Probably Not Real

160: 19.3

200: 24.9

200: 25.0

160: 19.7

I'm not out of the game yet. Apparently. Those are my sprint workout stats from yesterday. I took huge rests, especially before that last 160m (I think it approached 18 minutes), and I had huge winds on my back...but that seemed like a really good result. 

I just looked back at my last few posts, and I pondered how those posts fit with my actual lived experience. To a surprising extent, that March 15th sprint workout was kind of the beginning of the end for me, as it were. Or maybe it was more the "horizontal plyos" I did that I never posted about a few days after that sprint workout. In fact, those plyos must have been what REALLY started to push my achilles over the edge, probably more so than the sprints.

I guess those plyos were a supremely bad idea. But, I did PERFORM them well. I suppose at too much of a cost. I guess I can't incorporate what I call "horizontal" plyos (which include single leg triple bounds as part of the overall session) into my plans until my achilles shows legitimate progression from its currently typically inflammed state. The depth jumps, which of course are bilateral, don't bother it as much. So...I'm going to just stick with those for now until after July (when I'll reasses my achilles and try to "rehab" it). Unless my achilles improves dramatically as I build up to the July masters meet I'm trying to run in, but clearly that's unlikely. 

Anyway, between my achilles, my back, and just my overall concept for my training plan, everything has been pretty steeply down hill from the successfully performed tandem of that sprint workout and plyo sesh. Until this workout I did yesterday, that is. This is the first truly decent output I've had in a workout since I pulled my back on March 31st. 

In essence, the workout yesterday was like a rebooted version of that March 15th sprint workout; it was highly wind aided, with good warm temperatures, big rest periods, and the results seem very exciting (if not tempered by the knowledge of the wind).

Except, in this case, I wasn't going in expecting big results out of the workout. The goal here was simply to get through the workout without blowing up my achilles.  Or anything else. When I looked down at the clock to see my times, I was very pleasantly surprised. And a little confused. Part of me wonders if I measured something wrong on my distances...

Originally, these longer workouts seemed more risky for the achilles. But I've done two of these since trying to get back to running again, and right now I'm actually preferring them to the faster, shorter sprint sessions. For the time being, I'm holding off on planning a full go shorter workout until I'm a little more ready to go. So next week I'm going to repeat the longer workout I did last week, but hopefully perform it more intentionally fast. Then from there I hope to reincorporate the shorter workouts, too.

I'm not out of the woods yet, but my achilles seems to be responding well right now. So the goal of running at a meet in June that I signed up for is now full go. That's kind of my deadline for whether or not I'll really go for the masters meet in July. If I can't run in that June meet, it's hard to imagine I'll be in a good place for July.

This workout result was a really good first step towards that, though. Assuming this was all real...

What If This is the Last Time?

Here's the thing....sprinting is just, a big deal. For me, on a personal level, it's a REALLY big deal. Still....all these years later. It runs (pun?) VERY deep; it's the kind of thing that no matter what I try to do to explain it with words....I'm gonna fall short, one way or another.

This goes all the way down to what I perceive as the very core of who I am, and its importance seemingly predates a lot of the stuff that came along down the line that further REINFORCED it as such an important aspect of my life and myself. The fact is, running fast (particularly in the context of "sprinting") has nearly always meant something big to me.

Frankly, the magnitude of this is a bit scary, and probably always has been. One really shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket, as it were. And, to an extent, I haven't. I've got a lot of other interests that I have real passions for (music, movies, video games, books if I ever sit down and read, etc). I'm married and have kids. There's a lot of other things going on in life with me (and MAN do kids take up time, effort, and energy)....but yet there it still is. "Sprinting". Still there, and here I am still wanting it and chasing it.

A big part of what makes the significance of running/sprinting so "scary" is this; it's always been something that could so easily be taken away. Of course, in fact, it very often has been "taken away". Which is maybe an additional layer to why I still want it so much. The "taken away" stories are long and varied for me, but while they are also a really big deal to me, I've become self aware enough to know that they aren't of terrible interest to others. I mean, certainly none of this is of any interest to anyone. That lack of interest expands exponentially the orgin stories of each chip on my shoulders is expounded upon. Even I can sense it when THINKING about explaining that stuff,  and then realizing I need to keep my miuth shit. Those stories absolutely DO swirl around in my head quite a bit, though.

Which brings me to my current situation. Right now, it seems like my right achilles is adding another entry to my "taken away" list; it doesn't feel very good at all and it may only get worse from here. I DID do a sprint workout last Tuesday. I made it through over a thousand meters of distance for the workout in total, an amount for a sprint workout that I haven't remotely attempted since early 2019. The results of said workout were pretty poor statistically speaking, and the achilles didn't really feel great...but it got BETTER as I ran. Which doesn't really prove much of anything...but for now I'm preferring to be optimistic about that.

The real key is, can I build on that workout? Can my body recover and allow me to push harder? I'm trying to plan for another sprint workout this Monday. Basically, I've got these next five weeks to save my "season", and these next five DAYS I will probably tell me if I'll sink or swim. I also did a depth jump workout yesterday, which was also statistically quite poor, but the achilles allowed the workout to happen. So, for now, that's a win.

It's not clear to me which way this will play out. But I have to try. Cause I want it. I always have, and I always will... And these days, I really have no idea if it's the last time I'll get to even try. I'm not even sure if this has truly counted as trying up to this point; it may never lead to a competition result. In 2018 and early 2019, I may have gotten to 10.6 or 10.5 fitness, but I never ran in a meet to prove that. So did it even happen? Kind of feels like it didn't. But...I'm at least gonna try to keep trying to try.

Redux

The best laid plans of mice and men, when we practice to deceive...something something...Luke is your father.

I dunno. I've been writing up a variety of post attempts for this "entry" only to ultimately delete everything I'd written multiple times. I did it so many times that now nothing is remotely the same as it was before...which should make it a bit easier to write and commit to a post now.  Simply updating with all the changes is enough for its own post...or at least that's what the voices in my head tell me so they can entertain themselves with their own words.

Fact is, I have a variety of confessions to make. First, I desperately wanted to run a 100m dash at my Alma Mater Mount Union. It wasn't just a passing fancy, it was a legit goal. Clearly, I did not end up doing that; that meet was yesterday. I...was not there. I was still set to follow through on it and run as of two-ish weeks ago, and I started to feel pretty good about my performance possibilities up to that point...but my achilles had seemed to really be degrading, too. 

But I was still going to force my way through running the meet as something of a test, anyway. My thinking was then I could reassess after the meet and see how it reacted to the intensity of competition. As a backup, I also decided to touch base with a PT about my achilles and see if I could get any solid advice on what to do with it going forward. The ultimate goal is and was to still to be healthy and fast in JULY. Technically, everything now should be in-service to that goal on some level.

So, on the day I saw the PT, I think I got some really solid advice and guidance. I also decided to play some full court pickup basketball after the appointment. When I decided to do that, I had already suspected that it was going to mean that my plan to run a sprint workout later that week was no longer going to be viable, as the hoops was going to torch my body. I was OK with that; it was essentially a concious choice. It made sense at the time because I was wondering if I should delay the run anyway due to my achilles. Which is ironic because I was also about try to hoop it up on my achilles, but I thought hooping would ALSO be a good test...

Long story short (the world collectively laughs one huge exasperated "HA!"), I randomly pulled a muscle in my back while playing. The achilles was iffy while playing, but no different than I've experienced in the past couple years, and I still jumped relatively high and moved relatively fast on the court...until I hurt my back somehow. So, to an extent, the achilles passed the test. Hurrah. 

I've been trying to lay low for a bit to let the back resolve. Plus, now I'm hoping a two or three week break from anything sprinting, heavy lifting, and/or explosive will be simple and long enough to let me get to a place with both my back AND my achilles so I can get back to hammering out training...though I'm a bit concerned if only two-ish weeks is enough time, specifically for the achilles. The back seems mostly minor, but I'm not familiar with it as I've never hurt anything in this area before. So I'm not clear how thats going to play out. It does feel relatively minor currently, though, and is already starting to turn a corner.

Over the last week, or so, I've really committed to the new achilles stuff (heavy loads on eccentric and static stuff, something I've never done for any of my achilles issues), and I've been doing pool workouts to try to keep some semblance of aerobic/anaerobic fitness pursuits. Another thing I wanted to do was go hard on intermittent fasting to try to get a handle on my weight, especially since my activity levels were going to take a hit. I've failed so far on the weight/fasting, and that's a big concern for me. But I'm hoping there's going to be a quick turnaround on the back strain, and if I can get the achilles to just COPE with the sprinting/load for the next couple months as a result of this "reset", then hopefully this short break will actually have become a boon to my goals, rather than hindrance of any kind.

I'm aiming for another week or two of time from NOW before I try and get back on the horse with really serious training (specifically sprints). I've kinda targeted April 24th as my goal for my next sprint workout. Then, from there, roll through July with essentially the same plan as I had before, but hopefully with a more compliant, if not healed/solved, achilles.

While two weeks isn't enough necessarily to officially heal something like an achilles, if it's enough to get me through training and running into July, then I'll be THRILLED. I do have the longer term goal of solving the achilles more in the off season after this summer; early signs from this new style of loading seems promising. And a full off season of work will maybe remodel the tendon the way I actually need. Dare to dream, I suppose.

Anyway, I'm really trying to crank out the pool workouts, and I'll start up some bigger lifting and maybe some plyos here pretty soon if the back green lights me and the achilles continues to seemingly progress. With any luck, my next really serious training update will be with a sprint workout result. 

I Kneel Before Thee to Seek Vengeance

No hamstring tear. No achilles tear. No groin problems, and time results that were decidedly more in line with what my goals and expectations were for LAST weeks sprint workout. That's what following through and running today resulted in, and that's great. Right? Like, you know,....yay.

But. Hold the parade. This is essentially a week later than last week's sprint workout, and it was run with 20+ mph tailwinds throughout. So, it feels like more of a "disaster averted", with a side portion of "way to stack the deck" side eye than it does a major feeling of accomplishment.

Sprints

85m: 9.7

120m: 13.6

70m: 8.4

Big huge rests. Big huge winds. First 70° day of the year. In a vacuum, with just the numbers in my face and no context, I'd argue that maybe this indicates a 10.88/10.86 ability for me. But, in reality, that'd have to be a 10.8ish only with a +5.0mps wind reading. Which is maybe back into 11 second territory in "basic"; perhaps I'm sneaking legitimately into sub 11.10, though.

Then again, I'm running these workouts alone. Off my own training. After years away from this kind of work and so many injuries. I dunno, maybe I just take the 10.88 and call it mine for now; a gift to myself, even if a bit delusional. I just don't want to show up at a meet and be blindsided when I'm two to three tenths slower than I expected. Assuming I can make it to a meet at all, of course.

What Next?

So, the achilles wasn't really all that much different than it's been since I've started running again. That's a notable improvement from the sprint workout just six days ago where it felt like I was really entering a danger zone. The achilles and calf responded well to some self-soft-tissue mashing I do to it before and during runs. Then when I run, nothing really hurts.

What may be of note on this subject is that my achilles and my calf seem to start trying to self sabotage when I explore LONGER (long being subjective) sprints. Multiple 120s and 160s seem to echo negatively through my lower leg, as it were. When I've done workouts with mostly runs under 100 meters (save for the lone 110m or 120m), I tend to have a more positive experience. 

But....I feel like I need to start exploring longer run sessions in TANDEM with my shorter work. So...I'm a bit dubious. It's still currently my intention to start exploring longer styled workouts (200s, 250s, maybe even a 300 depending on what time, health, and progress affords). The plan was to alternate such sessions with shorter focused sessions (like the one I did today) week to week. But if my calf and achilles are just going to implode on such "long" workouts, then clearly I need to reconsider.

It seems to me that the problem I have in my right achilles is related to two issues: a weaker "dominant" left leg (the repaired achilles, which is doing great but I think outsources more work to my right leg than it used to), and a kind of kinetic chain issue with my right calf where it's not firing "properly". Both of these things are funneling more stress through my right achilles than it's "graded" for, which is leading to my current achilles troubles.

I've been trying to address this with some static calf holds in conjuction with some eccentric work, and I thought it was working. Maybe it really is, but multiple reps past 120ish meters pushes too far past my current redline in terms of fatigue.

With that theory in mind, I guess an immediate future that doesn't include a series of "long" sprints is more wise. The current long weather forecast for my area (northeastern Ohio) really supports this idea anyway: my next best running opportunity might mean running inside again. If that's the case, I'd be forced to run a similar workout, albeit even slightly shorter, to what I did in this last sprint session. That should certainly keep my calves and achilles in good shape for the next two-ish weeks. If my ideas on my achilles are correct, maybe after a few more weeks of calf work and supportive running I can reassess the legitimacy of a longer run opportunity. 

Compete?

I had a semi-secret goal of running a 100m dash opener at a track meet in 3.5/4 weeks, and based on current health and results, that possibility still seems to exist. But that idea has a LOT of moving parts that requires probably an unrealistic level of synchronicity. So I shouldn't really bet on it at this stage. It's still kind of a carrot on a stick for me, though. Especially if much of ANY of this hypothetical progress I seem to be building up seems to continue. 

Having said that, I'll probably have a strong wakeup call next week which will sour me on the concept of opening with a 100m so early. It would probably be more reasonable to compete in something in later April or May, anyway. But I'm willing to still leave stuff completely open to possibilities for now. Though I guess I should start conceding that I won't be running a 10.5x in the first weekend of April...

Forks In the Road

Well. See...I dunno.

The sprint workout I did this last Monday was something of a mixed bag. Any time I sprint HARD and walk away with my hamstrings intact, that's a HUGE win. Huge. And my hamstrings were fine enough after the workout in question that I did a fairly large deadlift (at least for where I'm at now) workout after the runs and supersetted the deads with some nordic curls. No injuries there.

Having said that, I have varied concerns...

I had started getting some pretty lofty goals. I wanted the perceived large gains I'd already had to continue...but it seems clear to me that I was getting a little big for my britches in how "fast" I might really be getting in previous workout estimates. I wanted to do a 10.9 100m dash fitness equivalent workout on this last one (March 9th). I ran I think just about as well as I could...but it was NOT conducive to a 10.9ish 100m dash. Not even particularly close.

In hindsight, ALL my calcs on 100m "equivalents" were probably a bit off, going even a couple weeks back. I DID improve/progress, that still seems pretty clear. But the upward trajectory isn't as steep as I hoped it would be or thought it already was. That, in a sense, was a wake up call in and of itself.

To get really into the weeds, I ran an older college styled workout (slightly altered for my old butt) which was a 120m, 160m, and another 120m. These days I take 10+ minutes rest between runs, but in college we used to just get 4.5 minutes. I ran this workout pretty well, frankly. But...not well enough for my wild expectations. I thought I could hammer out my first sub-19 second 160 since early 2019, but I didn't. I was close...but I still didn't.

All in all, I essentially ran a 13.7 for the first 120, a 19 flat for the 160, and a 14.4 for the last 120. For my adjusted "maths", I think this means that the workout essentially represented 11.10/11.15 100m ability on that day. Maybe, I think. Which probably still isn't half bad for early March. But it's not where I wanted to be, addmitedly. Plus, for all I know, 11.1ish is still a wildly optimistic estimate.

A few problems now arise. For one, I made it through the runs without any obvious injury...but I'm three years post-achilles rupture. The repaired achilles actually still feels GREAT,  frankly. But the "good" one....ehhh, I'm growing concerned. This is not a new problem, though. In fact, I was worried about this happening before I even started sprinting. 

I'm pretty clearly dealing with a tendinosis/itis/whatever for my right achilles (the "good" one). BUT, I had been doing some new-ish stuff to address it and between the positive response to that and the way it has handled all the sprinting up to this point, it seemed like I had turned the corner. But this past sprint workout seems to be bringing the issue back to the forefront. Which presents another fork in the road: dial back the sprints....or forge ahead?

As of tonight....I'm planning to use a warm and windy day tomorrow for another sprint workout. I want to seize the weather opportunity, and double down on seeing where my fitness is REALLY at. So, full intensity, perhaps even more intense...but also shorter distances so maybe less strain on the achilles in that sense. The plan is for a 85 meter run, a 120 meter run, and a 70 meter run. In that order. Full rests.

This workout, assuming I do run it and successfully do it without injury, can be a really important data point on where things are going for me. What IS the achilles doing? Does it feel worse after this workout? The same? BETTER (dare to dream)? And how fast AM I possibly improving, if at all? I'm going to be running with a pretty big wind on my back so if I don't have a fairly gaudy result -time wise-, that will be truly telling about how overly optimistic my projections really, really are.

Hold onto your butts. If I tear something, my ghost audience will be the first to know.

Peak

This moment in time, for me, may well end up being my overall peak sprinting/training moment of the entire year. I write that with an awareness of its absurdity, but I also can't deny how close to true it is at risk of becoming. While I am practically guaranteed to become stronger and faster moving forward (barring likely inevitable injury), it's right NOW and in this moment that the possibilities are still nearly limitless. This is because I've actually run and trained enough, been "healthy" enough, and seen enough progressions in my running workouts that I can fantasize about running some fairly ambitious 100m dashes without being ENTIRELY 100% delusional. 

This current point in my work out "schedule" is essentially a nexus point; a crossroads if you will. From here, I either continue an elongated rate of progression more or less in line with what I've seen over the last couple weeks...or the progression comes down to earth relatively quickly as the realities of training again start to settle in. And from where I currently stand, either option is equally possible. Kind of....to an extent... Perhaps some of the "fast" stuff I'm starting to dream up are already pretty delusional regardless of circumstances. I can admit that. Maybe.

But the fact that I can still ponder some workout and training progressions so ambitously with at least a modicum of credibility means that, from an excitement and fantasy factor, this is probably as good as it's going to get for me. This is peak. And since this is essentially a hobby now, this moment is probably highly notable for its peak "fun". Once my workouts start disproving my wildest projections...then I can't play with them as ideas in my head anymore. Not this year at least..., and now being in my 40s, maybe not any year after.

So, to get down to it...I've got some made up maths for my made up workouts that indicate that I'm theoretically approaching 11.05ish (admittedly a best-case scenario) 100m dash ability from my last sprint workout, which was last Friday. Even that claim seems suspicious, but there seems to be SOME backing to it from my past experiences. That 11.05 is down from a theoretical 11.20ish from a sprint workout prior to it, which had been about eight days before. The workout before THAT indicated around a 11.32/11.37ish ability. That seems like a fairly legitimate trend...assuming the data and theory are accurate (a fairly dubious claim).

If you stretch that trend out to the next running workout I have, which is tentatively set for this Monday if the weather holds out, then that workout should indicate around a 10.9ish 100m ability. That....that's probably asking a lot. But, if I can do that? That's starting to get serious, especially if some version of the progression (even a slower one) continues.

I also recently found some old sprint workout data I thought I lost and scoured through it a bit. Finding it gave me a chance to not only better contextualize some of the current data I've got, but also maybe helped me see with more clarity what I was actually doing and achieving back then (circa 2019).  It would be very interesting if I can keep training this hard and this well, and see if I can get back to the fitness I think I had in 2019. Because at THAT time, I thought I was actually running REALLY well. If I can match those workout sprint results again, and then actually compete and get a true 100m result, then that would be a real barometer of not only my abilities and training methods, but also my ability to judge my fitness at any given moment.

Tonight I've got a depth jump plyo workout planned, and then I'm set to take it pretty easy until Monday for, hopefully, a full intensity sprint workout on an outdoor track with good weather. That's going to be a pretty official test of a bunch of my plans, expectations, and hopes. Depending on how that running workout really goes, I might be prepared to make some plans and decisions on some fairly impending competition options. So...here goes nuthin, I guess.

I Might Try Stuff Like This Again.

I'm doing sprint workouts again. Full on sprint workouts. Nearly identical in form, process, and execution to what I did at my most "dedicated" of sprint pursuit periods....except slower, of course. Outside of a couple dips into this kind of thing (briefly) this past Fall, this is the first time I've done this at all, let alone even moderately consistently, since 2019.

I have three kids and I'm well into my 40s now. Also, the injuries....so many injuries; big ones, little ones, and everything in between. At various times between now and 2019, attempting a workout resembling "sprinting" in any capacity would have been legitimately impossible. I think I slipped a disc or something deadlifting in 2019. I tore an achilles in 2023. I even just had an appendectomy this past fall. But now I seem to be stringing together multiple weeks of fairly legitimate sprinting attempts/training. Last week, I timed myself in my first sub 14 second 120m run and my first sub 20 second 160m run since 2019. 

Admittedly, anyone "selftiming" their sprints can certainly be pretty well scoffed at in terms of accuracy. But being out there at all is essentially its own accomplishment for me, though, and seeing the trends and tracking that with my many years of data and results from other eras when I ran and self-timed, and it seems to indicate that there's something fairly legitimate to what I'm doing right now. Of course, continued health is the looming ever present question... 

I have goals for 2026 and beyond; frankly I've been trying build up to this since my recovery from the achilles began. It's not clear to me how realistic and achievable the goals I've got now actually are at this stage, though, but I'm holding on to them still, for now. 

After having strung together this amount of sprint-ish training at this point...I think I might start documenting it all here now, again, and see how this all goes. Maybe I don’t delete it all in a tantrum this time, either, regardless of how it ends. I dunno, I guess we'll see.