Mileage Increasing...

I haven't posted a quick injury update in a few weeks. Well, things are going pretty well. I'm still running 3x / week, doing 1 week of [so many] minutes of running, and then increasing it for the next week by 10-15%.

I did two 23 minute runs before going to Israel, and then I did no running while I was there - I figured another week of rest would be fine. I didn't do much exercising when I was there, just a lot of walking and a bit of swimming. I jumped in the Red Sea for a quick test swim the day before the race (click that link for some awesome video), then I swam the half iron race the next day, and then I did another 1000 meters at a 50-meter sea-water pool on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv a few days later:

From foreground to background: boardwalk, pool, sailboats in a marina, and the Mediterranean!






Nick, me, and Goonda (a local "ambassador" working with us) pre-swim.


Tim, Nick, and Goonda in the hot tub post-swim.


I walked around Tel Aviv for an hour like this post-swim. No one cared. (I hope.)

That swim in the 50-meter pool was slightly considered retribution for my crappy swim during the race. I did 1000 meters in 17:45 (1:45/100 meters, or 1:37/100 yards).

We also did just a little biking in Israel: about 90 minutes of mountain biking as I posted about on Monday, and about another 90 minutes along the Mediterranean in Tel Aviv (which I'll post about shortly).

When I got back from Israel about 10 days ago, I picked up where I left off with my running. I went for a 23:00 run and a 24:00 run last week, and then on Sunday, I "tested" my knee/hip a bit. I went 29:46 on a 1/6 of a mile indoor track. I covered 4.25 miles, and things still felt good!! Here I am cooling down with Henry as HE ran 2 laps:

Henry ran 2 laps on the 1/6 mile track in 6:10! That's 18:30/mile! :) #SpeedyTwoYearOld

I've stopped doing one of my PT exercises because I think it slightly aggravates my hip. I've been doing my other ones nearly daily. My knee feels about 100%, and my hip is fine - there's just a bit of an ache DEEP in my hip the day after running. I can NOT massage or foam roll it out. It just feels too deep. But it's gotten better with good hip / hip flexor stretches. I do these:


http://youtu.be/_d3jtp1_nJ8


http://youtu.be/njT_N8qmlBA


This one has some subtleties that can't properly be shown in a still image.


I do this with a straight leg on top (not bent at the knee).

If I keep those up post run, I feel good! Let's see if I can safely get up to 45:00 of running by spring! Gotta keep running SMART.

p.s. As I was looking for those final 2 hip stretch images above, I stumbled across this:

Umm, sir?... I think you might want to get that looked at by a professional.