Good rebound week.  Only 6 seconds longer than last week, but I’ll take it!  Very encouraged by the progress my calf has made, and am hopeful to get back to a normal routine this week.  Weather is looking great and I can’t wait to get out on the trails some more.

Monday Run – 4 / :53 / 106avg Not a very good run. My torn calf muscle was very tight and sore. I had to stop and walk several times.

Tuesday Bike – 27.6 / 1:26 / 147avg Did a 20 mile effort on the road bike. It was a good workout, but my legs were still a little tired from Saturday’s ride and didn’t quite have the same pop as last week. I think I need to be in the 23-24mph range to equal the 20.4 average I had on the mountain bike on this course. 20 / 55:07 (21.6mph) / 158avg

Wednesday Run – 6.4 / :59 / 134avg Things are progressing. I had to stop 3 times in the first mile to let my calf settle down and loosen up, then got into a good groove and jogged the rest of the run without stopping. Mainly dealing with the leftover spasm at this point, I don’t feel much pain from the actual tear unless I keep pushing after it starts to tighten up on me.

Thursday Run – 10 / 1:15 (7:30) / 158avg Wow! Where did that come from?!? I’ve been rolling and ‘stick’-ing my calf every night, but last night started to feel some good progress. I finally got the knotted up area to relax a bit. I could tell a huge difference on the run today. The leg was super sore to touch, but didn’t bother me too much on the run. I was amazed at the improvement in my range of motion. It didn’t feel like my heel was being involuntarily suspended an inch above the ground because my calf was so tight. Felt great to cruise with a normal stride. Hard to believe that just 4 days ago all I could manage was a single mile on the treadmill in 16:30.

Friday Run – 5.7 / :47 / 137avg Easy short jog. Mainly to make sure that yesterday’s feelings weren’t a complete fluke. Still a bit sore, but was able to run pretty much normally.

Saturday Run – 15 / 2:29 / 138avg Really nice run with Andrew and Eric on a spring-like day. Felt good and was totally happy just to be able to get out and run again. Both heels were really flared up afterwards, though.

Sunday Day off. No point in pushing things anymore considering that I’m still recovering. Regroup and get ready for the upcoming week.

Total time – 7:54  Bike – 27.6 / 1:26 Run – 41.3 / 6:27

Pic of the Week

This water was flowing the day before, but a sudden drop in temps overnight caused it to freeze over.  I thought it was cool to see all of the leaves frozen in place.