Can You Strain a Muscle in Slow Motion? (D+117)

Two weekends ago, Jan and I did a hill workout. In Champaign! (Park Haven Drive, which runs into Kirby Avenue from the south at Hessel Park, is a great training hill.)

We did my usual walk for 10 minutes, followed by intervals of jogging and walking, until we got the base of the hill. Then we jogged up the hill and walked down a few times. On the third up, I completely ran out of gas about three fourths of the way up and had to stop, but I think I was going too fast — in my case, that means something faster than 11 minutes per mile. We did a couple more, with me running more cautiously, and then we headed home.

The next couple of days, I couldn't jog. I'm pretty sure I strained a calf muscle. I didn't think that was possible, at 11 minutes per mile, but apparently it is! The rest of the week I gradually added a little more jogging each day to my walks as I recovered from my overuse injury. By this past weekend, I was jogging pain-free.

This past Saturday, Jan and I did a "long run." The jog-(walk) intervals were
1-(1)-2-(1)-3-(1)-4-(3)-5-(3)-4-(1)-3-(1)-2-(1)-1, followed by 4 1-(1)s, for a total of 29 minutes of jogging. PTPR! (Post-transplant personal record). With the warmup and interval and cooldown walking, the total was 5 miles. At the end of the longer jogs, still around 11min/mile pace, my heart rate gets close to 160. During the rests, it gets into the 120s.

I'm getting out almost every day, usually a mix of jogging and walking. Some days are just walking. One of these days, I'll remember how to run.