A cool, clear Saturday morning, running with friends. Eight miles on the docket: an easy run up San Vicente and around the Brentwood golf course and back down. The excruciating pain from the irritated IT band and the pinched nerve in my left glute had largely subsided, but six weeks post injury, despite work with a PT and a gradual reduction of the pain in my left quadriceps, I still struggled to keep up with the pedestrian pace set by the group leader Russ, my fellow LA Marathon pacer. Within a quarter mile, I dropped back and slowed to a walk. Determined to press on and endure the complaints of my tender quad, I ran-walked up San Vicente Blvd to the golf course, turned around and ran back. Each step along the way was fraught with frustration and peril. Was this quadriceps healing at all? Well, obviously. The muscle was healing, was growing back, was desperately trying to learn what this whole “running” thing was all about. And at the end of the day, it was six miles plus a smidge more. A month earlier, I couldn’t even walk a straight line.

That was Saturday, April 23, 2022. Here are the stats: Distance: 6.3 miles. Pace: 11:58/mile. Elevation gain and loss: 250 feet. NOTES: Had to occasionally walk on the downhill.

I didn’t run the next Saturday. Our group leader was out of town, and I as a fellow leader would need to take his place, but as I knew, I was in no shape to lead. To simply run? Of course. But lead? I decided to enjoy my Saturday off and go on a hike instead.

But that “lost” Saturday was not in vain. After consulting with my former physical therapist, I put together a strenuous strength training program that included: Single leg squats. Lunges. Calf raises, hip exercises with a Thera band, Achilles lifts. And at the gym: Leg extensions, curls, abdominal strength work. Dual squats with heavy weights. And every once in a while, when it felt safe, short easy runs mid week.

I attacked this program hard for the first two weeks, using the heaviest weight I could sustain for an eight rep set, reducing the weight for the next sets, and easing back on the program when I felt the muscles weren’t recovering, then starting up heavy again. Along with my overall body strength and flexibility, I detected a small layer of muscle build up in my injured quadriceps.

The next long run was May 7th, a flat, easy run down to the Marina Del Rey Jetty along the Santa Monica and Venice Beach bike paths. Twelve miles round trip. I managed six, letting the group go in the first mile and simply running as easy as I could to avoid walking. Legs felt weak from the strength training that I was doing, but I was fine with that. Ran back up the bluffs to the start and noted the following stats: Distance: 6.13 miles. Pace: 11:07/ mile, and elevation: 150 feet. NOTES: Did not stop to walk at all. Was able to run super easy and complete the run.

Convinced that my strength training program was working, I doubled down on it early last week and went as hard as I could. Surprised myself on Thursday morning before this last Saturday’s run with three sets of ten single leg squats on each leg, including the injured one. Felt really sore afterwards with a touch of fear that I might have done too much. But on this last Saturday, May 14th, I decided to test myself on a loop into the hills above Brentwood with a steep ascent and a long, steep descent, followed by a final third of a mile climb back to the starting point.

Here are the stats: Distance: 7.35 miles. Pace: 11:06/mile. Elevation: 500 feet. NOTES: Haven’t felt this strong since before the marathon. Keep up the strength! Do Not Slack!!

What a difference three weeks makes. On the first run, I resigned myself to the possibility that I would not accomplish the run I did on Saturday for several weeks, possibly months.

What made the difference? Certainly time helps. The body heals. But the normal processes of the body can only do so much, and is primarily interested in returning injured muscles to a minimum level of functionality and comfort. If I want to get back to where I was before and move beyond it, strength training is absolutely required.

And if I have improved this much in a mere three weeks, imagine where I can be three weeks from now when I run an actual race, one I thought I might have to either slog through as a test to see if I was still a runner or not, or just skip altogether.

The Mountains 2 Beach Half Marathon.

I had originally signed up for this race late last year as a VDOT test, a measure of what full marathon pace I could reasonably train for later this fall. My estimate was that I could, with the proper training and rest, run under 1:40. My quadriceps injury jammed that goal to pieces, but it taught me an important lesson: If I do not do specific strength training, I will never hit my running goals.

Bodies are lazy. They will try to extract the most work from the fewest muscles available. And that’s why I blew my left quadriceps to smithereens at the tail end of the most ambitious training cycle I had ever put myself through.

Regardless of how much training I can put in between now and June 6th, I will not PR. I may not even break two hours, a time I could run in my sleep before I got injured. But I can sure surprise myself. Because six weeks after that, I have another half marathon in Ventura, and it is my goal to blow the doors off my expectations, training and aerobic shape allowing.

And this is why I am writing this blog post today. I’m feeling that old laziness sneaking into my mind again. “Haven’t you done enough?” it says. “Rest on your laurels,” it says. Bull shit. I’m going to log off this silly little blog and get to work.

After all, as The Governator, Arnold Schwartzenegger once said, “these muscles won’t kiss themselves.”

4/23/22: 6.3 miles, 11:58/mile, 250′ elevation // 5/7/22: 6.1 miles, 11:07/mile, 151′ elevation // 5/14/22: 7.4 miles, 11:06/mile, 500′ elevation.

June 5, 2022, Mountains 2 Beach Half Marathon: 13.1 miles, ??/??/mile, ???’elevation. NOTES: I did my best, and here is where I am now. And here is where I can now go.