This week went perfectly! I ran a total of 21 miles, played soccer and went to the pool twice for kicking sessions. My Achilles Tendon aches less than last week and feels slightly thinner, however, it is still significantly thicker than my right Achilles Tendon (this is as expected and it might take months before the scar tissue goes away completely). I am still doing my Eccentric Heel Drops twice a day and my hip exercises every second day.
I played soccer on Monday evening and then went to the pool on Tuesday morning for 30 minutes of kicking (the pool was like a warm bath with all of the hot weather we have been having). I have settled in to a routine of kicking two lengths and then resting 30 seconds, which seems to be working well and my legs are not overly tired at the end of the session.
On Wednesday I got up early and ran 6 miles in hot, humid conditions. It was 74F, 23C with 87% humidity at 7am which means that 6 miles takes much more of a toll on my body than it would on a cool day. I got up an hour before I started my run and drank 24oz of water to hydrate (in the winter I can just get up and go and run without worrying about extra hydration). The run went well and I continued my focus on shorter strides with a faster leg turnover and did a few 1 minute spot checks during the run, all of which were either at 180 strides per minute or higher. I set my watch for 9:15/mile and ended up with an average of 9:09/mile. After the run, I noticed that my heart rate continued to creep up during the 54 minute run - more on that later.
On Thursday I did my second kicking session of the week at the pool (30 minutes)
On Friday I ran 7 miles in similar conditions to Wednesday (79F, 26C with 69% humidity). I ran around Shelley Lake 3 times, stopping at the water fountain each time for a quick gulp of water and ran slightly faster with an average of 8:59/minute. I didn't feel any discomfort from my Achilles at all during or after the run and I continued my focus on fast leg turnover and paid attention to whether I was leaning forwards or backwards while I was running. I feel that my hips are stronger, probably from the kicking in the pool and my hip exercises and that I am more stable during my running at the moment and I am leaning forwards more than backwards.
On Sunday I ran 8 miles in typical hot and humid conditions (75F, 23C with 84% humidity). I ran with my fuel belt today with a bottle of water and one with Gatorade so that I could head down to Crabtree Valley Mall (the only water fountain is at Shelley Lake). I found that I had to focus less on my stride length and turnover (I did five 1 minute stride spot checks, all of which were 185 or higher) in this run and I didn't notice myself leaning backwards at any point. Given that I seemed to be maintaining my form pretty well without having to focus on it, I decided to try to carry my arms lower. When I run with my fuel belt, I find that I carry my arms much higher and more in front of my body than by my sides because the placement of the water bottles on the front of the belt. I know that a high arm carry can restrict the amount of air that I can get in to my lungs and I have wanted to change it for a while. I focused on brushing my hands against the bottle holders on my fuel belt which helped to keep my arms low and by my sides. The run went well and I had lots of energy and strength left at the end and I felt like I could have run much further. I ran miles 5 and 6 faster (8:08 and 8:24) just to see how a quicker pace felt - which felt good.
During the run on Sunday I had noticed that my heart rate in miles 5-8 was lower than it had been during my runs on Wednesday and Friday (162-163 compared to 168-170). The weather conditions were similar so it is unlikely that is a factor. I made two changes: my arm carry (lower on Sunday) and running with my fuel belt which meant I consumed slightly more water during my run, but I probably only consumed 6oz of Gatorade during the 70 minute run. One run doesn't mean anything, but I will continue to monitor my heart rate over the next few weeks to see if I can find any patterns related to whether or not I hydrate during my runs.
My Achilles Tendon feels fine after the 21 miles this week. I do have a painful right calf/lower leg which isn't much of a concern at the moment as it is probably related to my first full week of training in a long time!
I am mindful of not increasing my mileage too quickly, so I plan to add an additional 3 miles and run 24 miles this coming week. I am going to stay away from track and tempo work outs for a couple more weeks, so this week my runs will be at 9:00/mile pace.
Here is my plan for Week 17:
Monday: Soccer
Tuesday: Kicking - 30 minutes
Wednesday: Run - 7 miles
Thursday: Kicking - 30 minutes
Friday: Run - 7 miles
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Run - 10 miles
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