Another week down

Another week spend skirting around the edges of speedwork. On Tuesday I went to the track and joined in with a group doing 1,000m reps in 4:15. I ran with them in lane 4/5 and covered 3 reps in 04:15, 04:13 and 04:03 - I ran the last rep in lane four so that I could accurately assess my speed afterwards - which I reckon was 06:23 pace. I've started to play around (fartlek) with pushing the inclines on some of my runs just to gradually get the body used to a bit more effort without going all out for intervals, reps etc. I took the barefoot shoes for an outing on friday morning and it felt great. It was like the muscles in my feet were providing the cushioning that is normally provided by my shoes - well that was until about the 6th mile when I began to feel a tenderness/pain behind the ball of my left foot which remained with me until I finished the run 2.5 miles later. I suspected a spot of plantar fasciitis but also hoped it was just a bit of tenderness in the tendon while still adjusting to the barefoot running. I think I'll give the barefoot running a miss until it clears and limit it to short distances.

The tenderness did stay with me but did not stop me from heading out on my long run on Saturday morning. Given the fact that I did not know how my left foot would hold out and that I rose a bit later than usual I decided to cut my planned run from 2.5 to 2 hours. In the end I finished with 17.8 miles in 2:15 on a beautiful sunny morning. While I did feel discomfort in my PF, I rationalised in my head that "discomfort" means I continue ruunning and "pain" means no running. I thought that the discomfort might turn to pain 6 miles from home but instead it eased and disappeared completly.

I had it in the back of my head to run the first BHAA race of the year, a 4 miler in Little Island, today but the rain falling was enough to convinve me that perhaps it was better to rest up and give my feet a break. I didn't even go for the customary bike ride and ended up in the cinema wih the two youngest with my 5 year old alternately feeding me popcorn and choclate buttons in the dark - thankfully I have a strong stomach. Tue 20th Jan 5.08 miles in 45:51 (09:01 pace @ 133 HR) Wed 21st Jan 11.48 miles in 01:32:16 (08:02 pace @ 137HR) - I rose an hour earlier than planned (mix up in reading time while half asleep) and was about to head out the door at 0440 hrs until Abina asked where I was going so early - so I returned to bed for 40 winks) Thur 22nd Jan a.m. 8.63 miles in 01:14:01 (08:34 pace @ 123 HR) - got passed by a runner but resisted the temptation to give chase - eventually passed him out as he stopped at jonctions to cross the road (not a car in sight) p.m. 2.5 miles on the treadmill. Fri 23rd Jan 8.63 miles in 01:07:28 (07:49 pace) barefoot - used stopwatch as Garmin refused to power on. Sat 24th Jan 17.78 miles in 02:15:00 (07:36 @ 144HR) Conditioning Week #10 (Run - 66.7 miles, Bike - NIL, Swim - 3,300m) And now for my first (and probably last) broadcast from Runcast TV - last wekends long run - pictures, no video as the format did not appear compatible. I'll try again some other day

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