are going to focus on the USA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in the 10,000m. I want to get back in great shape and improve on my disappointing 21st place finish last year. I know I can crack into the top 10, or even top 6. But, its going to take a great deal of work and consistent training every morning. There are many more things that I can improve on, and Henry is going to help out with that along with my lovely girlfriend Laura. She is big on drills and dynamic stretching, which is going to help with mobility and injury prevention. I see how Henry wants to develop American runners, and how to integrate Kenyan ways into our minds and bodies... Its just going to take some time, and I'm looking forward to it!