I started writing this post over a month ago, but didn’t quite know where it was going and I got really busy. Thus the title. We’re well into a string of 100°(F) days here in Portland. A couple of things to note going on this season.

I finally diagnosed the hamstring issued that has plagued me for years (I know). It was never bothersome enough to stop me from running a moderate pace, only running fast. I was focused on building a big base from around February – May and most runs were Z1/Z2 – super easy pace. And then I ran with my youngest daughter one Saturday and she kicked up the pace to put dad in the pain cave (successfully) and I aggravated the hamstring.

That led to a lot of research and the diagnoses that it was high hamstring tendinopathy. And the long path to physical therapy that mostly consists of hamstring strengthening exercises – but not stretching. A little counterintuitive. What I’ve found helped a lot is a prone hamstring exercise with a resistance band. Doing this exercise before a run to warm up the hamstring and tendon has done wonders for my runs (and pace).

In June, I finally had the gum graft that I had been putting off for a year – and required stitches in my mouth for 6 weeks. Double-yikes. I was advised not to run or lift for 3 weeks while everything healed up. The doc never said anything about cycling though, so I hopped on the gravel bike and went exploring. Happy to report I’ve cracked the code of long rides in Portland. I’ve been in a super-loop where the cycling has helped the hamstring, and my overall Vo2 capacity – which has helped my running. My running mileage is back up to 30 miles a week… and my cycling miles are up to around 100 miles with a few long rides thrown in the past month.

A couple of other things that have been like icing on the cake this year…. I stopped drinking coffee (which has helped my sleep and recovery, and I stopped drinking alcohol – which was wreaking havoc on my HRV (heart rate variability score). I didn’t drink much before, but a beer a week was messing up my sleep which messes up my recovery, which messes up my workout the next day. I have since discovered NA beer, so when I get the feeling, I reach for one of those.

A couple of other nutrition tweaks – no more ultra processed food poison… and I’m trying to hit over 100 grams of protein per day with protein shakes and protein in my oatmeal. I wasn’t carrying much extra weight, but I’ve managed to lose about 16 pounds. Which has boosted my cycling FTP and running V02Max. So yeah. I think I might be entering my 2nd act. I’m just below my racing weight when I ran Mountain Lakes 100, but more fit.

Oh… and almost forgot. And I got a mountain bike. Which I haven’t had in about 10 years. It was time. So I’ve been back on the local trails and trying to get the girls out riding with me. It’s a full squish YT Izzo. Bike geometry has completely changed in the past 10 years – this is a 29’er “down-country / trail bike”.

I’ve got a half marathon coming up in 3 weeks with my older daughter. I’ll try to stay with her as long as I can. Mrs. Rivard will be running a full marathon in the hopes of qualifying for Boston (again). It will be a fun weekend of racing!

I’m thinking of this season as a warm up for some more racing next spring. I missed a few of the early gravel races – but I’ve got them on the calendar for next year. And I see more more ultras in my future. This is the way of the endurance junky.