Today was exactly what I needed. A good run. Oh, and some sun.
I hadn't gone for a run since Wednesday, when I was less than thrilled with how I had felt during my run that day. I haven't lost my running mojo in over a year, so I was certainly due for a dry spell. Plus, three days really isn't anything in the grand scheme of things, but for me it was a lot. Not to mention the loss-of-mojo blah mood I had to go with it. But, today was my comeback :)
I woke up rested for the first time in a week (which is always a bonus) and immediately threw on my running clothes. This time I decided to try something out, and I undid the fancy lacing technique my pedorthist had done to my shoes when I got fitted for my orthotics, and laced them normal. This ended up being the most genius idea I've had all week: my shin muscles didn't make a peep the entire time! I also foam rolled and stretched a bit before I left...another thing I never do before a run.
Beautiful day out: sunny, 60's. I was motivated enough to run, but not enough to go find a trail, so I stuck to the Fox River path near my house. Paved, but still enough good scenery to ease the mind. I was aiming for 5 miles, but knew I'd be happy with 3, and ended up with 6.13. How 'bout them apples! I felt good most of the time, and I glanced at my Garmin when I felt the switch flip: 4.42 miles to warm up and feel like a million bucks! Wow, I guess I really am a distance runner :) I found a piece of trail that branched off from the main path, and on the way back I decided to take it. Who'd have thought! The path narrowed considerably here and eventually turned into glorious packed dirt. It was very short-lived, but it was enough of a taste of the good stuff that I am reengergized for next weekend's Pineland Farms. I needed that.
Still have a strange twinge in my left heel/ankle, and I'm hoping some ART tomorrow will help that out. I'm pretty sure it's tightness in my calf that's causing it so the appointment tomorrow should losen that up a lot. I've also been walking around barefoot the last week or so. Feels kind of good. I normally have on a pair of running shoes around the house, but I'm giving this barefootness a whirl to see how things fare. I've also become a lot more conscious of how I'm walking and what my form is like.
After my run, I took Charlie to the park to let him run lose for a bit while I laid in the grass and napped. It's cool to watch Charlie run; he's half greyhound, half yellow lab and he runs like the friggin' wind. Show off :)
Crash, out.
6 comments:
Heya, Paige!
Glad to see you had a good bounce back run this morning. Had a similar experience myself. You know, they say it's not unusual to have a little mojo lag during "taper" weeks before a long race. Maybe that's all you were going through - that or just the icky pollen.
Blow it out next week at the Pineland, Crash!
Thanks, G! I'm thinking the pollen had something to do with it for sure...so freakin' tired all week, and now I have a sinus headache, blah. But at least I got my mojo back :)
Sounds like a good run! Try local honey to help with the allergies. Didn't know you had a dog! We need some Charlie pictures. :)
LOVE honey. I'll have to try that. Charlie is my moms dog, but I'm the one that takes him for his runs in the park :)
Hey - Im Jason from South Carolina. I came across your blog from some Ultra place on the web and it looked fun. Im new to the sport and feed off of the run reports. Hope you don't mind me mooching off your post?!
Heya Jason! Welcome to the wonderful world of UR! Hopefully, I can help you catch a Serious Case of the Runs :) Mooch away!! Oh, and thanks for reading my lil' ol' blog :-)
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