Holy smokes...Wednesday evening's run was a whole new experience! No, I didn't try to run backwards or blindfolded or anything...it's just that I was majorly stiff from Sunday's long run...more than I can ever remember before. My thighs and my shins and my hips...man, I was running (more than ever) like an old man whose walker was in slow gear. This despite a good post-run walk on Sunday and a couple days of rest! My goodness!
The first couple of kilometres were really really slow. As I began it was obvious that this was going to be a different run and that I'd have to listen to my body and start out slow, holding open the possibility that I'd cut the run short if I noticed serious pain. Thankfully, my joints themselves all felt OK...just my range of motion and flexibility were not there. Despite the days of rest, my body had not yet fully healed from the long run. I remember a similar feeling from last year when my joints hurt, just this time the worry that I might not be able to proceed was replaced with an awareness that I had to give my body time to warm up gradually before I could really assess how fast to move along during the 7 kms.
Bit by bit I could feel my legs loosening up under me and with that came a better pace. And maybe it was the cooler evening air as we approach the end of August, and the initially slower pace, but I felt energetic at the half-way point. I emphasized elongating my stride, getting my hips forward a bit and letting my quads do the pushing....and as I did that, still feeling quite relaxed, I knew my pace was quickening. The hills and grades felt easier and I finished with an average pace around 6 and a half minutes/km...not bad when the first two kms were probably nearer 8 mins/km.
The slight pain under my right knee cap tells me I need at least another day's rest before I run again. And as we near the end of August, I have only 3 or 4 more long slow runs (and a bunch of 6km, 7km and 8km shorter runs in between them) before I begin my tapering...a 15km, maybe then a 10km, before pushing to18km. Last year I also did a 20 km run before the race that gave me the confidence I could go the distance, but that required so much recovery time that I missed out on a few shorter runs, runs that would have kept me limber as I approached race day. With only a month left to race day, and my conditioning in strong shape, rest will be an even more important strategy.
More later, but for now I gotta run.
Keep going buddy, you're doing great I am sure the old bones are going to hang in
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