I went for a run yesterday after work along the Trinity Trails. I was shooting for 6 miles, but ended up going 6.24 miles. My knee felt sore for most of the run, but it never hurt like I needed to stop—I just “felt it” for a good portion of the run. Oddly enough, as soon as I stopped running, it hurt like a #$%@!

The plan was to start off at my easy pace, which is around 10:00/mile, and then mix in some faster running in the middle. Mile 1 ended up being 9:08—just a bit faster than planned. After seeing the time for the first mile, I just decided to keep up the pace. In the end, I did a 10K in 53:23, which is 2 minutes faster than my 10K time at the Tour des Fleurs, 5 weeks ago. Not bad considering I’ve taken much of the last 3 weeks off.

Check out the difference in lap times and HR from the Tour des Fleurs race and my run last night (click the “Laps” link):

• Last night: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7059236
• Tour des Fleurs: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6804716

In other news, I had my 4th PT session yesterday morning. It was rough. I knew that PT wasn’t going to be easy, but I didn’t realize how much pain would be involved. I absolutely dread the part of each session when it is time for the therapist to stretch me…OUCH!  In my third session, this past Friday, I even got the elbow—that is basically the therapist doing a deep tissues massage down the length of my IT Band with his elbow, using as much force as he can apply. On each leg. Twice. Holy mother of $%&@*! That hurt like no other hurt I’ve felt in quite some time.

The good news is that the PT sessions seem to be paying off. I’ve gained quite a bit of flexibility in my legs, and as long as I don’t run after a PT session, and take my time to warm up and stretch thoroughly, I seem to be able to run in relative comfort.

I am holding out hope that I’ll be able to run in the San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in two and a half weeks.