Shortest Comeback Ever?

My initial enthusiasm was dampened on Friday when my left archilles started getting sore during warm-up and gradually got worse. I decided after two run-throughs I had better not do any more....
I guess I had been doing my run-throughs (including warm ups) a little too fast for not having run on a track for so long. You really don't put much pressure on your calves and archilles when just jogging.

Yesterday (7/19) my archilles felt better after the weekend so I tried a few slower warm up runs but it gradually got sore again and was quite sore this morning.

So Plan B is I will take the rest of this week off running, relax next week in San Diego on vacation then see what I can do with 4 weeks of traning if the archilles holds up.... I will still hit the speedball in the gym and also do some calf raises to try strengthen the calves and archilles (should have thought of this before).

Lets keep our fingers crossed!

A Sprinting Comeback??

The Goal!

Against my better judgement, I got out on a track on Monday (7/12) for the first time in eleven years with the crazy goal of training for the Colorado Masters 200m and 400m on August 29th. That's right, just under seven weeks to get ready.... Not sure why I am doing it, but it could have something do to with hitting the speedball for  the past five months bringing back memories of the good old sprinting days. Or maybe it has been coaching Hailey's softball team this summer, the first involvement I have had in competitive sport since moving to the US, that has got my competitive juices running again.

So I am going to do two weeks of 120m run-throughs to get my legs used to running a little fast again (at least faster than when I run after the kids) and then run a 400m to see if I can run 55 seconds or less. If I can, I'll keep training for the Masters, if not, I'll possibly give myself more time next year. Is this over ambitious? Maybe, but I am banking on the speedball giving me the lungs for the 400m so that I just need to get my legs conditioned. It will be a good measure of what aerobic fitness you can get from the speedball, because trust me, the only runing I have done in the past few months is a 1.5 mile slow jog with he dogs around the block once every one to two weeks......

Early Progress:
After 6 x 120m run-throughts in flats on Monday and Wednesday my calves are as stiff as boards! But the good news is the rest of the body is holding up well. Knees and hips are OK so far. I have to tell you, running down that straight got my adrenalin running and I had to hold myself back. Sprinting sure beats a bloody jog around the block! My first thought was why don't I also run the 100 m at the Masters? But I should be realistic and with so little training that will surely result in a blown out hammy. Now I mentioned it, I think the last time I sprinted at training in Australia I tore a hammy and I never got any physio, so I probably have a lot of scar tissue down there. I can't wait to get spikes back on, but I must take it easy as I don't have any time to recover from an injury between now and the end of August.