I'm back

I'm back in the sense that my running is going well. Therefore, I'm posting again.
I got 100 miles last week. That didn't happen this week but my runs are improving steadily. In the weeks prior, I had been hitting 60 to 70 pretty regularly. This week was 78. My right foot was sore on Tuesday and my right knee today so I took those two days off.

I had lower leg issues for a while but those are pretty much gone. I'm being a little more cautious now to avoid injuries. I write the alphabet with each foot both forward and in mirror image each morning before getting out of bed. Also, when my right ankle was bothering me on a run, I'd rock it back and forth quickly when standing and that seemed to help. The other thing I'm doing consistently now which helps is stretching - soleus, gastrocnemius, hamstring hip and back, quadriceps.

I ran a 6 hour race a few weeks back which was my first race in 11 months. I was able to run the entire race despite the weather getting hot by dowsing my head every 1.25 mile lap with water.

Practices have been going well. I finally decided that I could run home from work so started doing that. Most of the time, I can get someone to take my laptop home but a couple of times, I've had to run home with it in a backpack. It's either 21 or 22 miles depending on whether I run to Park and Ride or home. So now I do a long road run on Mondays. Wednesdays are a 16 mile track run. The goal is to break 2 hours and my progression so far has been 2:11, 2:06 and just under 2:04. Saturday is a 50k (for now) road run. I faded towards the end on the first week. My legs were dead on the second week and I only finished 23 miles. This week I ran 50k at a very even pace, staying within 30 seconds of 36 minutes for a 6.25 km loop. I hope to speed it up but hitting an even pace is a first step.

The dead legs reminded me that I need to take iron when running more miles. I used to take one pill every week. I think I'll go with 2 pills per week for now.

So a few lessons learned and now some optimism about the coming races. I think the next is going to be Helen Klein on 11/1.

Happy trails,

Jay