Last week was another big one and I have several things of interest to report. I did run 96 miles in a single week although you can't see it on the graph. That is because I took the previous Monday off then started counting the 96 miles on Tuesday, March 12 and finished with a 32 mile run Monday the 18th. Following this, I have been taking a much needed rest week, running fewer miles allowing my legs to recover before the next build up.
Last Friday I was excited to receive my new compression tights in the mail and so far I think they are absolutely awesome. Here I am in them before I start my first training run of the season up Griffith Peak Road.
The tights give a lot of compression around the knees, quads and hamstrings. I had been running in a fair amount of constant soreness because of all the miles I was putting in, but when I put these on Friday night I was suddenly able to fly. I ran 10 miles that night at a sub 8 min/mile pace with almost no soreness at all. Without them was I barely able to average a 10 min. mile. I was even getting worried and holding back, because I didn't want to injure myself running to fast. The compression seems to stabilize the leg muscles, especially the quads every time I land on them which minimizes any soreness due to inflammation. The added bonus is that they came with ice packs and pockets to drop them in post run. That way I can easily ice my legs after a run which further speeds recovery and reduces inflammation. They were a little expensive, but so far I am absolutely loving these things and I doubt if I would have completed that 96 mile week without them.
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| Griffith Peak |
I got within 3 miles of Griffith Peak last Saturday in my first long uphill of the season and in the process learned exactly what is aggravating by right hamstring injury. This run up Griffith Peak Road was more of a constant uphill hike, and it is this type of activity that seems to be the problem. I noticed that hamstring knot getting more imflamed as I hiked up, but I was able to run down just fine. Ouch, because the Bishop 100K that I am shouting for is nothing but long uphill hikes followed by downhill running. However, I have been noticing that all the big time ultrarunners heels barely touch the ground as the are running up this type of hill. They are basically running up on their toes. I am going to slowly work this into my training and see how that goes. Maybe that is the way to finally put this hamstring thing behind me. In the meantime, I will be heading for more deep tissue massage from
Proactive Massage and more
laser pain treatment
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| View back down towards the desert |
Only a couple more hours of this. Yipeeee!!!!
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