#mcmillanrunteam

I can't remember the last time I was this happy to run a measly 2.5 miles at a super slow pace. This was a test to see if my knee was up to taking a step forward next week. And it passed! There is still a long way to go but I'm on the long road back. I'll start a new @mcmillanrunning #mcmillanrunteam #rebuildfitness plan on Monday. . This run also closes out my #runningmileage for the year. Long gone are the days when I sacked up 2000 or more miles. Add in a fall injury and my number took a big hit in 2020, ending at 1,183 run miles. Ouch. It's not like I made up for it by #cycling more either. That said I did have a good year of #swimming, logging over 21k for the year. So I guess I swam a #halfmarathon this year. Sounds right for 2020. . #runblr #mastersrunner #injuryrecovery #easyrun #comebacktrail (at Mantua, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJcfadHnMIG/?igshid=1roq3panomky8

Good day for a #birthdayrun at #burkelakepark. I continued to build up my running time, doing 8 x 4/1 #runwalk sets. It was also the first time wearing the new knee sleeves and they definitely seemed to help. Weather was chilly but for a change, no wind. That meant a lot of people were out on the trail, and I had to have the buff covering my face more often not. I’m happy to have knocked out 4 miles, the most I've done in a while. Next week, I will start a #mcmillanrunteam #rebuildfitness plan while I continue to work on knee strength. And there's no timetable for racing. After 57 years, hopefully I've learned a little something about patience. One day, one run, at a time for now. #runblr #mastersrunner #injuryrehab #trailrunning (at Burke Lake Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJUXEannDQF/?igshid=s8fabo8ckobv

Another step on the long and winding recovery road. 5 sets of 4/1 #runwalk today on the trail behind my house, 2.6 miles total. As usual I walked on the street over to the trailhead (still no #roadrunning, soft surfaces only), then started the sets. Afterwards, some #mcmillanrunteam #prehab #corestrengthtraining. The knee is getting stronger, little by little. It's frustrating that recovery is so slow, but #progressisprogress. I just have to be patient. I also am due back to see the doctor about this after finally getting some scans done yesterday. Hopefully he doesn't make me go back to no running, because I really do think it's close to turning the corner. But we'll see what happens with that. In the meantime, back to the swimming pool tomorrow for some laps and intervals with all the #swimtoys. #runblr #fitblr #injuredrunner #patiencegrasshopper #trailrunning #runningcomeback #mastersrunner #offseasontriathlontraining https://www.instagram.com/p/CIoZCJ_HYDd/?igshid=118a93ieb5u5e

Gotta say, and those of you who are #garminrunning watch users know the feeling, that I'm getting real tired of seeing this on my watch after Every. Damn. Workout. lately. Not only that but my #vo2max is declining. The watch clearly thinks I am overtraining, and it may be right. I've tried to factor in more rest to see if that gets me back on track - two months ago I was regularly in "Maintaining," "Productive," or even "Peaking" mode on occasion. So something is off now. The problem is, now is when I wanted to be peaking, for fall and #mastersxc season. But it seems not to be. Instead I have to now gut it out for a couple more races and just endure. Once the last race is done (probably in November), I can take some time off, reboot and figure what went wrong this time. Anyway, #hillrepeats earlier today, 8x90 seconds up a 7% average grade. I've set my schedule up to have the rest of the week as recovery time until I race on Saturday, so maybe that will get me back on course. #runblr #mcmillanrunteam #mastersxcrunner #stubbornrunner #fallrunning #trainsmarter #whichiamnotdoing #frustratedrunner https://www.instagram.com/p/CGBgxkHnZNe/?igshid=14dhky5jndx17

I guess I had the #magictouch tonight at #burkelakepark where I kicked out a solid @mcmillanrunning #striderworkout of 12 x 20 seconds. It was first time here on so many months due to #quarantinelife and it felt great to be back at one of my favorite training spots. Got the run in as the sun went down then did my #coreworkout in the grass, and escaped the park probably a few minutes before the gate was to be closed for the night. #runblr #fitblr #summerrunning #trailrunning #fartlekrunning #mcmillanrunteam (at Burke Lake Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCFQffnntFQ/?igshid=1uvvefv7lr2z9

After a disappointing workout Friday I needed a good bounce back today and I got it. Three weeks ago I had the same @mcmillanrunning #10K “fitness check” as today on the schedule. I did that run and also got credit that day for completing the @nyctriathlon as a #10k run was leg 3 of the #virtualduathlon. But the conditions were brutal with a heat index over 100°. I struggled to a 50:08 that day, for sure the slowest road 10K I have ever run. I knew I could do better than that today, although it wasn’t much cooler. I started by trying to just dial in a pace that felt smooth and maintainable for the whole distance. I was still a little fast on the first mile but then settled in for the next 4 miles, until paying for that first mile a bit on Mile 6. 48:13 is nowhere where I’d like to be, or think I would be in a real race, but I’m happy with booking almost a 2-minute improvement from that death march a few weeks ago! #runblr #fitblr #summertraining #summerrunning #10ktimetrial #strengthrunning #10ktrackrun #keeprunning #mcmillanrunteam #keepshowingup #fitnessgains (at Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDrnf-DHyez/?igshid=heexgz7edbgb

Got the @underarmour theme working today. My shorts were UA, too. I have the @athletics_east_masters_tc #5k #timetrial tomorrow so today I just ran an easy 2.5 mile #shakeoutrun then some drills and a few striders to tune up my pace. Finished up with lots of stretching and foam rolling. Events like tomorrow’s have to pass for racing these days, so I’m trying to approach tomorrow with that type of mindset, to have a goal and a plan. Goal for tomorrow - break 21. That means running about 6:40 miles, which will be hard. Plan - get out smartly, not too fast, be mentally present and stay strong in the 2nd mile, and fight for the time on the 3rd mile-plus. I feel ready. #runblr #summerrunning #masterstrackathlete #mcmillanrunteam #keepshowingup (at Mantua, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDUb69fHomF/?igshid=1f1gjo2hj2cc6

#burning describes my legs after some @mcmillanrunning #legspeed work today. 20 x 25 seconds at a hard effort with 1:00 recoveries. It’s been a while since I’ve done any kind of interval volume and these really started to feel hard after about 12-13 reps. I must have been moving quickly though, because a few times people in the street stopped what they were doing to watch me go by. The last rep came on a big uphill but I went for full effort on it anyway and was glad to start my cooldown after that. The cool May weather continues; the temperature was 59° but windy enough that I didn’t regret the long sleeves. And to think a month from now it will probably be 90° every day. #runblr #fitblr #springrunning #basebuilding #mcmillanrunteam #mastersrunner #intervaltraining #runningthroughlockdown #keepshowingup (at Mantua, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAGs5dtnHMj/?igshid=kmt3dtzwipgz