Tight Calves and Lost Sheep

My track session this week consisted of a mixture of distance and speed starting with 2 x 1 mile @ 6:20 T-Pace with 2 min recoveries (programme said 2 x 2 miles Doh!) followed by 3 x 800m @ 5:48 I-Pace with 2 min recoveries and 3 x 400m @ 5:20 R-Pace with 400m recoveries. I donned the vibrams for the session to get the barefoot feel without skinning my toes and everything went to plan, although I had to concentrate to stay on pace for the 400's - you can let the mind wander a bit for the slower paces but you have to be fully alert for the 400's.

.

A recovery 5 miler the following morning (Wednesday) revealed very tight calf muscles, no more than I should have expected after diving into barefoot speedwork. They were still tight yesterday, so when the option came up to go out on the bike instead of a run I took it, knowing that my second quality session of the week will be a tempo run on the hilly 10k section of the Bo Peep Tri tomorrow. I did take Ani out for a 2 mile run/walk around the block after dinner as her first (and possibly only) training session for the 2.5 mile kids run on the Route to Crook this Sunday. She covered the first mile in 10 minutes and walked most of the second after developing a side stitch (not bad for an 11 year old who's normally too tired to walk the dogs). I'll probably use the 5 mile adults race for a marathon pace run on the back of a 10 mile warmup as part of my weekend long run.

.

After putting my name down for a cancellation slot I finally got a place on the Lost Sheep Half Ironman on 11th September which will rival the Connemara Ultra for the pride of place as my longest endurance event. Although I would hope to come in below the 5:30 I got in Connemara, despite the 2 category 1 climbs on the bike leg. So more time on the bike is certainly needed.

.

Have a good weekend.

.