Last week went well. I did not, however, get up to the Y and do any cross-training. I really need to start that. I got in my three mile run on Tuesday of last week, and then Thursday I got up and chugged out 5 miles! By the end of that 5 miles I was actually surprised in that I felt like I could push a little more if I had needed to. But, after clocking in the 5 in a 10:40 pace, I went home, stretched and showered, and got ready to get to work. I am now shifting my schedule a little to move my "long run day" to Saturday. I won't be able to continue getting up progressively earlier just to keep tacking miles onto the end.
I tracked out a couple of 4 mile paths to run and then I bought some spiffy cool lights to run with over the weekend. I am a going to keep talking about carrying lights when runners are out in the dark until I get a movement started. I see lots and lots of reflective material out on the street, but that means the car or truck has to have its lights on you for the fabric to do its job. If you are approaching an intersection, the driver won't necessarily see you until he is making you into his new Saucony-clad hood ornament. If you carry a flashlight for visibility that is great, the moving light catches peoples attention. But too often I see people out without any sort of light, and they are relying on their reflective clothes and street lights to keep them safe.
Sunday morning dawned slightly overcast and I waited for the sun to clear the Cascades before I headed out onto the streets. I wouldn't be needing my new lights for this run. I wanted to see what I would be running on in the daylight on the new path. After about 3/4 of a mile, I left the sidewalks of my development behind and trucked out onto country roads. Complete with nice goats, cows and llamas to run along side. It will be a GREAT path for the days that the Nike "coach" wants me to "on a hilly coarse, run hard up hill and easy on the down" as this route has about 4 good little hills that I "get" to run up and down. This should be good for helping to build speed.
When I finished my run, my left foot, specifically my ankle, hurt. I applied a little ice and kept it elevated for about a half an hour. I stretched about three times on Sunday and just could not seem to get whatever was hurting to stop. I limped around a bit the rest of the day. Monday came and I had the same pains in the outside of my ankle, but I gave my foot a couple of REALLY good manual stretches and that seemed to help, so I knew that it was tendon related. So, I went to work limping a little and stretched as often as I could. I got home and the ankle was still bugging me a bit, so I decided to look it up. And there, right on the Internet, was what the issue was. Since I was running on back roads with no sidewalks, and it was during the day, so I couldn't see cars coming via headlights, I was sticking very close to the shoulder of the road. This meant that my left foot-strikes were below and angled away from my right. This in turn stressed the tendons and the joint, which were doing their best to get my foot back to square.
I gave my foot the day off today, and I will go out tomorrow for another 4 mile run in the morning. It will be dark, so there will be two differences right off the bat. One I will be able to run more in the road, as I will be able to see the cars coming from further away and around corners, and I get to try out the new lights. Look for a light update tomorrow.
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