Starting to run....and fun with UMT at Kodiak

I just got home from a 5 mile jaunt around the neighborhood, alternating walking and running, completing the loop in 57 minutes.  I am feeling very grateful.  That's AC100 race pace!

I did a similar workout on the Sawcut Wash in Monrovia two days ago at the same pace (58 minutes).  It was fabulously hot and felt indescribable to be out and moving on trail in the sun with a blue sky above....

The limiting element to my running at present is actually my calves rather than the area around my fractured hip socket.  The calves --and the achilles on my injured side-- are weak from lack of use.  The right hamstring & glute attachments on the right are tender at the junction of the upper leg with my butt.  This is distal to the fracture site/stainless steel hardware, I think its soft tissue injury either incurred in the accident or the surgery.  It hurts less to run than it does to walk oddly enough-  I attribute this to a shorter angular extension while running (faster turnover, small steps) than while walking.

I've been progressing the heel drop exercises to strengthen my achilles/calves-  which I started in late July when I got clearance  for weight bearing.  I am now at 3x30 reps, straight leg, bent leg, with 57 pounds on my back.  The right calf has strengthened considerably, just need to work on endurance now.  The hip rehab is focussed now on flexibility, and strength training for he hamstrings and flutes particularly.  PT sessions last about 2 hours, preceded by an hour of warm up and stretching.

Meantime I've had some fun with the Ultra Medical Team.  I had the chance to work with these amazing people at 72mile checkpoint (Nordic Rim) of the Kodiak 100 last weekend up in Big Bear.  We were a small crew, led by Marco Apostal, an amazing guy who worked 36 hours straight from the start through the finish, with only an hour sleep.  I'd driven up Friday night arriving at Nordic Rim around 1am, and worked with the race folk there to set up the aid station and helped there until we shut it down around 2pm Saturday.  Marco came in around 3am after closing down an earlier medical checkpoint; later that morning he showed me how to treat some rather horrid blisters.  He had given me a walk through on how to do it and I had made sketches based on his lesson;  shortly afterwords  a runner came through, kindly  obliging my interest by presenting with layered  heel blisters the size of  silver dollars.    Marco had him up and running and reportedly his feet lasted him through to the finish.  An amazing fun time with a remarkable, committed group of ultra runners.

UMT crew at Nordic Rim, Mile 72 of the Kodiak 100.