Well week 1 training for High Lonesome 100 did not go exactly as planned. Monday I came home from my run and the bottom of my foot was bugging me. Back in the day when I was a step aerobics teacher, that’s right thong leotard and all, I developed a really nasty case of plantar fasciitis. Like I could not walk in the morning because my feet basically curled into claws while I was sleeping. But I kept teaching because it was my only source of income and kept wearing my Nike basketball shoes that I thought were cute. (I had zero knowledge about shoes.) To be honest, I am not even sure how the issue resolved itself because I never saw a doctor. It wasn’t until years later when I became a runner and people talked about plantar fasciitis that I was like, OMG! I had that!
I have never had a problem again, but if I go too long without new shoes I can feel it start to flair up in my right foot. Always and only the right foot. I buy new shoes and the problem solved. But when it started to bother me on Monday, I knew it wasn’t the shoes. I had just bought new shoes! Tuesday morning when I got out of bed, I knew the culprit. Tight calves. I hobbled to the bathroom, cancelled the run and went back to sleep. I spent the day stretching my calves and rolling out my foot while lecturing. Thank G-d for that random box of golf balls in the classroom.
I ran on Wednesday and it was okay, but by the end of the day my foot was doing that weird sore/burning feeling on the tendon. I made myself take the day off on Thursday even though it was a surprise respite form the 90 degree days and was the most perfect running weather. I was also at this point starting to stress about the missing miles. Here it is week 1 of training where I am trying to gradually increase my miles and I am running less days than the week before. I was drowning my sorrows in a lot of Barefoot sparkling pink moscato. Speed work on Friday went well and no problems during or after the morning run on Saturday. Not only did my foot feel great, but my legs felt great too! I was really happy with the pace of morning run on Saturday. 9 miles with 1000 feet of climbing and an average of 8:32 pace felt like a reward for the hard work and even harder work of resting my foot.
Norm and I headed out for a 20 mile run Sunday morning. I felt really good so I decided to leave him after the 1st mile. It’s typical that we warm and cool down together, but I will run my own training in between. I usually wait for him at critical turns. He only got confused about the plan one time and ended up going the wrong way and having to back track. At mile 10 Norm was a wreck. I told him I would walk home with him and then head back out, but he told me not to do that. But I would have to go at least a mile to the park to fill up on water. Instead, he gave me the rest of his water and sent me back out on the trail. He evidently had an enjoyable two mile stroll home. I ended up with 19 miles because the trails were so crowded it was like being in the shopping mall. Even my “there is never people on this trail” trails were full of people. I decided to not to bother adding on an extra mile. I did eat a donut. Not vegan or gluten free and it also felt like someone poured sugar in my mouth so I didn’t even enjoy it. I worked, I napped and worked some more. Then I headed out on my 10 mile afternoon run. I really thought it would be a slow slog and I tried not to look at my watch. I was pleasantly surprised I ran right under 8min mile pace for an average. I wanted to treat myself to French fries and onion rings, but the oven choose this day to break. This made me very cranky!
I signed up for the Big Pine Trail Run on June 10th in Flagstaff. The last time I ran there I ended up with a mild concussion, a broken finger and a DNF. I am assuming it can only go up from here, but that might be a dangerous assumption. I have also decided to run Whiskey Basin 88K. I thought it would make a good training run.
I have never had a problem again, but if I go too long without new shoes I can feel it start to flair up in my right foot. Always and only the right foot. I buy new shoes and the problem solved. But when it started to bother me on Monday, I knew it wasn’t the shoes. I had just bought new shoes! Tuesday morning when I got out of bed, I knew the culprit. Tight calves. I hobbled to the bathroom, cancelled the run and went back to sleep. I spent the day stretching my calves and rolling out my foot while lecturing. Thank G-d for that random box of golf balls in the classroom.
I ran on Wednesday and it was okay, but by the end of the day my foot was doing that weird sore/burning feeling on the tendon. I made myself take the day off on Thursday even though it was a surprise respite form the 90 degree days and was the most perfect running weather. I was also at this point starting to stress about the missing miles. Here it is week 1 of training where I am trying to gradually increase my miles and I am running less days than the week before. I was drowning my sorrows in a lot of Barefoot sparkling pink moscato. Speed work on Friday went well and no problems during or after the morning run on Saturday. Not only did my foot feel great, but my legs felt great too! I was really happy with the pace of morning run on Saturday. 9 miles with 1000 feet of climbing and an average of 8:32 pace felt like a reward for the hard work and even harder work of resting my foot.
Norm and I headed out for a 20 mile run Sunday morning. I felt really good so I decided to leave him after the 1st mile. It’s typical that we warm and cool down together, but I will run my own training in between. I usually wait for him at critical turns. He only got confused about the plan one time and ended up going the wrong way and having to back track. At mile 10 Norm was a wreck. I told him I would walk home with him and then head back out, but he told me not to do that. But I would have to go at least a mile to the park to fill up on water. Instead, he gave me the rest of his water and sent me back out on the trail. He evidently had an enjoyable two mile stroll home. I ended up with 19 miles because the trails were so crowded it was like being in the shopping mall. Even my “there is never people on this trail” trails were full of people. I decided to not to bother adding on an extra mile. I did eat a donut. Not vegan or gluten free and it also felt like someone poured sugar in my mouth so I didn’t even enjoy it. I worked, I napped and worked some more. Then I headed out on my 10 mile afternoon run. I really thought it would be a slow slog and I tried not to look at my watch. I was pleasantly surprised I ran right under 8min mile pace for an average. I wanted to treat myself to French fries and onion rings, but the oven choose this day to break. This made me very cranky!
I signed up for the Big Pine Trail Run on June 10th in Flagstaff. The last time I ran there I ended up with a mild concussion, a broken finger and a DNF. I am assuming it can only go up from here, but that might be a dangerous assumption. I have also decided to run Whiskey Basin 88K. I thought it would make a good training run.
