Physical Therapy and running tally ending Aug 16, 2009

Last Tuesday (Aug 11) I had my first physical therapy session for my injured lower calf. You can read more details here about my doctor's visit on July 31. It was hard to pinpoint exactly where the pain source was since I hadn't run in a few days. We eventually found it. My physical therapist did a deep tissue massage on that leg for about 15 min. It hurt like hell. She said my calf is extremely tight and as it gets looser the pain will not be as bad. Also, I will need to do sets of stretching exercises for my calf before I run. Each stretch I have to hold for 30 seconds and do it at least 2-3 times. I will have to really focus on stretching BEFORE and AFTER each run. I have to admit that previously I would stretch, but not to the extent that she wants me to do now.

Here is my run tally but I will not total it until I am consistently running. This is what I have not posted since the last chart that was posted on my July, 20, 2009 entry.

Date	Time	Mileage	Min/ Mile	Notes	HR Max	HR Ave
July 25, 2009	32:08	4.87	6:35	Not sure my pace was accurate as I have had calibration issues with my Nike +. I have to re-calibrate I think. Also the HR watch was off. I don't think I was at 177 bpm!	177 (95%)	164 (88%)
July 29, 2009	29:03	4.07	7:07	I ran slower today. I wasn't feeling it.	159 (85%)	149 (80%)
Aug 1, 2009	31:17	4.57	6:50	Doctor said to run slower so I did slow down a little. I ran mostly on grass.	174 (93%)	162 (87%)
Aug 4, 2009	30:28	4.35	7:00	I fixed the calibration issue and re-calibrated. I think this was more accurate now.	165 (86%)	156 (83%)
Aug 6, 2009	31:19	4.39	7:08	On doctor's orders he told me to run slower. So I did. It felt ok. Ran mostly on grass.	162 (87%)	151 (81%)
Aug 8, 2009	33:05	5.0	6:36	Ran too fast. I think the watch was off still.	177 (95%)	159 (85%)
Aug 9, 2009	26:46	3.87	6:55	Ran slower but wanted to be around 7:00 pace, a tad fast. HR was not working on watch so I estimated. It was reading 213 bpm, which is an error or I would not be typing this right now. I would be dead.	170 (91%)	160 (85%)
Aug 12, 2009	45:27	6.60	6:52	After stretching extensively for 3 min each calf (per my PT) and also doing my hamstrings I ran along the Back Bay in Newport up through UC Irvine and back along the river/back bay. It was mostly on dirt. My leg felt better after a mile. It was a rough run as I have not done over 5 in a while so I was fatigued. I iced the calf after and felt ok. I thought I would be slower. I need to consciously slow down for now on.	174 (94%)	161 (86%)
Aug 15, 2009	41:36	6.09	6:49	After 2 days off from running and one day from complete exercise I felt ok on this run. I was in San Diego so I ran down through Balboa Park and back up to Hillcrest. I felt ok and stretched a lot before and after. My HR got too high but it was a bit warm and I ran at 11AM instead of a lot earlier as I had planned.	176 (94%)	160 (86%)

I have determined I won't be able to get my mileage up to complete the full marathon at Long Beach Marathon, so I will most likely do the half (13.1 miles). Then I will train to do Carlsbad Marathon on January 24, 2010. Then hopefully I can run a time to get me into Boston Marathon for April 2010 since my qualification expired this year since I didn't use it. That's the plan. I hope my body can cooperate.