Better and better

I'm happy to report that my knee hasn't bothered me running this week. While I continued to run, it continued to improve slightly each day. By Thursday morning, it felt just about normal.

On Tuesday evening, I joined the Earth Drummers at the University of Cincinnati for the regular team practice. I wasn't ready for any sort of workout yet, but there were four of us still in post-marathon recovery mode, so we teamed up for an easy run. After a two-mile warm-up, I participated in the regular drills, but I skipped the strides. Then we headed out for an easy, but hilly, run around Clifton. My quads were tired by the end, but I didn't have any particular aches or pains.

Tuesday's Drummers run: 7.5 miles, 58:40, 7:49/mile, No HR Data, 73°F-69°F, sunny

On Wednesday, I ran six very relaxed miles under a blazing sun. Officially, the temperature was 80°F at Lunken Airport, but it felt hotter than that with the direct sun beating down on me. The only thing that made it bearable was the very low humidity (with a dew point in the 30's). I would have shed my shirt early on, but I hadn't bothered to put sunscreen on under my shirt.

Wednesday's sunny run: 6.10 miles, 48:32, 7:57/mile, Avg HR 145 (69% HRR), 80°F, sunny

On Thursday afternoon, it was not only a few degrees warmer, the dew point was in the mid-50's (not terrible, but definitely noticeable). As a result, I planned ahead and slathered sunscreen all over before leaving the house, and I shed the shirt before I even started out. All in all, I had a great run. My HR was high, as you might expect in the heat, but my legs felt pretty close to normal for the first time since the marathon. I was going to stop at eight miles, but on a sudden impulse, I kept going for another minute so that I could hit one hour on the dot.

Thursday's scorcher: 8.15 miles, 1:00:00, 7:22/mile, Avg HR 159 (79% HRR), 84°F, sunny, more humid

After two straight days in the sun, I was ready for some shade and some variety. So I headed up to French Park for some trail action. It was even warmer and more humid than on Thursday—so I ran shirtless again—but in the woods, on often shady trails, it didn't feel nearly as hot. You can't tell from the pace or the heart rate, but I ran harder than I did the day before. I ran two loops around the park, following most of the course for the French Park Creek Crossings trail race but bypassing the shelter and following the trail on the eastern edge of the park all the way south and around back to my starting point at the lower parking lot.

Friday's trail run: 7.03 miles, 1:02:33, Avg HR 154 (76% HRR), 86°F, sunny, humid

This morning, I woke up early and headed over to Parkside Christian Church to get some extra miles in before meeting the ECHO group at 7:00 a.m. I was very stiff starting out—as a result of my trail exertions on Thursday—and though I loosened up quickly, my legs felt dead for several miles. By the end of the morning, though, my legs felt, if not fresh, then at least not stiff or achy. It was one of those runs where the legs feel better afterwards than they did beforehand. It was also nice not to be running in the scorching afternoon sun.

Saturday's group run: 11.50 miles, 1:37:43, 8:30/mile, Avg HR 137 (64% HRR), 59°F-62°F, sunny

I'm taking tomorrow off to give the legs a break before the Bashful Ostrich 5K on Monday. I have no strong expectations for the race on Monday. I have things I'd like to accomplish. I'd like to run 17:30. I'd like to run sub-17:39 or sub-17:51. I'd like to keep it sub-18:00. I'd like to place high in the race results. But I don't expect to feel good racing only 22 days after a goal marathon.