Back on the trail

The picture on the left is another from the Chicago Marathon in October. That was one of the more enjoyable sections of the run, I want to say around mile 9 or 10 or so. The trees provided some welcome shade on that 85-degree day.

What I'd give for some warm temperatures now! To think I was complaining that it was too hot! Kidding, of course. Luckily, it hasn't been brutally cold. It's been chilly up here in Toronto, but the real bitter cold hasn't arrived yet.

Yesterday, it was about 35 degress out when I convinced myself that I'd be fine testing out my sore right hamstring with a nine-mile run. If it hurt too bad, I could always turn around and shorten the distance, so what's the big deal?

And it turns out it wasn't a big deal at all. Sure, I still have a small bump that's tender to the touch on the back of my thigh -- what I believe to be inflammation. But it doesn't hurt when I walk, didn't hurt when I ran and it felt much improved after icing and elevating and all that jazz.

I completed the nine miles in 1:15:06, or roughly 8:21 per mile. Last week I did the same run in 7:57 per mile, but this time I worked in a two-mile warmup to test my leg and a one-mile cool down on mile No. 8. Following the cool down, I pushed hard through the end and ran my fastest mile with the last one.

Here were my splits:

8:39/8:42/8:22/8:10/8:11/8:12/8:19/8:31/7:54

I'm resting today -- no gym even -- and I'll be back at it tomorrow. I did a core workout on Monday and tomorrow, Thursday, I'm down to run 8 miles with a tempo workout. So one-mile warmup and cooldown with 6 miles at marathon pace or a little faster, depending on how my leg feels. I'm skipping the speed workout this week.

On Friday, I'm scheduled to do a nine-mile easy run and I'm down for 18 miles for my long run on Sunday. Next week, that jumps to 20, which will be my first 20-miler since the marathon. I've been fortunate so far this winter to have all the Sundays providing good weather for the long runs, minus some light rain here and there.

Of course, I probably just jinxed it...