Running on Eddie: This Week in Running 8/13 - 8/19

Sunday, August 20, 2017

This Week in Running 8/13 - 8/19 - Red Pine Lake Pictures

Day	Mileage / Workout	Comments
Sunday	Off	8 Miles of hiking
Monday	6
Tuesday	5
Wednesday	5
Thursday	7
Friday	Off
Saturday	7.25	Dam Train Race
Total miles for the week: 30; YTD: 1103

Week's Summary

I felt like this week I actually turned the corner into getting back to full strength. I did two sessions of physical therapy -- one on Monday and one on Wednesday. The treatment has been a variety of electronic stimulus to help activate my lagging quadriceps muscles. And it appears to be working.

I am finding that my legs -- namely my quads, glutes and hamstrings feel much stronger. And more importantly, the amount of pain and discomfort I am feeling in my knee diminishes each day.

Early in the week I was feeling sharp tearing like pains in the patella tendon. This would happen particularly after sitting for periods of time (even as short as driving to work) and then getting up. At minimal, I had annoying clicking / catching feeling in my knee. I walked with a pronounced limp and I was beginning to wonder if my running "career" was over.

I have been religiously and dutifully doing my "homework", which includes a bunch of single leg exercises and work with a stretchy rubber-band type of thing. It kept me from going insane and I think it has really helped build my body back up.

I bumped up the mileage a bit this week and had no ill effects. I kept all my runs fairly easy -- no speed work. I was just logging miles and burning calories.

I was also saving myself for the Dam Train Race. While I wouldn't have been too upset had I missed it, it was a mile marker that I wanted to hit. My performance wasn't too awful and I was just happy to be running and participating in an event I care a lot about.

I have one physical therapy session this coming week and after that, I am hoping to be done. I haven't gone to the doctors at all this year, so I am worried how much my insurance is going to pay for the treatments and what I am going to be on the hook for. However, the physical therapy can be put on reserve if I relapse.

Red Pine Lake

On Sunday, I opted to go for a hike rather than run. I like the crossing training effects as I can turn it into a hard workout without the pounding / stress that a tempo run would produce. I made the ascent pretty quickly and I was happy being able to overtake a lot of casual hikers. You can see the altitude and hills I took while hiking (not running) to Red Pine.

The hike also allowed me to take some pictures, which I always enjoy sharing. I think this lake is the prettiest of all the Wasatch Lakes and I never tired of hiking there. Here are some of the photos of Red Pine Lake in Little Cottonwood Canyon: