And that is just what I did on St Patty's day as part of Linzi and Aneta's virtual race!
I have to be totally honest and admit that if it weren't for this race, I probably would have bagged this run in favor of a rest day b/c I'd had a couple of tough workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday and a very painful deep tissue massage on Wed. night that left me so sore, walking was SUPER painful all day on Thursday. (I didn't even realize my calves were knotted and IT bands super-tight...I had actually gone in for tight back/shoulders...oops!) However, I decided maybe running would loosen up my muscles and ultimately I knew I wouldn't regret giving it my best shot.
Thursday turned out to be VERY warm (especially for this time of year, even in the south) and it was in the low 80s during the run. I did my customary "quick change" in the Newk's bathroom and then hopped into my car to hit my favorite shaded trail for the 7K portion of the "race".
At Newk's pre-run--thankful for clean and QUIET bathrooms. That's also NOT a usual work-out shirt but it turns out I don't own anything green and this top was the closest thing that looked "normal" with running shorts!
Go time!
Because of the heat and sun, I wanted to stay shaded for as much as possible, so I hopped onto a portion I haven't run before, hoping to get in a mile before hitting my usual trail route. This partwas mildly technical but ran by a beautiful creek; I wish I'd had my camera.
I could tell that I wasn't really acclimated to the weather and as I hit the 2nd technical portion, I could feel something funky going on with my right achilles (the previously injured one). At about mile 2.6 I definitely had to stop and stretch because I could feel like I was dragging my foot and I haven't experienced tightness like that in a long time. After crossing another portion of the creek I had to stop again and loosen my shoe b/c my left foot had gone completely numb. I was getting pretty bummed but at least my breathing, etc was still feeling great and I was on an easy, flat section of trail and headed back to the car. I ended up having to cross the road and run a loop around the parking lot to finish the mileage but finished, hot and sweaty, in 45:41 which is right around a 10:30 mile. Considering my leg/foot issues and temps I've not yet re-acclimated to, I'm pretty pleased with that effort. I'm watching my times get gradually faster (for me)...and it's always reassuring to see training and effort paying off.
Extremely sweaty post-run! Excuse the pit stains but that's part of being a runner!
Great work!
ReplyDeletegret job! thnx for participating and shaking it with us!
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