avondale training journal, starting Dec. 2018 (comments welcome)

[GollyGadget]

I want to like morning runs, especially in the summer, but I just don't have the energy for them.

I feel this. Morning run is practically required in the summer but I'm always still half asleep. It's odd because I am a morning person in general, just not a morning runner.

 

[avondale]

Week of May 5 - 11, 2025
This was the second week of ~13 weeks of training for a 5k in early August (yes, overkill). This is mostly to keep me running during the summer heat and humidity and I think a focus on speed will be good. In the interest of helping my knees, I'm only planning 4 runs/week during this period with the plan of a long hike on the weekend with my husband (instead of a fifth run).

Monday before breakfast: walk on treadmill

• time: 44:19
• distance: 2.28 mi
• ave pace: 19:26
• incline: 0%
• comments: Another evening where I had a work event, so I needed to get my steps in early.

Tuesday

• Before breakfast: core workout
  • 0-sec plank with 20-lb vest
  • 20 starfish
  • 20 dead bugs
  • 20 bird dogs
  • 20 each side flutter kicks
  • 20 bicycle crunches with hold
  • 5 10-sec hollow-body holds
  • 2 30-sec side planks
  • 20 double leg lift/lowers
• After work:
  • 40 min easy on trail
    • T+D 119, 1% effect, T 68 F
    • time: 40:01
    • distance: 3.02 mi
    • average pace: 13:16 (GAP ave pace: 13:12)
    • splits: 13:30, 13:09, 13:10
    • ave HR: 131 BPM - within my target range
    • elevation gain: 190 ft (corrected)
    • route: Northwest Branch Trail

Wednesday

• Before breakfast:
  • Strength endurance workout
    • 2 x 15 each leg - reverse lunges
    • 2 x 15 each leg - Romanian single-leg deadlifts with kickstand and 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 each leg - single-leg hip thrusts with 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 - heels-elevated squats with 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 each leg - hip airplanes
    • comments: PT for my knees
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • 50 min easy
    • T+D 124, 1.5% effect, T 70 F
    • time: 50:01
    • distance: 4.27 mi
    • average pace: 11:43 (GAP ave pace 11:44)
    • splits: 11:42, 11:56, 11:32, 11:36, 12:15
    • ave HR: 137 BPM - within my target range
    • elevation gain: 148 ft (corrected)
    • route: Sligo Creek Trail
    • comments: This route is paved.

Thursday

• Before breakfast:
  • P90X2 X2 Ab Ripper
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • Hill repeat HIIT -- 13min easy + 3 x [7 x (20sec sprint uphill + 20sec walk downhill) + 4min walk downhill]
    • T+D 130, 2% effect, T 68 F
    • time: 40:00
    • distance: 2.9 mi
    • repeat splits: 9:04, 9:11, 9:28, 8:31, 8:37, 9:04, 9:32, 8:36, 9:48, 9:37, 8:34, 10:01, 9:11, 9:37, 8:34, 8:59, 9:00, 8:46, 8:56, 9:26, 9:36
    • elevation gain: 205 ft (corrected)
    • route: neighborhood loop 1
    • comments: Not enthusiastic about this.

Friday

• Before breakfast: Workout 1
  • 3 x 5 - suitcase squats with 57.5 lb + 20-lb vest
  • superset
    • 3 x 1 - unassisted chin-ups
    • 3 x 5 - last pull-downs with 49-lb bands
    • 3 x 5 - bench presses with 57.5 lb
  • 3 x 5 - Romanian deadlifts with 57.5 lb
  • superset
    • 3 x 5 - shoulder presses with 45 lb
    • 3 x 5 - band pull-aparts with 13-lb band
• In evening: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:26:30
  • distance: 4.59 mi
  • ave pace: 18:51
  • incline: 0%

Saturday before dinner:

• 60 min LR on trail
  • T+D 107, 0.5% effect, T 70 F
  • time: 1:00:01
  • distance: 4.7 mi
  • average pace: 12:46 (GAP ave pace: 12:35)
  • splits: 12:48, 12:48, 12:39, 13:04, 12:26
  • ave HR: 138 BPM - within my target range
  • elevation gain: 243 ft (corrected)
  • route: Valley Trail, Rock Creek National Park
  • comments: This was a nice pace for this trail at easy effort.

Sunday before dinner: hiking

• time: 2:22:56
• distance: 7.29 mi
• average pace: 19:36
• elevation gain: 874 ft (corrected)
• route: Western Ridge Trail, Rock Creek National Park

Health

Not much change. Feeling more knee pain since I've started running again, but not awful. I start back with PT tomorrow.

 

[avondale]

Week of May 12 - 18, 2025


This was the third week of ~13 weeks of training for a 5k in early August (yes, overkill). This is mostly to keep me running during the summer heat and humidity and I think a focus on speed will be good. In the interest of helping my knees, I'm only planning 4 runs/week during this period with the plan of a long hike on the weekend with my husband (instead of a fifth run).

On May 17, I hit 5 years of getting at least 10,000 steps per day!

Monday

• Before breakfast: core workout
  • 90-sec plank with 20-lb vest
  • 20 starfish
  • 20 dead bugs
  • 20 bird dogs
  • 20 each side flutter kicks
  • 20 bicycle crunches with hold
  • 5 10-sec hollow-body holds
  • 2 30-sec side planks
  • 20 double leg lift/lowers
• After work:
  • Hill repeat HIIT -- 13min easy + 3 x [7 x (20sec sprint uphill + 20sec walk downhill) + 4min walk downhill]
    • T+D 135, 2.5% effect, T 73 F
    • time: 40:00
    • distance: 2.94 mi
    • repeat splits: 8:33, 8:43, 9:32, 9:00, 8:43, 9:23, 9:32, 8:09, 9:27, 9:06, 8:31, 8:52, 9:40, 9:36, 8:10, 9:02, 9:06, 9:03, 8:54, 9:41, 9:28
    • elevation gain: 199 ft (corrected)
    • route: neighborhood loop 1

Tuesday

• Before breakfast:
  • Strength endurance workout
    • 2 x 15 each leg - reverse lunges
    • 2 x 15 each leg - Romanian single-leg deadlifts with kickstand and 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 each leg - single-leg hip thrusts with 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 - heels-elevated squats with 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 each leg - hip airplanes
    • comments: PT for my knees
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:26:16
  • distance: 4.59 mi
  • ave pace: 18:48
  • incline: 0%

Wednesday

• Before breakfast:
  • P90X2 X2 Ab Ripper
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • Speed intervals -- 15 min easy + 6 x (1 min fast + 1 min walk) + 15 min easy
    • T+D 133, 2.5% effect, T 69 F
    • time: 42:01
    • distance: 3.59 mi
    • repeat splits: 8:59, 8:31, 8:24, 8:08, 8:14, 8:10
    • elevation gain: 119 ft (corrected)
    • route: Sligo Creek Trail

Thursday

• Before breakfast: Workout 2
  • 3 x 5 each leg - single-leg squats on bench
  • superset
    • 3 x 5 each arm - one-arm rows on bench with 33.75 lb
    • 3 x 5 - wide push-ups with 20-lb vest
  • 3 x 5 each leg - bench step-up-and-overs with 20-lb vest
  • superset
    • 3 x 5 - parallel-bar dips
    • 3 x 5 - supermans with 10-s hold
• After work:
  • 50 min easy
    • T+D 143, 3.5% effect, T 79 F
    • time: 50:00
    • distance: 4.11 mi
    • average pace: 12:10 (GAP ave pace: 12:12)
    • splits: 12:16, 12:13, 12:13, 11:58, 12:14
    • ave HR: 136 BPM - within my target range
    • elevation gain: 133 ft (corrected)
    • route: Rock Creek Trail
    • comments: I was supposed to do this on the trails, but given we got 3 inches of rain in the last few days, it would be too muddy.

Friday

• Before breakfast: foam rolling and stretching
• After dinner: walk outside
  • time: 58:08
  • distance: 2.88 mi
  • ave pace: 20:12
  • elevation gain: 185 ft (corrected)

Saturday

• Before lunch:
  • 70 min LR
    • T+D 139, 3% effect, T 78 F
    • time: 1:10:01
    • distance: 5.83 mi
    • average pace: 12:01 (GAP ave pace: 12:03)
    • splits: 12:06, 11:55, 11:43, 11:47, 12:21, 12:14
    • ave HR: 141 BPM - within my target range
    • elevation gain: 161 ft (corrected)
    • route: Rock Creek Trail
    • comments: The trails would still be pretty muddy, so I opted for pavement. But this taught me why I changed to trails. The trails are not as shady overall, and the pavement in the Sun just radiates the heat - so hot and humid! After about 45 min, I had to slow down quite a bit to keep my HR manageable.
• In evening: 2-hr tennis doubles match - my partner and I lost 7-6, 6-1.

Sunday before dinner: walking outside

• time: 1:54:37
• distance: 6.11 mi
• average pace: 18:45
• elevation gain: 126 ft (corrected)
• route: C&O Canal Trail, to Great Falls and then going north and back.
• comments: With the huge amount of rain we've been getting the river is very deep and the rapids are crazy. Most of the rocks that make up the rapids are submerged right now, so the water just looks crazy and frothy. The photos below show today (first) and then from 2016 when the river level was normal.

Health

I had physical therapy appointments on Monday and Wednesday.

On Monday, it was essentially a re-evaluation. The PT also had a new dynamometer, so she measured the actual strengths of various muscle groups. My hip muscles are pretty equally strong on both sides. My left quad is weaker than my right quad, but my left hamstrings and glute are stronger than my right hamstrings and glute. We didn't do much except measurements.

Beside the knee problems, I have a problem with my left glute - I pulled it last year toward the end of June, and it's still not good. The PT says it feels like I have a bunch of trigger points in it that aren't working out. I set up a dry needling appointment for that in early June.

I'm also going to get x-rays of my knees to check for arthritis (and anything else).

On Wednesday, I did some exercises that I'm struggling to remember what they were! Some internal and external rotation of the hips with a ball between the knees and a band. One-leg Romanian deadlifts with a kickstand using the cable machine. One-leg glute bridges. I feel like there must have been more, but now I am not remembering.

I'm continuing with the "strength endurance" workouts once per week.

 

[jmasgat]

On May 17, I hit 5 years of getting at least 10,000 steps per day!

Wow...just, wow! That's quite the streak. I'm incredibly impressed.

 

[col1]

On May 17, I hit 5 years of getting at least 10,000 steps per day!

That’s next level otherworldly consistency right there.

 

[avondale]

Wow...just, wow! That's quite the streak. I'm incredibly impressed.

Thank you!

That’s next level otherworldly consistency right there.

Thanks!

 

[avondale]

Week of May 19 - 25, 2025

This was the fourth week of ~13 weeks of training for a 5k in early August (yes, overkill). This is mostly to keep me running during the summer heat and humidity and I think a focus on speed will be good. In the interest of helping my knees, I'm only planning 4 runs/week during this period with the plan of a long hike on the weekend with my husband (instead of a fifth run).

Monday

• Before breakfast: foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walking on treadmill
  • time: 41:14
  • distance: 2.32 mi
  • ave pace: 17:46
  • incline: 0%

Tuesday

• Before breakfast:
  • Core workout
    • 90-sec plank with 20-lb vest
    • 20 starfish
    • 20 dead bugs
    • 20 bird dogs
    • 20 each side flutter kicks
    • 20 bicycle crunches with hold
    • 5 10-sec hollow-body holds
    • 2 30-sec side planks
    • 20 double leg lift/lowers
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • Hill repeat HIIT -- 13min easy + 3 x [7 x (20sec sprint uphill + 20sec walk downhill) + 4min walk downhill]
    • T+D 116, 1% effect, T 67 F
    • time: 40:00
    • distance: 2.92 mi
    • repeat splits: 8:38, 8:41, 9:23, 8:53, 8:25, 9:36, 8:58, 8:07, 9:08, 9:06, 8:20, 8:37, 9:45, 9:58, 8:36, 9:19, 9:14, 9:07, 9:14, 9:11, 9:39
    • elevation gain: 204 ft (corrected)
    • route: neighborhood loop 1

Wednesday after work: walk on treadmill

• time: 1:27:33
• distance: 4.78 mi
• ave pace: 18:19
• incline: 0%
• comments: I was going to go run outside, but I went out to my car and it was chilly and rainy, and windy, and I thought, "I am not training that seriously, so screw this."

Thursday after work: walk on treadmill

• time: 43:44
• distance: 2.19 mi
• ave pace: 19:58
• incline: 0%
• comments: Today was the commencement party in our department for our graduates, which I organize and run. Then we had commencement for our college within the university. I was one of two name readers, and I read almost 900 names in about 100 minutes. I was so totally exhausted after that!

Friday

• Before breakfast:
  • Strength endurance workout
    • 2 x 15 each leg - reverse lunges
    • 2 x 15 each leg - Romanian single-leg deadlifts with kickstand and 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 each leg - single-leg hip thrusts with 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 - heels-elevated squats with 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 each leg - hip airplanes
    • comments: PT for my knees
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• Before dinner:
  • 50 min easy on trail
    • T+D 105, 0.5% effect, T 67 F
    • time: 50:00
    • distance: 3.9 mi
    • average pace: 12:50 (GAP ave pace: 12:45)
    • splits: 12:51, 12:49, 12:40, 13:01
    • ave HR: 135 BPM - within my target range
    • elevation gain: 251 ft (corrected)
    • route: Northwest Branch Trail

Saturday before breakfast:

• Tempo - 15 min easy + 10 min tempo + 15 min easy
  • T+D 98, no effect, T 53 F
  • time: 40:01
  • distance: 3.52 mi
  • tempo split: 9:53
  • elevation gain: 108 ft (corrected)
  • route: Sligo Creek Trail

Sunday

• Morning: Hiking Allegheny Gorge Overlook and Iron Furnace in Clear Creek State Forest
  • time: 2:13:27
  • distance: 5.72 mi
  • ave pace: 23:19
  • elevation gain: 1095 ft (corrected)
  • route: various trails to make a lollipop-loop in Clear Creek State Forest
  • comments: I grew up in this area, but my family never did anything outside, and I moved away at 18 for college. Now I am back to visit and am discovering these amazing hidden gem state parks that are gorgeous. This was an amazingly beautiful hike. The overlook for the Allegheny River was fine - probably prettier in the fall. But the most beautiful part was down in the valley going along Dennison Run. We criss-crossed the creek four times on swinging bridges, and it was all just so pretty.
• 
• Afternoon: walk with my mom - 0.88 mi in almost an hour, which is her longest walk in years!

Health

I had a physical therapy appointment on Tuesday this week. We did exercises similar to those in the visit last week.

I made an appointment for x-ray imaging of my knees to look for arthritis or other issues.

 

[avondale]

Week of May 26 - June 1, 2025

This was the fifth week of ~13 weeks of training for a 5k in early August (yes, overkill). This is mostly to keep me running during the summer heat and humidity and I think a focus on speed will be good. In the interest of helping my knees, I'm only planning 4 runs/week during this period with the plan of a long hike on the weekend with my husband (instead of a fifth run).

Monday before breakfast:

• 60 min LR
  • T+D 89, no effect, T 46 F - warmed up quite a bit during the run
  • time: 1:00:01
  • distance: 5.07 mi
  • average pace: 11:51 (GAP ave pace: 11:51)
  • splits: 12:22, 12:04, 11:38, 11:41, 11:30, 11:14
  • ave HR: 125 BPM - within my target range
  • elevation gain: 94 ft (uncorrected)
  • route: Allegheny River Trail
  • comments: Still visiting my family in PA.

Tuesday before dinner:

• Trail speed intervals - 20 min easy + 6 x (1 min fast + 1 min walk) + 20 min easy
  • T+D 124, 1.5% effect, T 64 F - light rain the whole time
  • time: 52:01
  • speed interval splits: 9:35, 8:58, 9:38, 9:28, 8:27, 8:49
  • elevation gain: 225 ft (corrected)
  • route: Valley Trail, Rock Creek National Park
  • comments: This was a lot of fun, partly with the suspense of "will I trip" during the speed intervals.

Wednesday

• Before breakfast:
  • Workout 1
    • 3 x 5 - suitcase squats with 57.5 lb + 20-lb vest
    • superset
      • 3 x 1 - unassisted chin-ups
      • 3 x 5 - lat pull-downs with 49-lb bands
      • 3x 5 - bench presses with 57.5 lb
    • 3 x 5 - Romanian deadlifts with 57.5 lb
    • superset
      • 3 x 5 - shoulder presses with 42.5 lb
      • 3 x 5 - band pull-aparts with 13-lb band
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:28:26
  • distance: 4.85 mi
  • ave pace: 18:14
  • incline: 0%

Thursday

• Before breakfast:
  • Core workout
    • 90-sec plank with 20-lb vest
    • 20 starfish
    • 20 dead bugs
    • 20 bird dogs
    • 20 each side flutter kicks
    • 20 bicycle crunches with hold
    • 5 10-sec hollow-body holds
    • 2 30-sec side planks
    • 20 double leg lift/lowers
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• Before dinner:
  • 60 min easy
    • T+D 133, 2.5% effect, T 72
    • time: ~1:00:00
    • distance: ~5.07 mi
    • average pace: ~11:51
    • route: Rock Creek Trail
    • comments: This route was paved, so it wasn't a trail run.
    • comments: I managed to end the run when I paused at the turn-around point. I didn't realize it for several minutes after that, but because of landmarks, I had a good estimate of what I missed. That's what the totals are based on. Close enough. But really annoying!

Friday

• Before breakfast: strength endurance workout
  • 2 x 15 each leg - reverse lunges
  • 2 x 15 each leg - Romanian single-leg deadlifts with kickstand and 10 lb
  • 2 x 15 each leg - single-leg hip thrusts with 10 lb
  • 2 x 15 - heels-elevated squats with 10 lb
  • 2 x 15 each leg - hip airplanes
  • comments: PT for my knees
• Before lunch
  • 40 min easy
    • T+D 138, 3% effect, T 76 F
    • time: 40:00
    • distance: 3.33 mi
    • average pace: 12:01 (GAP ave pace: 12:00)
    • splits: 12:04, 12:01, 11:43, 12:45
    • ave HR: 135 BPM - within my target range
    • elevation gain: 110 ft (corrected)
    • route: Sligo Creek Trail
    • comments: This route was paved, so it was not a trail run.
    • comments: I was scheduled for HIIT hill repeats before dinner, but we were supposed to get bad thunderstorms that afternoon and evening, so I moved the run earlier. It didn't seem like a good idea to do "HIIT hill repeats" just a couple of hours after the strength training, so I did an easy run instead. Good idea, because my legs weren't very happy with doing the run.

Saturday

• Before lunch:
  • Agility HIIT workout - warm-up + 3 x 8 x (20 sec work + 20 sec rest) + 4 min rest). The exercises were:
    • Fast feet forward/back in ladder
    • Forward/back hop
    • Fast feet in/out in ladder
    • Sprint/backpedal
    • Fast feet forward through ladder
    • Left/right hop
    • Fast feet sideways through ladder
    • Side shuffle
    • comments: This used my agility ladder.
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• Before dinner:
  • 70 min LR on trail
    • T+D 121, 1.5% effect, T 67 F - rain at end
    • time: 1:10:01
    • distance: 5.11 mi
    • average pace: 13:42 (GAP ave pace: 13:34)
    • splits: 13:43, 13:49, 13:39, 13:50, 13:29, 13:37
    • ave HR: 132 BPM - within my target range
    • elevation gain: 435 ft (corrected)
    • route: Northwest Branch Trail
    • comments: I started this run about 15 min after a thunderstorm and pouring rain came through, so the trail was very wet, muddy, and slow. It started raining again with about 10 min left in the run.

Sunday afternoon: hiking

• time: 1:59:38
• distance: 6.11 mi
• ave pace: 19:36
• elevation gain: 235 ft (corrected)
• route: Hoyles Mill Trail
• comments: This was a new trail to my husband and I. Due to the location, we weren't expecting much (but we were hoping for something not too muddy), and this trail was neither very interesting nor scenic. It was pleasant and got us outside. It wasn't too muddy.

Health

I do think the knees are slowly improving. With travel, I didn't have any PT this week.

 

[avondale]

Week of June 2 - 8, 2025

This was the sixth week of ~13 weeks of training for a 5k in early August (yes, overkill). This is mostly to keep me running during the summer heat and humidity and I think a focus on speed will be good. In the interest of helping my kneMes, I'm only planning 4 runs/week during this period with the plan of a long hike on the weekend with my husband (instead of a fifth run).

On June 14 - 15, I'm doing the Yeti 24-h Challenge, sort of "with" some Garmin friends. Several of us are doing it on the same weekend. This challenge is to run 5.2 miles every 4 hours for 24 hours (6 times), which adds up to 31.2 mi = 50k. So, yes, I'm essentially running a 50k next weekend. I did this challenge back in February 2021, and I didn't find it to be super difficult, but we'll see how it is now that I'm 4 years older.

Monday

• Before breakfast:
  • Workout 2
    • 3 x 5 each leg - one-leg squats on bench
    • superset
      • 3 x 5 each arm - one-arm rows on bench with 33.75 lb
      • 3 x 5 - push-ups with 20-lb vest
    • 3 x 5 each leg - bench step-up-and-overs with 20-lb vest
      • 3 x 5 - parallel-bar dips
      • 1 x 5 - supermans with 5-sec hold - see my health section below about my back
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:27:34
  • distance: 4.39 mi
  • ave pace: 19:57
  • incline: 0%
  • comments: see my Health section below about my back

Tuesday

• Before breakfast: foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • 40 min easy
    • T+D 134, 2.5% effect, T 76 F
    • time: 40:01
    • distance: 3.25 mi
    • average pace: 12:18 (GAP ave pace: 12:09)
    • splits: 12:22, 12:12, 12:17, 12:33
    • ave HR: 136 BPM - within my target range
    • elevation gain: 193 ft (corrected)
    • route: neighborhood loop 1
    • comments: Given my back issues (see Health section), I opted to do an easy run instead of hill repeats.

Wednesday

• Before breakfast:
  • Strength endurance workout
    • 2 x 15 each leg - reverse lunges
    • 2 x 15 each leg - Romanian single-leg deadlifts with kickstand and 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 - heels-elevated squats with 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 each leg - hip airplanes
    • comments: PT for my knees
    • comments: I didn't do the hip thrusts because of back issues.
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:27:35
  • distance: 4.64 mi
  • ave pace: 18:53
  • incline: 0%

Thursday

• Before breakfast:
  • Core workout
    • 90-sec plank with 20-lb vest
    • 20 starfish
    • 20 dead bugs
    • 20 bird dogs
    • 20 each side flutter kicks
    • 20 bicycle crunches with hold
    • 5 10-sec hollow-body holds
    • 2 30-sec side planks
    • 20 double leg lift/lowers
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • Tempo on trail - 15 min easy + 16 min tempo effort + 15 min easy
    • T+D 153, 5% effect, T 86 F - hot and humid!
    • time: 46:02
    • distance: 3.82 mi
    • tempo split: 10:34
    • elevation gain: 208 ft (corrected)
    • route: Valley Trail, Rock Creek National Park
    • comments: This was a bit of an adventure because a few minutes into my tempo segment, there were a couple of big trees down across the trail (not there last week), and so I had to do some bushwhacking off trail to where there were just the trunks and not so many branches, and then climb over the trunks and back to the trail to continue. Actually kind of fun! But I was easy prey for all the biting insects.

Friday

• Before breakfast:
  • Strength endurance workout
    • 2 x 15 each leg - reverse lunges
    • 2 x 15 each leg - Romanian single-leg deadlifts with kickstand and 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 - heels-elevated squats with 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 each leg - one-leg hip thrusts with 10 lb
    • 2 x 15 each leg - hip airplanes
    • comments: PT for my knees
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:26:00
  • distance: 4.58 mi
  • ave pace: 18:47
  • incline: 0%
  • comments: I was going to do a run, but a big line of thunderstorms was almost on us. And then the storms broke up and we hardly got a drop of rain! Grrr.

Saturday

• Before lunch:
  • 60 min easy
    • T+D 146, 4% effect, T 76 F - very humid!
    • time: 1:00:01
    • distance: 5.01 mi
    • average pace: 11:58 (GAP ave pace: 11:57)
    • splits: 12:07, 12:22, 11:48, 11:46, 11:49
    • ave HR: 139 BPM - within my target range
    • elevation gain: 179 ft (corrected)
    • route: Sligo Creek Trail
    • comments: This route is paved, so it's not a trail run.
    • comments: I started the run soon after a rain shower stopped, but then it rained again for about 15 min in the middle of the run.
• Before dinner: 2-hr tennis doubles match - my partner and I lost 6-3, 7-5.

Sunday before dinner:

• 80 min LR on trail
  • T+D 139, 3% effect, T 71 F - light rain most of the time with a heavier showers
  • time: 1:20:00
  • distance: 5.68 mi
  • average pace: 14:05 (GAP ave pace: 13:15)
  • splits: 13:58, 14:37, 14:06, 13:49, 14:28, 13:17
  • ave HR: 135 BPM - within my target range
  • elevation gain: 745 ft (corrected)
  • route: Western Ridge Trail, Rock Creek National Park
  • comments: The trail was very muddy and slow with the rain.

Health

This has been a very eventful week for me in terms of "health" stuff.
When I woke up on Monday, my lower back was really sore, especially on the right side. My lower back is often sore when I wake up, so I didn't really appreciate that this was a lot worse than usual until I started on my strength workout and ended up really aggravating it. It was...unpleasant until about Thursday. I was feeling fine when I went to bed Sunday night, so I have no idea what happened.

I had a physical therapy appointment on Tuesday. My back wasn't quite so bad by then, but it obviously didn't make sense to aggravate it with a lot of strength work, so the PT did a lot of manual work on my hamstrings (hoping that would help the back too), and I did some lighter exercises and stretching.

Wednesday was a big day for health stuff! First, I had x-rays of both knees. (I had never had x-rays on my knees before.) The orthopedist said the diagnosis was straightforward: I have osteoarthritis in both knees on the lateral side of the trochlear groove. I found an example x-ray online (this is NOT my x-ray - it is from Complete Orthopedics) as an example:
This is for the left knee. The joint space between the patella at the "lateral facet" of the femur has basically no cartilage left. It's the same for both knees.

There are good things about this diagnosis: this is not a weight-bearing part of the joint, so it shouldn't necessarily get worse rapidly, and the orthopedist doesn't think I'll need knee replacements for something like 20 years.

The bad things about this diagnosis: there's really nothing to do to "cure" it. The orthopedist suggested absolutely no squatting, lunging, and to minimize running on anything other than flat surfaces. Yeah, right.

But really, it's up to me, because if I do those things, then the pain is going to be worse, so it's a question of what I want to deal with and how I can manage the pain. In this week as I write this, I have very little knee pain, even on stairs or running. It does get worse when I am more active, and presumably the more active I am, the worse it could get. Currently, I'm not taking any pain meds. Potentially I could use more NSAIDs and potentially get cortisone shots.

So, I'm going to be working with my physical therapist to make sure any muscle imbalances are worked out (to keep the patella tracking as correctly as possible) and then discuss what's possible in PT terms for pain management. I can modify some things I do, especially for strength training, but I have absolutely no plans to stop trail running or running in general - I will just think a bit about moderation.

Also on Wednesday, after the x-rays, I had dry needling done on my left hamstring and glute. I had strained my left glute in June 2024 (!!!) and it has still been bothering me. My physical therapist (with some manual work on it) thought that the strain itself was probably basically healed, but that there were a bunch of trigger points with it that were making it continue to feel bad. So, the dry needling.

I have not had dry needling done before. I did not watch. If I watch needles being inserted, I can get faint. Some types of pain make me get faint, so that was a possible issue, too. The therapist did three separate needle insertions. It wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't the worst therapy I've ever had, either (remember way back with my headache that wouldn't go away and the two-dozen Botox injections on my face and neck - that was WAY worse). The next day, the areas of insertion were mildly worse, but not bad, and that has improved. The trigger-point area in my glute is much better! Very big improvement in that, so it seems like it worked. I'm not sure how long it will last, so we'll see.

Well, that might be it for my "health news". But important stuff this week! I have two physical therapy appointments this coming up week, so we'll see how that goes and what she wants to change now that we have a diagnosis.

 

[col1]

Having a diagnosis is huge, you can start to put your plan together as to how you will manage it. The fact that it is not a weight bearing issue and the 20 years timescales regarding replacement are also good news, so glad to hear that for you.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Well, it's good that you have a diagnosis now, but it sucks that there's not really anything you can do about it! Hoping you can figure out some good management strategies with your PT.

 

[avondale]

Week of June 9 - 15, 2025

This was the seventh week of ~13 weeks of training for a 5k in early August (yes, overkill). This is mostly to keep me running during the summer heat and humidity and I think a focus on speed will be good. In the interest of helping my kneMes, I'm only planning 4 runs/week during this period with the plan of a long hike on the weekend with my husband (instead of a fifth run).

On June 14 - 15, I did the Yeti 24-h Challenge, sort of "with" some Garmin friends. Two of us did it on the same weekend - one more was joining us, but her treadmill broke, so she's doing it next weekend with two others in our group. This challenge is to run 5.2 miles every 4 hours for 24 hours (6 times), which adds up to 31.2 mi = 50k. I did this challenge back in February 2021, and I didn't find it to be super difficult. However - spoiler alert - the four years since then have not made it easier.

Monday

• Before breakfast:
  • Workout 1
    • 3 x 5 - suitcase squats with 57.5 lb + 20-lb vest
    • superset
      • 3 x 1 - unassisted chin-ups
      • 3 x 5 - lat pull-downs with 49-lb bands
      • 3 x 5 - bench presses with 57.5 lb
    • 3 x 5 - Romanian deadlifts with 57.5 lb
    • superset
      • 3 x 5 - shoulder presses with 42.5 lb
      • 3 x 5 - band pull-aparts with 13-lb bands
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • 60 min easy on trail
    • T+D 149, 4.5% effect, T 82 F
    • time: 1:00:02
    • distance: 4.64 mi
    • average pace: 12:56 (GAP ave pace: 12:50)
    • splits: 13:03, 12:59, 12:49, 12:44, 13:08
    • ave HR: 136 BPM - within my target range
    • elevation gain: 179 ft (corrected)
    • route: Northwest Branch Trail

Tuesday

• Before breakfast: core workout
  • 90-sec plank with 20-lb vest
  • 20 starfish
  • 20 dead bugs
  • 20 bird dogs
  • 20 each side flutter kicks
  • 20 bicycle crunches with hold
  • 5 10-sec hollow-body holds
  • 2 30-sec side planks
  • 20 double leg lift/lowers
• After work/PT:
  • Hill repeat HIIT -- 13min easy + 3 x [7 x (20sec sprint uphill + 20sec walk downhill) + 4min walk downhill]
    • T+D 143, 3.5% effect, T 83 F
    • time: 40:01
    • distance: 2.91 mi
    • repeat splits: 8:47, 8:52, 9:25, 8:57, 8:56, 8:58, 9:27, 8:34, 8:44, 9:17, 8:37, 8:51, 9:10, 9:34, 8:24, 8:41, 9:13, 8:38, 9:05, 9:29, 9:26
    • elevation gain: 202 ft (corrected)
    • route: neighborhood loop 1

Wednesday

• Before breakfast:
  • Unilateral strength workout
    • 4 x 6 each leg - straight leg reverse lunges with 10 lb
    • 4 x 6 each leg - one-leg Romanian deadlifts with kickstand with 20 lb
    • 4 x 6 each leg - one-leg squat on bench
    • 4 x 6 each leg - one-leg hip thrusts with 20 lb
    • 4 x 6 each leg - hip airplanes with 15 lb
    • comments: This is a new workout from my physical therapist. I am still working out the correct weights - most of these were too light.
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:27:31
  • distance: 4.84 mi
  • ave pace: 18:05
  • incline: 0%

Thursday

• Before breakfast:
  • Core workout
    • 90-sec plank with 20-lb vest
    • 20 starfish
    • 20 dead bugs
    • 20 bird dogs
    • 20 each side flutter kicks
    • 20 bicycle crunches with hold
    • 5 10-sec hollow-body holds
    • 2 30-sec side planks
    • 20 double leg lift/lowers
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • Speed intervals on trail - 15 min easy + 10 x (1 min fast + 1 min walk) + 15 min easy
    • T+D 152, 5% effect, T 88 F
    • time: 50:01
    • distance: 4.23 mi
    • speed interval splits: 8:51, 8:34, 8:22, 8:17, 8:28, 7:50, 8:02, 8:10, 8:11, 8:11
    • elevation gain: 125 ft (corrected)
    • route: Sligo Creek Trail
    • comments: This route was paved, so it was not a trail run.

Friday

• Before breakfast: foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 44:26
  • distance: 2.32 mi
  • ave pace: 19:09
  • incline: 0%
  • comments: Taking it easy before the Yeti Challenge

Yeti 24-hr Challenge
The challenge is to run 5.2 mi every 4 hours for 24 hours. I planned to start at 5:00am on Saturday, which means I'd be running at 5am, 9am, 1pm, 5pm, 9pm and Sunday at 1am. I was hoping to get four of the six in daylight, but half of my first run was still dark enough to need lights.

It doesn't matter how fast you do the run (unless you care for personal competition), but the faster you do it, the more time you have for rest and recovery in between the legs. I planned to do all paved, relatively flat runs to make it as easy as possible - 50k is a lot!

The weather forecast was for showers off and on all day, but at least it was only supposed to get up to the low 80s F instead of high 80s F. I hadn't really thought about the humidity....

Leg 1: 5:00am Saturday

• T+D 143, 3.5% effect, T 72 F
• time: 1:03:03
• distance: 5.2 mi
• average pace: 12:07 (GAP ave pace: 12:08)
• splits: 12:17, 12:09, 12:02, 12:08, 12:05, 11:44
• ave HR: 136 BPM - within my target range
• elevation gain: 129 ft (corrected)
• route: Rock Creek Trail
• comments: It was about 99% humidity! Not horribly hot, but SOOOO humid. The day would not get better after this.

Leg 2: 9:00am Saturday

• T+D 145, 4% effect, T 74 F
• time: 1:04:14
• distance: 5.2 mi
• average pace: 12:21 (GAP ave pace: 12:22)
• splits: 12:25, 12:17, 11:59, 12:25, 12:40, 12:22
• ave HR: 141 BPM - within my target range
• elevation gain: 162 ft (corrected)
• route: Rock Creek Trail
• comments: The humidity was still horrible. Not sunny, and no rain yet.
• comments: I encountered the Kensington parkrun folks; I thought they started at 8am and would be mostly gone, but, no, they started at 9am, so I was right in the middle of them. Had to try not to race!
• comments: How did I supposedly get a bunch more elevation gain on this leg than the previous one when I ran exactly the same route? Who knows.

Leg 3: 1:00pm Saturday

• T+D 153, 5% effect, T 81 F
• time: 1:05:23
• distance: 5.2 mi
• average pace: 12:35 (GAP ave pace: 12:38)
• splits: 12:54, 12:45, 12:30, 12:24, 12:26, 12:11
• ave HR: 140 BPM - within my target range
• elevation gain: 157 ft (corrected)
• route: Sligo Creek Trail
• comments: The humidity was insane! Noooo rain yet - was hoping for it to cool things down.
• comments: This route is the shadiest one, which is why I chose it for 1pm and 5pm legs, although it was overcast. It is also pretty distinctly uphill for the outbound leg and downhill for the return.

Leg 4: 5:00pm Saturday

• T+D 155, 5% effect, T 83 F
• time: 1:06:07
• distance: 5.2 mi
• average pace: 12:43 (GAP ave pace: 12:42)
• splits: 12:56, 12:51, 12:36, 12:24, 12:25, 14:37
• ave HR: 140 BPM - within my target range
• elevation gain: 163 ft (corrected)
• route: Sligo Creek Trail
• comments: The humidity felt even worse! It just wasn't that hot, and it wasn't even sunny, but the humidity was just so horrible that it sucked the energy right out of me. There were some sprinkles during this leg, but nothing substantial - the showers kept going around us.
• comments: I walked the last bit because it's a steep uphill, thus the pace on the last 0.2 mi.
• comments: On this leg, my breathing started to feel not great - probably related to the heat and humidity and how tired I was getting.

Leg 5: 9:00pm Saturday

• T+D 143, 3.5% effect, T 74 F
• time: 1:09:12
• distance: 5.2 mi
• average pace: 13:19 (GAP ave pace: 13:10)
• splits: 13:01, 12:59, 12:52, 12:57, 14:02, 16:58
• ave HR: 142 BPM - within my target range
• elevation gain: 355 ft (corrected)
• route: neighborhood loop 1
• comments: It was still very humid, but at least the temperature had dropped, so things felt a bit better. I thought I wasn't going to be able to do this leg outside because a thunderstorm cell was headed our way on radar, but the good thing about this loop is that it goes by my house, so I could bail out pretty quickly if needed. But the thunderstorms dissipated before getting to us (I even heard some thunder), although I did get a good breeze from the storms in the area.
• comments: It took three loops of the route to get to 5.2 miles. The route is a roller coaster, but usually I can run the hills...not at this point. On the last loop I walked the uphills.
• comments: My breathing was getting hard - not really fast/labored, but just felt off. My HR was starting to get wonky - overreacting on harder parts. Right toward the end, I had some dizziness - sigh, probably heat exhaustion.

Leg 6: 1:00am Sunday

• walking on treadmill!
• time: 1:36:53
• distance; 5.2 mi
• ave pace: 18:38
• comments: About an hour after I finished leg 5, the storms finally hit. We had Biblical torrents of rain that continued well into the start time for my last leg. No way I was going out into that.
• comments: I had already decided to walk the last leg on the treadmill because of how bad I was feeling - at least if I had any trouble, I'd be in a safe spot with my (sleeping) husband to help.
• comments: This was extremely hard to do. I was just so tired and even while walking my breathing didn't feel great. I wanted to walk it quickly so I could get to bed, but my body wasn't happy with that, so it was a trade-off. I ended up alternating faster and slower paces.

I got it done!!! It was much harder than I remembered, and I did it significantly more slowly than in 2021. Looking back at my notes on that, I didn't do much different in terms of prep for the challenge then.

I think the biggest difference between 2021 and this challenge - besides me being older - was the weather/temperature. In 2021, I did the challenge in early February and had mostly 40s F for temperatures, which is pretty perfect for me. Unfortunately this time, the heat and humidity were just so horrible, which is a particular weakness of mine. If I hadn't been doing it "with friends", I might have postponed it.

I knew the heat and humidity would be bad (and the first leg told me right away if I hadn't). I drank over a liter of liquids in between each leg, so I drank far more than a gallon of liquids throughout the challenge. I ate well, including recovery foods right after each run. But I just couldn't keep up to what I was losing. This morning when I woke up, I was about 2.5 lbs lower in weight than just before I started the challenge - I'm sure that was all water weight.


Health

I had two physical therapy appointments this week. In the first one, we mostly talked about how to move forward since the knee arthritis diagnosis and she did some strength measurements, etc., for the next required progress report.

Her thinking is that my strength overall is good, but that I still have some imbalances between different muscle strengths in the left and right legs, which could be important to balance out to put less stress on the knees. That led to the unilateral strength workout that I did later in the week.

In the second appointment, we did a debrief on the unilateral strength workout (I'll be changing some things) and did a few other exercises. We also talked about the pros and cons of braces and other approaches. (I don't plan to wear a brace regularly.)

I have two more appointments with her and then we'll stop things for awhile to see how I do.

Fortunately, the day after my Yeti Challenge, I have to say I am not feeling it much in the knees - maybe that's because other things still hurt more! I iced the knees after four of the six legs (forgot sometimes).

 

[col1]

Week of June 9 - 15, 2025

This was the seventh week of ~13 weeks of training for a 5k in early August (yes, overkill). This is mostly to keep me running during the summer heat and humidity and I think a focus on speed will be good. In the interest of helping my kneMes, I'm only planning 4 runs/week during this period with the plan of a long hike on the weekend with my husband (instead of a fifth run).

On June 14 - 15, I did the Yeti 24-h Challenge, sort of "with" some Garmin friends. Two of us did it on the same weekend - one more was joining us, but her treadmill broke, so she's doing it next weekend with two others in our group. This challenge is to run 5.2 miles every 4 hours for 24 hours (6 times), which adds up to 31.2 mi = 50k. I did this challenge back in February 2021, and I didn't find it to be super difficult. However - spoiler alert - the four years since then have not made it easier.

Monday

• Before breakfast:
  • Workout 1
    • 3 x 5 - suitcase squats with 57.5 lb + 20-lb vest
    • superset
      • 3 x 1 - unassisted chin-ups
      • 3 x 5 - lat pull-downs with 49-lb bands
      • 3 x 5 - bench presses with 57.5 lb
    • 3 x 5 - Romanian deadlifts with 57.5 lb
    • superset
      • 3 x 5 - shoulder presses with 42.5 lb
      • 3 x 5 - band pull-aparts with 13-lb bands
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • 60 min easy on trail
    • T+D 149, 4.5% effect, T 82 F
    • time: 1:00:02
    • distance: 4.64 mi
    • average pace: 12:56 (GAP ave pace: 12:50)
    • splits: 13:03, 12:59, 12:49, 12:44, 13:08
    • ave HR: 136 BPM - within my target range
    • elevation gain: 179 ft (corrected)
    • route: Northwest Branch Trail

Tuesday

• Before breakfast: core workout
  • 90-sec plank with 20-lb vest
  • 20 starfish
  • 20 dead bugs
  • 20 bird dogs
  • 20 each side flutter kicks
  • 20 bicycle crunches with hold
  • 5 10-sec hollow-body holds
  • 2 30-sec side planks
  • 20 double leg lift/lowers
• After work/PT:
  • Hill repeat HIIT -- 13min easy + 3 x [7 x (20sec sprint uphill + 20sec walk downhill) + 4min walk downhill]
    • T+D 143, 3.5% effect, T 83 F
    • time: 40:01
    • distance: 2.91 mi
    • repeat splits: 8:47, 8:52, 9:25, 8:57, 8:56, 8:58, 9:27, 8:34, 8:44, 9:17, 8:37, 8:51, 9:10, 9:34, 8:24, 8:41, 9:13, 8:38, 9:05, 9:29, 9:26
    • elevation gain: 202 ft (corrected)
    • route: neighborhood loop 1

Wednesday

• Before breakfast:
  • Unilateral strength workout
    • 4 x 6 each leg - straight leg reverse lunges with 10 lb
    • 4 x 6 each leg - one-leg Romanian deadlifts with kickstand with 20 lb
    • 4 x 6 each leg - one-leg squat on bench
    • 4 x 6 each leg - one-leg hip thrusts with 20 lb
    • 4 x 6 each leg - hip airplanes with 15 lb
    • comments: This is a new workout from my physical therapist. I am still working out the correct weights - most of these were too light.
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:27:31
  • distance: 4.84 mi
  • ave pace: 18:05
  • incline: 0%

Thursday

• Before breakfast:
  • Core workout
    • 90-sec plank with 20-lb vest
    • 20 starfish
    • 20 dead bugs
    • 20 bird dogs
    • 20 each side flutter kicks
    • 20 bicycle crunches with hold
    • 5 10-sec hollow-body holds
    • 2 30-sec side planks
    • 20 double leg lift/lowers
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • Speed intervals on trail - 15 min easy + 10 x (1 min fast + 1 min walk) + 15 min easy
    • T+D 152, 5% effect, T 88 F
    • time: 50:01
    • distance: 4.23 mi
    • speed interval splits: 8:51, 8:34, 8:22, 8:17, 8:28, 7:50, 8:02, 8:10, 8:11, 8:11
    • elevation gain: 125 ft (corrected)
    • route: Sligo Creek Trail
    • comments: This route was paved, so it was not a trail run.

Friday

• Before breakfast: foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 44:26
  • distance: 2.32 mi
  • ave pace: 19:09
  • incline: 0%
  • comments: Taking it easy before the Yeti Challenge

Yeti 24-hr Challenge
The challenge is to run 5.2 mi every 4 hours for 24 hours. I planned to start at 5:00am on Saturday, which means I'd be running at 5am, 9am, 1pm, 5pm, 9pm and Sunday at 1am. I was hoping to get four of the six in daylight, but half of my first run was still dark enough to need lights.

It doesn't matter how fast you do the run (unless you care for personal competition), but the faster you do it, the more time you have for rest and recovery in between the legs. I planned to do all paved, relatively flat runs to make it as easy as possible - 50k is a lot!

The weather forecast was for showers off and on all day, but at least it was only supposed to get up to the low 80s F instead of high 80s F. I hadn't really thought about the humidity....

Leg 1: 5:00am Saturday

• T+D 143, 3.5% effect, T 72 F
• time: 1:03:03
• distance: 5.2 mi
• average pace: 12:07 (GAP ave pace: 12:08)
• splits: 12:17, 12:09, 12:02, 12:08, 12:05, 11:44
• ave HR: 136 BPM - within my target range
• elevation gain: 129 ft (corrected)
• route: Rock Creek Trail
• comments: It was about 99% humidity! Not horribly hot, but SOOOO humid. The day would not get better after this.

Leg 2: 9:00am Saturday

• T+D 145, 4% effect, T 74 F
• time: 1:04:14
• distance: 5.2 mi
• average pace: 12:21 (GAP ave pace: 12:22)
• splits: 12:25, 12:17, 11:59, 12:25, 12:40, 12:22
• ave HR: 141 BPM - within my target range
• elevation gain: 162 ft (corrected)
• route: Rock Creek Trail
• comments: The humidity was still horrible. Not sunny, and no rain yet.
• comments: I encountered the Kensington parkrun folks; I thought they started at 8am and would be mostly gone, but, no, they started at 9am, so I was right in the middle of them. Had to try not to race!
• comments: How did I supposedly get a bunch more elevation gain on this leg than the previous one when I ran exactly the same route? Who knows.

Leg 3: 1:00pm Saturday

• T+D 153, 5% effect, T 81 F
• time: 1:05:23
• distance: 5.2 mi
• average pace: 12:35 (GAP ave pace: 12:38)
• splits: 12:54, 12:45, 12:30, 12:24, 12:26, 12:11
• ave HR: 140 BPM - within my target range
• elevation gain: 157 ft (corrected)
• route: Sligo Creek Trail
• comments: The humidity was insane! Noooo rain yet - was hoping for it to cool things down.
• comments: This route is the shadiest one, which is why I chose it for 1pm and 5pm legs, although it was overcast. It is also pretty distinctly uphill for the outbound leg and downhill for the return.

Leg 4: 5:00pm Saturday

• T+D 155, 5% effect, T 83 F
• time: 1:06:07
• distance: 5.2 mi
• average pace: 12:43 (GAP ave pace: 12:42)
• splits: 12:56, 12:51, 12:36, 12:24, 12:25, 14:37
• ave HR: 140 BPM - within my target range
• elevation gain: 163 ft (corrected)
• route: Sligo Creek Trail
• comments: The humidity felt even worse! It just wasn't that hot, and it wasn't even sunny, but the humidity was just so horrible that it sucked the energy right out of me. There were some sprinkles during this leg, but nothing substantial - the showers kept going around us.
• comments: I walked the last bit because it's a steep uphill, thus the pace on the last 0.2 mi.
• comments: On this leg, my breathing started to feel not great - probably related to the heat and humidity and how tired I was getting.

Leg 5: 9:00pm Saturday

• T+D 143, 3.5% effect, T 74 F
• time: 1:09:12
• distance: 5.2 mi
• average pace: 13:19 (GAP ave pace: 13:10)
• splits: 13:01, 12:59, 12:52, 12:57, 14:02, 16:58
• ave HR: 142 BPM - within my target range
• elevation gain: 355 ft (corrected)
• route: neighborhood loop 1
• comments: It was still very humid, but at least the temperature had dropped, so things felt a bit better. I thought I wasn't going to be able to do this leg outside because a thunderstorm cell was headed our way on radar, but the good thing about this loop is that it goes by my house, so I could bail out pretty quickly if needed. But the thunderstorms dissipated before getting to us (I even heard some thunder), although I did get a good breeze from the storms in the area.
• comments: It took three loops of the route to get to 5.2 miles. The route is a roller coaster, but usually I can run the hills...not at this point. On the last loop I walked the uphills.
• comments: My breathing was getting hard - not really fast/labored, but just felt off. My HR was starting to get wonky - overreacting on harder parts. Right toward the end, I had some dizziness - sigh, probably heat exhaustion.

Leg 6: 1:00am Sunday

• walking on treadmill!
• time: 1:36:53
• distance; 5.2 mi
• ave pace: 18:38
• comments: About an hour after I finished leg 5, the storms finally hit. We had Biblical torrents of rain that continued well into the start time for my last leg. No way I was going out into that.
• comments: I had already decided to walk the last leg on the treadmill because of how bad I was feeling - at least if I had any trouble, I'd be in a safe spot with my (sleeping) husband to help.
• comments: This was extremely hard to do. I was just so tired and even while walking my breathing didn't feel great. I wanted to walk it quickly so I could get to bed, but my body wasn't happy with that, so it was a trade-off. I ended up alternating faster and slower paces.

I got it done!!! It was much harder than I remembered, and I did it significantly more slowly than in 2021. Looking back at my notes on that, I didn't do much different in terms of prep for the challenge then.

I think the biggest difference between 2021 and this challenge - besides me being older - was the weather/temperature. In 2021, I did the challenge in early February and had mostly 40s F for temperatures, which is pretty perfect for me. Unfortunately this time, the heat and humidity were just so horrible, which is a particular weakness of mine. If I hadn't been doing it "with friends", I might have postponed it.

I knew the heat and humidity would be bad (and the first leg told me right away if I hadn't). I drank over a liter of liquids in between each leg, so I drank far more than a gallon of liquids throughout the challenge. I ate well, including recovery foods right after each run. But I just couldn't keep up to what I was losing. This morning when I woke up, I was about 2.5 lbs lower in weight than just before I started the challenge - I'm sure that was all water weight.


Health

I had two physical therapy appointments this week. In the first one, we mostly talked about how to move forward since the knee arthritis diagnosis and she did some strength measurements, etc., for the next required progress report.

Her thinking is that my strength overall is good, but that I still have some imbalances between different muscle strengths in the left and right legs, which could be important to balance out to put less stress on the knees. That led to the unilateral strength workout that I did later in the week.

In the second appointment, we did a debrief on the unilateral strength workout (I'll be changing some things) and did a few other exercises. We also talked about the pros and cons of braces and other approaches. (I don't plan to wear a brace regularly.)

I have two more appointments with her and then we'll stop things for awhile to see how I do.

Fortunately, the day after my Yeti Challenge, I have to say I am not feeling it much in the knees - maybe that's because other things still hurt more! I iced the knees after four of the six legs (forgot sometimes).

Wow well done on completing the challenge, sounds tough and the weather
Conditions made it tougher still !!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

It was gross out yesterday! I went to a Nats game with my parents and we were drenched in sweat just from sitting in the stands. Doing all that running in those conditions is an impressive feat!

 

[avondale]

@col1 and @WillRunForPizza the conditions were totally sticky and horrible.

 

[avondale]

Week of June 16 - 20, 2025

This was the eighth week of ~13 weeks of training for a 5k in early August (yes, overkill). This is mostly to keep me running during the summer heat and humidity and I think a focus on speed will be good. In the interest of helping my knees, I'm only planning 4 runs/week during this period with the plan of a long hike on the weekend with my husband (instead of a fifth run).

Well, this week was a short week because DH and I are leaving for Paris tonight (Friday) for 8 days! We have been there several times before; we are meeting up with one of his brothers and family.

Between the recovery from the Yeti 24-hr Challenge on Saturday (June 14) and the near-daily severe thunderstorms each afternoon/evening, I didn't get any running in until today (Friday) as I write this. Happily, this was supposed to be a cut-back week and I'm not training that seriously anyway, so not a big deal.

Monday

• Before breakfast: foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:27:29
  • distance: 4.32 mi
  • ave pace: 20:15
  • incline: 0%
  • comments: Still feeling pretty creaky and tired, but so much better than the day before.

Tuesday

• Before breakfast:
  • Core workout
    • 90-sec plank with 20-lb vest
    • 20 starfish
    • 20 dead bugs
    • 20 bird dogs
    • 20 each side flutter kicks
    • 20 bicycle crunches with hold
    • 5 10-sec hollow-body holds
    • 2 30-sec side planks
    • 20 double leg lift/lowers
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:26:41
  • distance: 4.5 mi
  • ave pace: 19:16
  • incline: 0%

Wednesday

• Before breakfast:
  • Unilateral strength workout
    • 4 x 6 each leg - straight-leg reverse lunges with 16 lb
    • 4 x 6 each leg - one-leg hamstring curls with 23-lb band
    • 4 x 6 each leg - heel taps from step
    • 4 x 6 each leg - one-leg hip thrusts with 24 lb
    • 4 x 6 each leg - hip airplanes with 17.5 lb
    • comments: Workout recommended by physical therapist
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 50:45
  • distance: 2.81 mi
  • ave pace: 18:04
  • incline: 0%
  • comments: I had wanted to do a short, easy run outside, but the severe thunderstorms had another idea. I was heading for the running route and was 1 block from my house when the thunderstorm caught up to us and boomed...so back to the house for the treadmill.

Thursday

• Before breakfast: upper body strength workout
  • superset
    • 3 x 5 - triceps push-ups with 20-lb vest
    • 3 x 5 - dumbbell reverse-grip rows with 25 lb per arm
    • 3 x 5 - dumbbell pull-overs with 25 lb
  • superset
    • 3 x 5 - front raises with 12 lb per arm
    • 3 x 5 - dumbbell reverse flyes with 15 lb per arm
    • 3 x 5 - deep swimmer's press with 15 lb per arm
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:27:19
  • distance: 4.84 mi
  • ave pace: 18:02
  • incline: 0%
  • comments: Again, I was planning to run outside, but we got even worse thunderstorms than the day before, with lots of high winds, trees down, and power outages. So treadmill walk it was.

Friday before dinner:

• 50 min easy
  • T+D 150, 4.5% effect, T 84 F
  • time: 50:00
  • distance: 4.09 mi
  • average pace: 12:15 (GAP ave pace: 12:15)
  • splits: 12:03, 12:21, 12:15, 12:15, 12:53
  • ave HR: 137 BPM - within my target range
  • elevation gain: 117 ft (uncorrected)
  • route: Sligo Creek Trail
  • comments: This route was paved, so it wasn't a trail run.
  • comments: This run felt surprisingly good (except for the T+D). I wasn't sure how it would go because honestly my legs have been a little cranky all week after the Yeti.

Health

This week I had my last two physical therapy sessions for awhile. On Monday, I was still pretty sore from the Yeti, so she mostly did manual work on my legs. Exercises were: side plank banded clamshells, hamstring curls on the cable machine, and quad extensions against a Swiss ball placed against the wall (so essentially isometric).

On Thursday, it was similar, although the exercises were heavier. I did the side plank banded clamshells again. Then Romanian deadlifts with a kickstand using the cable machine. The hard one was one-leg leg presses on the machine with 100 lb.

We're taking a break from the PT for me to get the chance to see how my knees to for awhile with my routines. I can go back, of course, if I feel like I need it.

 

[col1]

Week of June 16 - 20, 2025

This was the eighth week of ~13 weeks of training for a 5k in early August (yes, overkill). This is mostly to keep me running during the summer heat and humidity and I think a focus on speed will be good. In the interest of helping my knees, I'm only planning 4 runs/week during this period with the plan of a long hike on the weekend with my husband (instead of a fifth run).

Well, this week was a short week because DH and I are leaving for Paris tonight (Friday) for 8 days! We have been there several times before; we are meeting up with one of his brothers and family.

Between the recovery from the Yeti 24-hr Challenge on Saturday (June 14) and the near-daily severe thunderstorms each afternoon/evening, I didn't get any running in until today (Friday) as I write this. Happily, this was supposed to be a cut-back week and I'm not training that seriously anyway, so not a big deal.

Monday

• Before breakfast: foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:27:29
  • distance: 4.32 mi
  • ave pace: 20:15
  • incline: 0%
  • comments: Still feeling pretty creaky and tired, but so much better than the day before.

Tuesday

• Before breakfast:
  • Core workout
    • 90-sec plank with 20-lb vest
    • 20 starfish
    • 20 dead bugs
    • 20 bird dogs
    • 20 each side flutter kicks
    • 20 bicycle crunches with hold
    • 5 10-sec hollow-body holds
    • 2 30-sec side planks
    • 20 double leg lift/lowers
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:26:41
  • distance: 4.5 mi
  • ave pace: 19:16
  • incline: 0%

Wednesday

• Before breakfast:
  • Unilateral strength workout
    • 4 x 6 each leg - straight-leg reverse lunges with 16 lb
    • 4 x 6 each leg - one-leg hamstring curls with 23-lb band
    • 4 x 6 each leg - heel taps from step
    • 4 x 6 each leg - one-leg hip thrusts with 24 lb
    • 4 x 6 each leg - hip airplanes with 17.5 lb
    • comments: Workout recommended by physical therapist
  • Foam rolling and stretching
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 50:45
  • distance: 2.81 mi
  • ave pace: 18:04
  • incline: 0%
  • comments: I had wanted to do a short, easy run outside, but the severe thunderstorms had another idea. I was heading for the running route and was 1 block from my house when the thunderstorm caught up to us and boomed...so back to the house for the treadmill.

Thursday

• Before breakfast: upper body strength workout
  • superset
    • 3 x 5 - triceps push-ups with 20-lb vest
    • 3 x 5 - dumbbell reverse-grip rows with 25 lb per arm
    • 3 x 5 - dumbbell pull-overs with 25 lb
  • superset
    • 3 x 5 - front raises with 12 lb per arm
    • 3 x 5 - dumbbell reverse flyes with 15 lb per arm
    • 3 x 5 - deep swimmer's press with 15 lb per arm
• After work: walk on treadmill
  • time: 1:27:19
  • distance: 4.84 mi
  • ave pace: 18:02
  • incline: 0%
  • comments: Again, I was planning to run outside, but we got even worse thunderstorms than the day before, with lots of high winds, trees down, and power outages. So treadmill walk it was.

Friday before dinner:

• 50 min easy
  • T+D 150, 4.5% effect, T 84 F
  • time: 50:00
  • distance: 4.09 mi
  • average pace: 12:15 (GAP ave pace: 12:15)
  • splits: 12:03, 12:21, 12:15, 12:15, 12:53
  • ave HR: 137 BPM - within my target range
  • elevation gain: 117 ft (uncorrected)
  • route: Sligo Creek Trail
  • comments: This route was paved, so it wasn't a trail run.
  • comments: This run felt surprisingly good (except for the T+D). I wasn't sure how it would go because honestly my legs have been a little cranky all week after the Yeti.

Health

This week I had my last two physical therapy sessions for awhile. On Monday, I was still pretty sore from the Yeti, so she mostly did manual work on my legs. Exercises were: side plank banded clamshells, hamstring curls on the cable machine, and quad extensions against a Swiss ball placed against the wall (so essentially isometric).

On Thursday, it was similar, although the exercises were heavier. I did the side plank banded clamshells again. Then Romanian deadlifts with a kickstand using the cable machine. The hard one was one-leg leg presses on the machine with 100 lb.

We're taking a break from the PT for me to get the chance to see how my knees to for awhile with my routines. I can go back, of course, if I feel like I need it.

Have a great trip to Paris

 

[jmasgat]

Enjoy your trip! According to my favorite Paris-based food author (David Lebovitz), it's going to be 94⁰ today with poor air quality. Amazingly, they have been getting smoke from the Canadian wildfires. Hope it cools down and gets better soon.

 

[avondale]

Week of June 21 - 29, 2025

This was a week off from my plan, since we were in Paris for the week. This is our fourth trip to Paris, so we did some typical tourist stuff and some less-typical stuff.

It was very hot, especially for what Parisians are used to, mostly mid- to high-80s F and some 90s F. The problem is that most things aren't air conditioned. The apartment we were in had A/C in the bedroom but none in the other spaces, which was relatively miserable. Open windows help with ventilation, but not so much when it's so hot outside. Paris has SO MUCH pavement that any time you were out in the Sun on the pavement, you felt like you were in an oven. And with the lack of A/C, it was difficult to get relief.

We met one of my husband's brothers and his family (wife and two young kids) in Paris. We shared an apartment with them. We did some things together, but most separate - different goals for the trip.

Saturday (June 21)

Our flight departed about 4.5 h late (after 3am) so we didn't arrive until about 4pm. So it was mostly just getting from the airport to the apartment, unpacking, getting food, and getting the rest of my 10k steps done. Sunset in Paris at this time of year is about 10pm - it stays light forever.

Sunday (June 22)

Versailles! We've been there twice already, but it's such a fantastic place. DH and I quickly went through the palace, but it was really busy and very stuffy/hot. We spent most of the time walking around the beautiful grounds and staying in the shade. We ended the day at an equestrian show (yes, the palace has an equestrian center) that was fund and unique.

• time: 4:29:00
• distance: 7.09 mi
• ave pace: 37:56

Monday (June 23)

This day we did most things with the BIL and family. We paid for one of those packages where you have lunch on Stage 1 of the Eiffel Tower, and then we climbed the stairs up to Stage 2. BIL planned this and thought that passes to go up the elevator to the top of the tower were included, but no. That was sold out for the day. We've been up there before, so didn't care, but they wanted to go and got tickets for later in the week.



In the afternoon, we had timed entry tickets for Notre Dame. This was our first visit since the church opened after being renovated after the big fire in 2019. The bell towers and second level were still closed. It was good to see the church "back". DH and I both thought the interior seemed much brighter than it used to be - we suspect that the renovations/cleaning after the fire also cleaned a lot of the old soot and dirt that had built up on the ceilings, etc., over the centuries, so the stone was just more reflective. The outside of the church still has lots of scaffolding for continuing renovations, although the front is pretty much done.


Tuesday (June 24)

This was my only opportunity to run in Paris if I wanted to, so I got up early to do a route along the Seine starting from our apartment.

• 50 min easy
  • No idea on T+D - probably 120 - 130
  • time: 50:01
  • distance: 3.88 mi
  • ave pace: 12:53
  • splits: 12:57, 12:45, 13:01, 12:48
  • ave HR: 129 BPM - within my target range
  • route: Along the Seine
  • comments: My legs felt very heavy and tired.

In the afternoon, DH and I walked to the Jardin des Plants and also went into its Menagerie. The Jardin is a formal garden with rows of tall trees and then the formal, planned flower garden. It felt SO HOT, especially in the Sun, so we really only walked through the rows of trees in order to stay in the shade.

The Menagerie is the oldest zoo in Paris - the original animals were taken from the king's lands at Versailles during on the of the revolutions and because the start of the zoo. The menagerie was small, but very nice. A lot of the paths were shaded, which may have helped my overall impression. It wasn't busy at all, which meant we could loiter and stick our noses in to look for the animals and take as long as we wanted. Despite the heat, we saw quite a few animals, and it was enjoyable. (The Jardin also had several other museums that may have interested us, but they were closed on Tuesdays.)

• time: 3:02:19
• distance: 5.13 mi
• ave pace: 35:34

Wednesday (June 25)

We went to Brussels for an overnight trip since I haven't been there before, and my husband had only been there briefly for work. Our high-speed train was supposed to leave approx. 10:30am and get us there at noon, but there was a pedestrian accident on the line, so that was canceled. We got on a slower train that got us to Brussels at about 3:30pm.

First, we met up with one of my Garmin connections! A connection of mine who lives in Sri Lanka happened to be in Belgium this month (his sister lives in Belgium), so he and his wife came to Brussels to meet. (We were supposed to have a third Garmin connection - from Germany - coming to meet us, too, but he had to cancel last-minute because of a medical emergency with his wife.) So we walked around Brussels and saw some of the sights around the main plaza and got a drink before they had to leave at dinner time.



Then we did some chocolate shopping until dinner.

Thursday (June 26)

We walked around some more scenic areas of Brussels: Jubal Park, Park Leopold, and then to the Natural History Museum. Jubal Park was actually similar to Jardin des Plants in Paris, with some nice organized sections of tall trees (shade!) and also formal flower gardens. The weather was cooler and actually rained occasionally, so it was less oppressive. Park Leopald was much smaller and very pretty with lots of flowers and a pond. The Natural History Museum was very impressive - their big emphasis is dinosaurs and paleontology, and they had lots of dinosaur skeletons. (Including some of the first to be discovered, which the scientists put together incorrectly, as the captions discussed.)

• time: 1:40:01 (paused during the time in the museum)
• distance: 4.27 mi
• ave pace: 23:26

After lunch, we went to see the Church of Notre Dame des Victoires au Sablon, which was reputed to be a pretty church. It was nice enough, I supposed, but it's hard to flatter another gothic-style church when you've just seen Notre Dame de Paris. We also walked around the park nearby - the Square du Petit Sablon, which was pretty. Then we did more chocolate shopping and had to get our train back to Paris.



Friday (June 27)

We took a train to Bayeux, and then did an all-day van tour of various D-Day sites in Normandy. There could have been up to 8 people in our van, but turns out there was just us and another couple, which was nice. We went to Utah beach, Omaha beach, Pointe du Hoc, a coupld of churches that had significant D-Day events, and the American Military Cemetery at Normady. It was a very sobering experience given the topic, but definitely worth doing. A very long day, since we had to leave our apartment by 5:15am to get our train and didn't get back to our apartment in Paris until after 9pm.



Saturday (June 28)

We were leaving in the afternoon, so we did an easy walk to the Jardin du Luxembourg to enjoy the city for the last few hours and get my steps done. Another hot day!

• time: 1:18:10
• distance: 3.47 mi
• ave pace: 22:32

Fortunately our flight home was more or less on time.

Sunday (June 29)

• Before dinner:
  • 40 min easy on trail
    • T+D 167, 7.5% effect (!!!), T 92 F, heat index 102 F
    • time: 40:00
    • distance: 3.04 mi
    • average pace: 13:09 (GAP ave pace: 13:07)
    • splits: 13:21, 12:56, 13:07, 14:26
    • ave HR: 140 BPM - within my target range
    • elevation gain: 177 ft (uncorrected)
    • route: Northwest Branch Trail
    • comments: Five trees were down on the trail in just the short section I ran; one destroyed a wooden bridge. Probably they were blown down in the really windy thunderstorm on June 19.
    • comments: Originally I was planning to do 50 min, but given the T+D, I scaled back.