Training Log Archive: Traut

more of the same

20 minute "aqua-jog" in pool again. Feeling slightly less swollen perhaps?

Interesting that this all fits the same profile as 3 years ago. Sure, this is less severe (at least at the onset) as I couldn't do concentric or eccentric movement after the injury 3 years ago, and I hurt it running 3 years ago vs. slipping on the ice this year, but both times that I had an obvious visible "injury" to the knee it followed a period of very tight quads.Apparently teh warning sign can't be ignored.

More of the same... meaning nothing. Knee still swollen and can't operate eccentrically. MRI (for the original knee) is scheduled for next Friday. High mark finally fixed their insurance screwup so UPMC sports Medicine will be able to take me.

got in the pool at the Y for 10 minutes and tried to aqua-jog. Swelling was so bad that it really inhibit the motion enough that I can't call it exercise but I did focus on form as much as I could. Knee is bad and I am really worried. The water might have loosened it up a little bit, but it is far too much for something like that to make a dent. The eccentric motion of controlling my knee flexion is super-sensitive and damaged (same as my trouble letting down the knee extensions in PT- now that problem is on steroids). It is everything that I was having problems with before in y PT, now brought right to the forefront. What ever was weak before has now been damaged further.. or hopefully just really irritated.

When I am walking and my foot catches the ground and forces my knee ahead without my foot. Eben slightly... pain.....

It's killing me to be resting while we actually have snow... but my knee is really swollen and I am really worried that I did something pretty bad to an already struggling knee. I have no choice... Can't believe this happened walking in a parking lot?!

knee was totally swelled up. I iced all day and really was considering a light ski as just a 'walk' but that just wasn't anything but stupid after just walking around the mall for a little bit was significantly agitating....

My knee had been irritated during the run but shaped up. Same with the ski. I figured I would be pretty sore tomorrow and tight afterward. As the snow was falling I stopped by Giant Eagle to pick up a few last things we needed. I didn't want to wear my ski boots into the store or put on my soaked running shoes, so I put on the flip flops I had in the car. An easy trip to the supermarket no problem right? Everything was fine until I was walking out of the store and my right foot slipped way out in front of me and somehow my reaction put me into a hyper-lunge position. This is everything my knee can't handle and it swelled up all evening and is pretty big by morning (26th). After avoiding any swelling since Thanksgiving and Dr. Stone even saying it was down... here we are again... an it was done slipping in a parking lot... so frustrating to be this weak....

We finally had enough snow for a winter wonderland right here in Pittsburgh. Spent the morning finishing up the weekend's chores and then I was out in the 6+ inches of snow. I would love more, but it was enough. When it snows I want to run in it, snowshoe in it, and ski in it.... what to do. I decided I would get in a run before the trails in north park were disturbed too much and packed down to ice by mountain bikers. It snowed all morning so I knew not too many people would be out yet. There are two fun snow runs, one where you follow footprints through areas you can barely figure out of you are on a trail or not and then there is running through fresh undisturbed powder. I got both today. The first half of my run was following footprints. I passed the North Park Trail runners on my way out ad was in their tracks on the southern white trail. Then I crossed the dirt road and found a few random tracks going down into those winding go-nowhere mountain bike trails down by the railroad tracks that almost nobody uses. I followed the set of footprints all over until we surfaced up in the open area by the tubing run. I know I have run all of those trails before, but in the snow it seemed like I had never been on them and wasn't sure exactly which or what I was on. Up until this point I had been moving along OK, but then all of my weaknesses kicked in. The ground became very uneven in the open. Frozen ruts under the snow caused me a lot of difficulty and my quickly fatiguing quads were loosing their ability to handle it. The fatigue very strongly revealed itself heading back up. I stopped a few times along the way to take in the beauty. After heading around the norther White trail and down the Rachel Carson trail I headed over to the KotoBuki trails and here it was pristine untouched snow... This was tough and my fatigue level was high. I struggled up the hill but focused, as I have the entire run, on form and with small steps maintained it. At the top I took a 5-minute break (notice I did not stop the watch this time...) and took in God's creation...

The rest of the run was tough but awesome. When I hit the road I walked it in. It was obvious I was not myself at this point and didn't want to cause damage.

strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/108956352

Garmin Connect: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/435635393

After the run I knew I wanted to throw on my skis and just get in some gliding. I knew it would be more a power walk then an attempt to run... maybe just a ski hike with glide... I went to the gold course and there were a few tracks but the wind had swept it so much it was pretty much bare in many areas... I felt it would be better up in skyline meadows and it was. I broke out the old used skis we had gotten originally for Gail that I had remounted new bindings on and they were fine. The right ski slips out pretty easy when I don't use good form so that is good as it keeps me on my toes. Skyline meadow isn't large, but it is protected from the wind along the trails and there are always a few skiers to get a track going. There were three others there. My knee was agitated early, as it had been on the run, so I took it very easy but soon did find my form and was power walking gliding and felt good doing it. the knee recovered well. The snow was very slow so the little downhills were no problem at all to turn at the bottom of- which is good for me right now I also didn't put any liquid glide wax on the glide zone this time. I got in about 5 miles and it was chasing darkness and a new snowfall during the last mile. Absolutely beautiful in every way. The sun going down and forcing its light through clouds dropping snow was magnificent. I could have stayed out forever but the roads weren't going to stay good.


strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/108956343

Garmin Connect: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/435635378

after doing about 5 minutes of cardio, my T.A. was reacting in a way that was decidedly not happy. I stopped and took a rest day. Did resistajce band PT, heal raises, and stretched and rolled at night. Right hip flexor very tight.

40 minutes was all I had time for after work before I could get in PT before I had to pick up Claire. Felt OK, form took a long time to get going. Right calf was tight as usual.

Knee extensions and leg press at Y. Leg press was fine. Knee extensions are still revealing the mysterious and very heart of my problem. Right leg can perform the concentric contraction, but completely fails eccentrically and is completely loses control through my T.A.

Squat related PT at night.

Got held up at work by a parent who had decided they needed to yell and scream at me to make them feel better about their parenting, so I only had time to get out for 30 minutes before I had to pick up Claire. I wanted to get on the trails a little bit because the inch or snow of snow we got yesterday probably hadn't been disturbed (crushed down into ice) by mountain bikes because of the cold temperatures on a work day. That assumption was right as I came across only one track on the powder was very joyous to disturb first. A beautiful cold evening as it was already getting dark as I started my run.

My right quad was still obviously tight and making sure I didn't miss that. I took it very easy and my knee held together OK. I was slow and felt very slow when I got out on the road for the last 400 meters or so. I didn't bring the GPS so the distance is a guess. Went up the alternate red trail from the ice rink parking lot and around until I could cut down to the maintenance she access rd. and back on Pierce Mill. I tried to focus on my form, mostly didn't have it- but wasn't a complete disaster causing damage either. Just a nice relaxing short run in about 10 deg weather. My very small volume of running hasn't gotten me out in really cold weather yet. This wasn't super cold, but enough to feel just that crispy edge that makes you feel just that little bit more alive.

resistance band work, heal raises, stretching and rolling. Right calf was very tight, felt cramping from my arch up through my hamstring on both legs.

1 hour aqua-jog at Y. Quads, especially right, are extremely tight after skiing yesterday. Walking around I was feeling it pretty good. Things went OK in pool. Right calf had some moments, but generally form felt good. Quad still obviously tight afterward.

Leg press and knee extensions, as well as 'dead lifts' at Y and squat type PT and stretching/ rolling at home. Squats and leg press felt OK, but not great. Weight was good. Knee extensions, despite how 'in your face' tight my right quad was, were slightly better on the right side, but it was still obviously very inhibited and my T.A felt the pressure.

Gail and I took Claire up to the ridge again. there has been hardly any skiable snow in Pittsburgh so we took what we could get. It was very thin, worse then our last trip. We did the 10k orange trail. I forgot the Garmin, but that is OK because I was such a mess in the beginning that I made decided this would be a ski- hike and I would try to make it nothing more then that. I focused on form and easy glide and went a little bit pulling Claire and then would wait for Gail. It was nice and I felt myself getting 'on top of my hips' as I went and found the downhills a bit better as I went. I don't think I was ever great, because my glutes got fatigued as I started to find my form. I think it was productive and it was a ice day in the woods although very thin. Right calf and quad are a mess.

resistance band PT and stretching rolling.

First part of first run with Garmin 620. Didn't realize that the GPs would reset if I pressed stop to tie my shoe...

strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/107644349

Garmin Connect:


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/432822802

part 2....

Felt good actually. Quads, calves were firing with glutes. Had my form. Pace fell in line well. This was my first run with the new Garmin 620. The old Garmin had been really off with its GPS in many instances and the HR monitor had not worked with it in some time. I did a road loop (that damm loop at North Park) to test the GPS (the trails were also completely iced over from mountain bikes). The GPS appears flawless, which is awesome. The heart rate was still really spiked for the first mile, (which I guess is a function of me starting too quickly after it starts reading maybe?- I have this happen with every HR monitor. It calms after about a mile) but got back to a normal progression throughout the run. I was wondering what my runs were costing metabolically. I felt like this one was a solid run, but in control. I suspected the HR was higher then I was feeling and I was right. 175 is definitely in the upper range for me. Not an intensity I could have kept up for ever, which also matched the fatigue in my glutes (which is going to happen no before 5 miles no matter what the intensity) and teh tightening of my right calf/ foot.

strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/107644348

Garmin Connect has the new data that the 620 records such as cadence:



http://connect.garmin.com/activity/432822759


Avg Run Cadence: 189 spm
Max Run Cadence: 199 spm
Avg Vertical Oscillation: 9.0 cm
Avg Ground Contact Time: 217 ms
Avg Stride Length: 1.40 m

are the new metrics. I am excited about these as they represent some of the weaknesses of my previous form. Cadence has been my main focus, but it intertwines firing my glutes and running under my hips as they effect all these metrics. Without getting into any further research her is Garmin's background data:

Color Gauges and Running Dynamics Data

The running dynamics screen displays a color gauge for the primary metric. You can display cadence, vertical oscillation, or ground contact time as the primary metric. The color gauge shows you how your running dynamics data compares to those of other runners. The color zones are based on percentiles.

Garmin has researched many runners of all different levels. The data values in the red or orange zones are typical for less experienced or slower runners. The data values in the green, blue, or purple zones are typical for more experienced or faster runners. Less experienced runners tend to exhibit longer ground contact times and lower cadence than more experienced runners. However, taller runners typically have slightly slower cadences and slightly higher vertical oscillation. Go to www.garmin.com for more information on running dynamics. For additional theories and interpretations of running dynamics data, you can search reputable running publications and websites.

Color Zone Percentile in Zone Cadence Range Vertical Oscillation Range Ground Contact Time Range
Purple > 95 > 185 spm < 6.7 cm < 208 ms
Blue 70–95 174–185 spm 6.7–8.3 cm 208-240 ms
Green 30-69 163-173 spm 8.4-10.0 cm 241-272 ms
Orange 5-29 151-162 spm 10.1-11.8 cm 273-305 ms
Red < 5 < 151 spm > 11.8 cm > 305 ms


I did feel like my form was firing today, but I was surprised with how well my cadence measured. Ground contact time has always been an issue for me and that is, today, the only metric that was still not strong (vertical oscillation is high as well, but that is a function of many things and I believe will settle into the right place as my efficiency goes up). It will be interesting to see how these metrics change over time.

There are plenty of other measures that Garmin connect calculates (Recovery time, training effect, VO2 max, and sure calories etc...) and the measures themselves are fairly useless. They are more interesting in finding out what type of algorithm Garmin uses to come up with them and picking those pieces of interesting data. Guess what, I am in the 100th percentile of VO2 maxes for my age group... when looking at the sub max algorithm they used today to come up with the 56 ml/kg/ min. might be interesting though.

just full stretching and rolling. Took day completely off after T.A. blew up last night. It feels better today bit I am really concerned.

Felt a little better then Wednesday's run. Form felt better and I felt lighter on my feet. Knee was there (both knees) but felt better. Problem was that my right T.A. got really irritated in the hours following... I couldn't even walk down stairs without side-stepping. This is concerning... quads start getting tight on every run and T.A. blows up.. this is exactly what happened when this injury started 3 years ago.

Really really muddy, felt like my shoes were caked and heavy slogging...

Quads are not relaxing, so I am not going to get on the bike in a spin class dedicated to VO2 max and jab at them. Yesterday's run showed me just where I am. Aqua-jogged and did full PT. Felt... OK... in pool.

Leg press and 'dead lifts' went well at Y. Knee extensions did not. Like last week, my left feels great and my right I can barely get 30 lbs. right and it feels like shock waves passing through my knee and T.A. It will be said it is just a lack of strength in the quads, which there is. I am stuck in a cycle of inhibition and compensation that I can't get out of with the quad and my knee is caught in the cross-fire.

headed up to Moraine for a short run before an appointment with Dr. Ed. Hoping that the days off would help me reset. It was a rough run that I kept short because of time and the fact that things were not firing and my knee was aware of that. Quads are still tightening up and no matter how well I find my form momentarily, the tight quads take over.

It was a beautiful run though. Light snow in the air with darkness coming. After running under the causeway the sun going down reflected colors on the lake. Really nice.

I had to pick up Claire because Gail needed to work late. this kept me from the pool and spin session. As far as the spin session, that isa good thing with my quad the way it is. The pool would have been fine, but I also really wanted to get outside with the weather nicer. Went for an hour walk at north park on the trails at the nature preserve... was nice.

At home did squat related PT. Felt OK.

Took day completely off. Quads need to be rested to get out of this cycle. Resistance band PT at night.

Gail was running the Frigid Five. I decided to take this year off as I want to get myself healthy enough to move forward instead of spinning in these same cycles of racing in the same sub-par fitness and health situation I have been staying stuck in.

After Gail was set, I took Claire in the baby-jogger and ran the course starting about 10 minutes ahead of the race. First mile was slow- I was running near 9:00 pace at a half-mile. My knee felt good and I found my groove pretty well on the downhill. I was running with form and attacking the downhills. The Bob was great and I did loose control once and had to reign Claire in and I had to stop once to give directions to someone who had missed the start of the race going up the wrong side of North Ridge Dr. I definitely needed to stop at the bottom of the hill with a Police Car across it. I continued a good groove passing people while pushing the baby jogger. My form and knee felt great. I don't know what pace I should be running against the resistance of the stroller, but it felt like I was running well and my pace wasn't slow. Turning up the hill was a tough last 3/4 mile... really tough. I was slow on the hill, but again, I don't know what I should be pushing the stroller. I got a nice little temp effort feeling good form and my knee held together really well....

calves and quads felt great!

Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/105870966

another rest day... went for an hour walk again and stretched out and rolled in evening. Quads need to simmer and knee needs to feel like everything I am doing isn't loading it.

went for hour walk on the trails at North Park. I can not gain by causing damage today. I need to wait it out.

30minute aqua-jog before spin session. My quads were tight from the get-go, but my calves felt much better. I was thinking that the rest day may have helped. Quads stayed tight throughout, but I did find some form I think.

The Thursday spin class went really really awful.... My quads were tight from the start, but I was finding watts slightly under what was being asked by the instructor that I was finding some form on. I thought I was going to get through and BAM, my calves both totally lit up like fire-crackers... I stopped to stretch out and got back on and they were still twitch cramping. When I am off, I am off... I am off right now that is for sure. I stopped and left after 20 minutes. At least I know my issues over the past week or two are not in my head and leave once I jump in a class.

Leg press and knee extension work at Y. This is still going decently, as I am firing my glutes very well both concentrically and eccentrically. The exception is the knee extensions on my right leg. There comes the irritation and weakness right in your face. Everything feels terrible. Left leg is OK.

Tired to do squat related PT at home, but had tightened up and felt I shoudln't given how I was feeling.

Quads are still really tight... I am feeling very strongly that I will not move forward in this state. Took a rest day instead of a run. Stretched, rolled , and did resistance band work + heal raises in evening.

45-minute aqua-jog. Another day of just trying to keep off quads.

Right leg felt awful. Right knee was letting me know it is vulnerable. It wasn't being damaged during aqua-jog, but it was definitely sensitive to the motion. It got a little better over the course of the jog, but did not disappear. I did feel like I found my form at many points, but that was not enough.

Right calf felt worse. Calf was really irritable and could do very little motion without irritation. I got through though.

'dead lifts', leg press, and knee extensions at Y. Kept weight down to not overload knee. Left leg glute was firing, but right really struggled. I really struggled on knee extensions.

at home though, I did squat related PT and my right and left glutes were firing and feeling somewhat better... not sure why.

quads are so tight that I know I need to be pro-active in getting them to back down. I decided to just do 30 minutes of spinning and be super careful not to push over teh threshold where my quads start to compensate. Unfortunately, when you are having as much trouble as I am firing my glutes well for any amount of time- that is a tall order. AS expected, I felt awful and it took me 15 minutes to find a groove over 200 watts. I got up into 230-240 for the last 10 minutes and it felt like I was riding the line. That is what I was expecting and it is teh reason I took such a down day.

resistance band exercises, rolling and stretching at home. Avoided squat-related stuff until tomorrow so no knee loading or quad interference. Quads are so tight it is hard not to use them to load knee instead of using glutes.

I have been really off-of-my-game physically for several days and unable to fire my glutes as I would like. Today was no different. I really struggled to get my glutes involved today and my right knee was feeling it (although it stayed within my thought of acceptable limits with concern to causing damage). Once again, my right quad showed issues. This time it was tightening and cramping when I went downhill. This compensation (maybe) by my quads has lined up with introducing knee extensions to my PT. My quads are so weak as a result of my issues. If I am starting to get things right, they can finally get stronger. This indicates that I just need to keep strengthening them, but it is also true that the tightness had preceded all of my problems (tight quads preceded the original onset of this injury (it is weird that quad tightness seems to precede and be a result- inhibited yet compensating... ?) so I have toibe careful with it.

I focused on my form and got through the run OK. Similar to Friday's spin- I did not feel like I pushed much metabolic demand, yet similarly the pace wasn't terrible and pretty decent for not stimulating much demand.

Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/104319746

stretching and rolling in evening. Quads were crazy tight and sensitive to rolling. Worse then I thought.

With the temperature up in the 30s and a bunch of proposals on the horizon for Gail, today was the day for a family ski outing. The ridge only had 6 inches or less. They groomed but did not track and the snow was awfully thin in a lot of places. We, as many others did, came and did get to ski and enjoy it.

This year brought finding some real good deals on some new skis for different purposes. Gail had been using skis that were really better suited for me then her and she will enjoy herself with a pair of more maneuverable skis. She doesn't care about great glide and speed. I got the Spiders for her. I also got myself a pair so I could have a pair of 'fun' skis that I could take off trail etc... I also got them for a purpose like today. I want to be able to have family outings pulling Claire in the Chariot and my skills are not strong as a skier and these skis have a much better chance of me staying on my feet with her. I also found a great deal on a pair of much faster skis and waxed them up for today as well, but I didn't want to use them on the rough thin trails.... I also wasn't skiing well enough to handle them, but that is another story.

The first two hours or so we skied as a family and I pulled Claire in the Chariot, which meant skiing ahead a bit and then waiting for Gail. I noticed immediately that even though these skis are about 85% kick zone and supposed to be slow, the glide was far superior to my old skis (they really had been worn down). I also found myself feeling a little bit of form (getting on top of my open hips and using my glutes with my foot strike underneath me) and I was able to step turn well on flat ground. I should also mention that the snow was groomed but not tracked. This provides good practice for classic skiing correctly and not depending on the track. I did find these skis were more maneuverable as I could more easily form a snow plow, which my strength issues did not allow me to do. I was very confident moving down hill on relaxed gradients (we stuck to only the Green, Blue, and Red (without the severe downhills) trails. I was relaxed with these bit did go down once when I couldn’t stop after a downhill opened up to the red trail. I have never felt this easy going on skis.

This lasted for only about the first half of that time and I noticed I was loosing this form and struggling more to control the skis. My right knee started to feel agitated. I was pulling Claire, which would lead to fatigue, but I am also weak and having trouble maintaining my new glute-centered form for very long in any sport. This was no exception.

My problems were emphasized much more when Gail and Claire had had enough and went into the warming hut so Claire could move around. I headed out on my own. I skied very poorly here. As was happening toward the end of my time with Claire and Gail, I wasn’t hitting a decent glute-powered footstrike and instead of being nice and light and confident on my skis, they were sliding out to the side on me with almost every strike. I was very sloppy and my balance was definitely affected. Then I hit the hard downhills and went down on both of them. The new glide felt very fast and I just did not have the strength to effectively turn, even with the more maneuverable skis. Instead of using my glutes to lower myself, I sat back to much and the skis jumped out from underneath me on a few occasions on those down hills as well.

The skiing on my own mentioned in previous post.

I thought there might be enough snow to ski at the North Park golf course after work. Some areas were skiable and many others were totally exposed. I did ski around a little bit to try out the new bindings I had put on the two pairs of old skis. I used the 210s that Gail had been using (yes, much to long for her, but it was what was available) and was shocked at how good the glide was on them. I was definitely having problems slipping on the right kickzone. I am not sure if the ski was in any way responsible, but I am pretty sure my legs are heavily involved. I felt very uncoordinated and was not firing at all.

It was fun to get out for a little bit, but it was obvious that I needed to head to the Y and get on a bike (where I haven't felt good for a while now- how I felt on the skis was not a good omen.

Did leg press on both machines and knee extensions first. Was able to push good weight, but my glutes weren't firing all the way eccentrically and it left my right knee feeling loaded. Another bad omen.. actually just a bad thing...

Planned on another 2x20 min (4:00) at 85% 20 minute time trial pace with 10 minute warmup and 6 minute cool down. I was feeling much the same as I have been. I was not sweating or breathing heavy, but feeling muscular struggle. The entire ride had that characteristic. I was never feeling a metabolic proximity to threshold, but my muscles were limited in turning the pedals. I found my zone and worked within those parameters for the entire workout. I focused on my form and my glutes with open hip flexors. I held myself well through the first interval at 260-270 watts at 90-93 rpm on gear 16-17 (flashing between them). My sore back was another indicator that I was off, and that lasted the entire workout as well. I held my form well through the second interval as well. The first 10 minutes were 260-270 again, but I started to really get on top of my hips and was firing more 270-280 for last 10 minutes by way of the same gear but 95-100 rpms. With 5:00 left I shifted up to gear 17 and about 290-300 watts, but I felt my quads compensating and tightening. I went back down to finish the workout within my form. I could have hammered it home, but I wouldn't have gained the same efficiency.

I was definitely not firing today, but I held my form together to get through. I was having the same muscle problems I often have on the bike when things are not going well. I never really pushed my breathing or heart rate and sweat but still managed the highest power yet on this workout (here is link to last successful workout: http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp?userid=1164... ). I'll take it. It does not appear that the calibration on the bike was off or anything like that, I am off and I am improving my threshold as it appeared on my second FPT test. I was metabolically relaxed at power outputs that were not possible by pushing much harder before.

My back bothered me shoveling snow this morning and leaning over my skis waxing them for a possible trip to the ride tomorrow. I am definitely off.

Leg press and knee extensions at Y. As mentioned, glutes struggling eccentrically and right knee was irritated. Good strength though. Stretching, rolling, and resistance band work at home.

It seems that the day after I run on the trails, my right hamstring gets extremely tight... is it a sign of compensation?

Had my appointment with Dr. Stone today. It ended up being dominated by the fact that our insurance had apparently changed and I would not be able to come back to him (Afterword we found out our insurance had been mistakenly changed to Community Blue, now we will have to wait for it to be changed back. I will be able to follow up with Dr. Stone, at least until the 2015 break between UPMC and Highmark...). We did decide that getting an MRI did make sense at this point and that is my next move (after the insurance gets cleared up). On the good side, I have only a small amount of swelling, which means I haven't been reverting back since I brought it down with those few weeks off before the alumni race. My strength is good, but the flexibility and quad (both being inhibited, are still not too good.

It is just as it has been. I have good days or weeks and not so good days or weeks. This is no different then I have always been really. I didn't recover well and as Killer once stated, when I am on I am on and when I am off, well.... The problem now is that I have developed something in my knee, possibly arthritis, which means that when I am off I am loading my knee and I am sensitive to it . Before I couldn't run hard days in a row without recovery or I really fell apart, now I can't run two days in a row without loading my knee.

In typical Dr. Stone fashion he was about 2 hours behind and the appointment took about 2.5 hours total and the winter storm coming through caused it to take almost 2 hours to get back from Southside.... A 2:30 appointment made me miss my 5:30 power spin class. It ended up being a day off from Cardio. Did squat related PT at home. Had difficulty getting my glutes firing on my right side.

tried to run two days in a row... still not ready to d that, I wonder if I ever will be. I started on pavement and felt terrible. Then I got on the trails and felt worse. I just wasn't firing today and using my glutes to get my foot-strike underneath me going downhill is just starting to come to me on easy gradients on predictable pavement. The trails are just a bit more then I am ready for and when I am not firing it is all that much worse. I stopped a few times and debated if this was a more destructive then constructive, but I did keep going and had a few good portions where I focused and did have a stride. Those moments were forced though, and I was beat up and my knee was present and agitated. Not awful, but agitated. I was really really slow and that is what it felt like.

strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/103322004

Stretching, rolling, resistance band work at home. OK, not as great as last few sessions, but OK.