Last half of December

Another rolling update post, since dedicating an entire post to my short days would just eat up paper.

Rested the weekend of Dec 15-16, no training and all work. Oooh and a Blues game Friday night! I was worried about being cold, not so bad. Thankfully he patiently explained the game, otherwise I would have been too fascinated (well I was still fascinated but at least able to follow the game) with how the ice is cooled, how the zamboni works, and how the ref's do their signaling. Happy to say, I wasn't "lost" on the game itself.

Tried oatmeal Sat and Sun, at SO's encouragement. And milk! Oof, not great.

Monday Dec 17th, I was up'd to 5.4 mph for 10 min, interval and rest intervals not specified. So I mapped out a 5 mins 3.0 WU, a 5 mins 3.5 more WU, then 4x 5.4 mph for 10 mins (RI: 3.5 mph for 2.5 mins). This added up to a wonderful 3.6 mile RUN!  And also my 2 mile commute from Fo Pa.

I asked Marsha about how my low blood pressure (they read 80ish/50ish at rest; 90ish/60ish in RI) might impact my running. Will I be slow to bust up a hill or have a burst of speed? Slower to recover? More sensitive to temperature and hydration? She will ask.

Tuesday only my 2 mile bike commute. WasGonna swim. Didn't. I re-activated my YMCA membership in late November with the best of intentions (aren't they all?) for December but have yet to get there. So if'n's I get a swim in before the end of the year, it'll be a $42 swim. Ugh.

Wednesday RUN 3.7ish miles! I was told to do the same workout at Monday, they haven't yet discussed moving me up more, so once I realized that no one was really looking at the numbers on the treadmill I snuck it up to 5.5 mph in the second and third interval, then up to 6.0 in the last one. SHHHHHHH don't tell anyone! LOL! My Garmin didn't accurately pick up the HR in the last interval, it kept reading 125-129 and that didn't feel right. Marsha said I got upwards of 150s. Still under my 160 bpm limit.

Friday the 21st, again 4 intervals of 10 mins at 5.4 mph. Marsha was out for holiday, but another rehab peep said next week I get to do 5.6 mph. And for the first time in rehab, I put my foot down and said "no, that's not real running". I explained that running is intervals and surges and terrain and hills and stoplights. That if they really wanted to test the heart, this had to progress faster. I think I have only a few more weeks of this, then I'm done. We'll see what happens when I get back.

Rested the weekend. Worked mostly. 

On Monday rehab was closed for the holiday so I went to the gym. My first appearance since the SCAD! My friend/aquaint who is always smiling and saying hi and high-5'ing peeps was near the door and I was delighted to see him. Even a brief hug? When asked how he's doing, he said "I'm alive". Oh buddy if you only knew.

I was thrilled to be at the gym! And it showed as I didn't stick to the rehab numbers. And I downloaded a new song, one I almost picked up right after the attack: Tubthumping. "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down".  Yeah, no keeping it 5.4 mph with that rocking :)  I made it up to 7.5 for a few mins, but mostly stuck to the 6-7.0 range. Only the pace changed, time and incline as per rehab. My stride feels so much better at those paces. Or do I just tell myself that? HR was good in the early intervals but went high in the last 2, upwards of 170. Could that be right? Didn't feel that good. Looking at the data, might be cadence lock.

Tuesday, full Christmas rest!

Wednesday and Friday on parent's treadmill. Again snuck up to 7.0 speed at the most, but kept the 0% incline and 10 min intervals. Only changed the pace. Ever the scientist. HR stayed as expected in the 140-150 range. Friday's run even lower with a lot of 130's.

Since I'm keeping the intervals of rest and run the same, I might be able to lightly compare my ave HR numbers over these runs? I do a longer warm up in the rehab facility....so starting with my graduation to 10 min intervals:
17th at rehab averaged 120 bpm
19th at rehab 111bpm
21st at rehab 152 bpm?!
24th at YMCA 149
26th at home 130
28th at home 131

This all feels great! Some minor fatigue pain in the flexor/quads, and back muscle fatigue. So gotta get back to strength on that.