Getting back on track

Man, it's been a while since my last post. Things got pretty busy the last few weeks with working a bunch, going to visit the Spizzirri Family in Chicago for the Holidays and then getting back to catching up at work.

Everything seems to be getting back to normal and I am having a bit more time to collect myself and think about more relaxing things like blogging...and running. Jeff and I haven't been able to get back on the Sedona Traverse to put more pitches in but, hopefully in the next week or two, we will be up on the wall again putting some time in on it.

How's the running going... well, pretty good actually. I took a bit of time off from running during the Holiday and pretty much rested, iced and did some specific exercises for leg strength. I also talked to my dad, who has plenty of good advice on the subject, about what I should do with my knee pain and he had some suggestions that have seemed to be quite helpful.

Near the end of the trip to Chicago I went for a 5-6 mile run in the city with some of the Spizzirri kids and felt almost no pain the whole run. Later that week I ran a few more times with a 5 mile run in Sedona and a few "junk miles" of running back and forth to work (it's only about a mile from my house to work). I finished the week with about 15 miles and didn't really have any pain of note. On both 5 mile runs I had the slight sensation that pain could start up after a few miles but then it would subside and everything would go pretty smoothly. I was jogging pretty easy on these runs and trying to go easy on the legs.

It looks like I am on the road to recovery (fingers crossed) and in response looking at entering a couple month phase of building miles and running easy to get back into the swing of things. Hopefully, sometime in March, I will be able to get back to bigger miles per week and put some speed into my workouts. At least that's the plan right now...

This week I have already started off with some promising runs. I ran 5 miles on the mesa next to the house (beautiful running in the snow) and 7.5 miles in Sedona on the Airport Loop and Ridge Trail (with a few other side trails mixed in) for a total of 12 miles so far this week. I would like to end the week at 17-20ish miles and keep building weekly from there with one run a week getting longer and longer until I can get back to putting in a 4-5 hour run once a week. Slowly but surely with a ton of self control I'll get there...a ton of self control.

I must say that I am PSYCHED to be running again. Getting out on the trails and cruising (even at a slow pace for now...), totally in the moment and the beauty of the wilderness and exploring every turn while working the body is a very special thing for me.

To be connected in such a raw way with such jaw dropping places like The Peaks, Sedona, The Grand Canyon and the other great deserts and mountain ranges of the west is most definitely a gift I will try not to take for granted. Having an injury always puts things in better perspective and I am very lucky to get to run where I do and with such great frequency...very lucky.