Running In...

August 19th, the day after my birthday, I started on a ketogenic diet. I had a 5k run the next day and was in ketosis after my run. Today the 24th, I still am feeling weak and have an elevated heart rate when running. I am only having coffee in the morning and then eat again about 2:00 pm. Then around 6:00 pm I have a small cup of Greek yogurt and a small piece of mozzarella cheese.

The marathon start time was 5:00 am. 3 groups started about 3 or 4 minutes apart. Approximately 1300 people participated in the 3 events. The first group at the start was the 42k runners, then the 21k runners and last the 10k runners. I was actually out in the middle of the 10k runners, however since all times were calculated by a foot chip it didn't really matter when you started. Your time was from the time you initially crossed the start line until you crossed the finish. I was hoping to break 2 hours for my time. My official time was 2:01:09. In hind sight I started too far back with a lot of traffic to work through the first 2k. However in looking at my pace it didn't cost me much time but it did cost energy due to weaving through the crowd, rather than running a straight efficient line. The first 12k of the race was completely flat. 12k was the point I was handed the drink by my wife. Through this point I was ahead of pace and feeling ok. The next 9k had 2 long uphill grades and several shorter more steep hills. If you look at my pace chart you can see the elevation profile at the bottom of the graph in gray. https://www.strava.com/activities/5798351189. Overall it was a great experience. Barring injury next year I think I can easily improve on my time. Today is Aug, 20th and I am taking my first easy run post half marathon. Anyone that's interested in my videos let me know. I initially just started this as a hobby and didn't want to spend time and money unless it seemed to be of interest to people. I know the quality is poor, however with the small interest in the videos I may discontinue or at least reduce the videos to 1 a week. If I start to get more viewership I would upgrade my camera and editing software to make it better quality.

Eight days out from the Manta Marathon. http://mantamarathon.com/web/index.php?r=site%2Findex I am in taper now with easier runs through the day of the marathon. View my run stats @https://www.strava.com/activities/5753730106

August 1st. 10K at a 5:38 pace. This is about the pace I want to hold through the half marathon. My run stats today @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5721377277

One minute on one minute off intervals. See my run stats @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5731886118 The Manta, Marathon route has been changed at the last minute. You can see it @ http://mantamarathon.com/web/index.php?r=site%2Fmapa

This was my July 30th run. It was a fast pace 6k followed by 4, 1 min. intervals. Knee is feeling much better but with only 2 weeks left to the Manta Marathon, I will not have time to improve my conditioning much, if any. I will continue to have faster and harder workouts for another week and will only taper the week before the marathon. I just saw on the marathon website that they changed the marathon route. I knew the previous route well and had mentally ran this route a few times. I now need to reprogram to the new route. http://mantamarathon.com/web/index.php?r=site%2Fmapa You can see this run stats @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5711379350

I officially changed from a marathon to 1/2 marathon for Aug 15th. After 4 weeks of very little running I have lost conditioning and with only 3 weeks to the marathon I do not have time to properly prepare for the run. I have decided to only run the 1/2 marathon and will shoot for a new PR. My optimistic goal (which I will pace for) would be 2 hours or under, but realistically think I will be a couple minutes over 2 hours. Todays 15.08 k was 1:27:49. That is just slightly slower than the pace I will need for the 1/2 marathon to complete it in 2 hours. My run stats on Strava @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5684992044

Today I ran my normal marathon training run of 25 min. HR Zone 2 followed by 20 min, HR Zone 4. Tomorrow is supposed to be an off day but if I feel ok I will try to run. My run stats @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5668661559 I need to start pushing more to try to recuperate some of the conditioning I have lost over the last 3 weeks.

My knee felt good after a faster pace 5k. Was a little sore that evening but I plan to start harder training again Thursday, July 22nd. My 5k stats @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5652320815

Another test run on my knee after the tare of my meniscus. It felt good during the run but the next day was sore in the morning. I took a day off and my next run Monday the 19th was a faster pace 5k @ 5:16 per K pace. I was happy with that run but woke in the morning again with soreness in my knee. But I feel it is improving. My run stats @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5641622954

During my long run June 27th I started having a mild pain in my rights knee. It was minor and I was able to finish my run. That night and next morning the pain became more intense. That afternoon I had a Dr. appointment and got an MRI. The Dr. reviewed the results he said I had a slight tear in the meniscus in my right knee. BTW My Dr. app, MRI and an injection of cortisone was $200. I talk a little more about it in the run today. My easy run today on Strava @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5594683464

Well, my marathon training has stopped for 2 weeks now due to a small meniscus tare. As I prepare to upload this video I still have some pain in my knee. I have done 4 easy test runs just to see how my knee feels. Each time the day after I had some minor pain. I am now in the middle of week 12 of my 16 week marathon training schedule. I can see I have lost a lot of conditioning taking over 2 weeks off, after 10 weeks of hard training. I am very disappointed in my race prospects at this time. This run stats can be seen @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5611185402

My knee is a little sore. During my run I could feel it. It wasn't pain but on and off slight discomfort. Trying to building back up to pre injury conditioning after a 2 week break. See my run stats @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5604957172

About half way through this run I had a slight tweek in my right knee. It wasn't bad and I finished my run with no issue. Later that night after I was sitting a while my leg started aching and in the morning it was so bad I could barely put any weight on it. After a couple hours it seemed to loosen up a little. Tuesday I got an MRI and I have a small tare on the meniscus. The Dr. said it isn't bad enough to do surgery but said I should take 3 weeks off running for it to heal. I did a lot of research on running sites and I may be able to run sooner but after 4 days now its still a little sore. I am going to loose at least 1 week of hard training and will probably have another week of easy workouts just to see if I will be able to run without a longer break. A number of articles said if its not a bad tear running will not make it worse, and I may be able to slowly ramp back up. I am really disappointed as this Sunday long run was a hard half marathon where I was planning on a new PR. Only 6 weeks left to the marathon! UPDATE!! 7/3/21 I just did an easy 20 min. jog to test my knee. Feeling ok with very little discomfort. I will continue with a few more easy runs over the next few days if it still is feeling ok, but I am sure this will inhibit my goals on my marathon training. My Garmin watch says my status is detraining now. My Rumble videos now seem to be taking almost 2 weeks to be approved for publication.

I am a little disappointed with Rumble approval time of my videos. I was hoping to publish in real time but it took almost 2 weeks to approve 3 videos last week. This caused all 3 to to be released at the same time. If this continues I will have to schedule my publish date a couple weeks after my runs. You can see my GPS track and splits @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5501376269 One of my normal long run routes is closed due to road work so for now this will be my weekly long run track. http://mantamarathon.com/

Today the tide was low when I was running so I changed it up and ran the beach. I am loading this the next day and I just ran a new 5k PR of 24.44. I didn't have a camera with me on that run. I started with a good pace on my first k and thought I would see how long I could hold it. At 3K I was still on pace, but having some doubt I could hold on through 2 more kilometers. At 4k my time was on pace, and I thought I could hang on through 1 more k. My goal was to beat 25 minutes. My old PR was 25:33 in Jan 2020. You can see both my beach run and PR run @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5521693872 @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5526749177/overview

Week 7 Day 7 Marathon Training. 2.5 Hr. Heart Rate Zone 2 Long Run. View my run splits on Strava @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5463697501 I am considering doing 3 weeks of high altitude in Bogota Colombia in mid July. If so I will have some interesting content from the Bogota area.

This was an easy 5k run to test my knee. I twisted it when running in the back yard playing with Drax. Testing it prior to my 2.5 hour Sunday run. My run stats @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5457119335

Today was a 40 minute HR Zone 2 run. Felt very comfortable. The last kilometer I picked up the pace to finish strong. Felt good. Im not looking forward to Sunday. Its a 2.5 hour easy run. I need to be finding some podcasts to listen to for these runs. I used to listen to Joe Rogan on long runs but you can no longer download his podcasts without a subscription to Spotify. See my run stats and GPS track @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5446356364

6 -1K intervals today with 90 sec. rest between. My stats and GPS track on Strava @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5441106814 66 days left till the Manta, Ecuador Marathon @ http://mantamarathon.com/web/index.php

A 30 minute easy recovery run today after my long run Sunday. Started along the beach but the tide wouldn't let me continue with the waves up to the sea wall. I hope to get some beach runs in the near future but will have to wait for low tides to recede more. A link to the tide table in our area. https://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/Manta-Ecuador/tides/latest My run stats and GPS track on Strava @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5434839529

Week 5 Day 7 Marathon Training. A run down to the melacon then looping back on the highway. 15 K in 1 hr 28 min. Run stats @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5384104444 You can run in the Manta Marathon August 15th @ http://mantamarathon.com/web/index.php

I did an easy speed workout today. I have a 2.5 hr long HR Zone 2 run tomorrow. My stats on Strava @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5417572534 My left hip flexor was a little sore today so I want to watch that tomorrow and see how it feels.

After a faster 5k yesterday I ran 7k today at an easy pace. Tomorrow is a 90 minute long run. See my run splits @ https://www.strava.com/athletes/30026202 Join the Manta Marathon, August 15th in Manta Ecuador. http://mantamarathon.com/web/index.php

A half marathon today on a newly traveled route. Forgot my pepper spray today because I changed my hydration vest for the long run. I needed it. My run stats are on Strava @ https://www.strava.com/activities/5346455366 This was a heart rate zone 2 run to build my aerobic endurance. I got a cramp in my right leg at 18K and stopped to stretch it out and jog a little before continuing my run, however I didnt pause my watch, so its included in my total time. Not sure if the cramp was conditioning related, dehydration or low salt as I was sweating a lot with 82% humidity for the run. This is something I need to determine before my marathon in August. http://mantamarathon.com/web/index.php