The planets aligned over the weekend; did you notice? They must have because I got my sleep in…even FD#1 didn’t wake up early. It is so nice to wake without an alarm every now and then, just because you can. Especially when every day is regimented time-wise in order to wring the most out of 24 hours. It was 7.30am when I woke up and I felt so rested I bounced out of bed wide awake. The normal morning routine started with letting the dog out and putting the kettle on. Minutes later MGirl wandered out of her bedroom rubbing her eyes with a big smile…”I had a sleep in” she said and we both hugged at the excitement of it! It’s always the little things that bring you the most pleasure, isn’t it?
We had a lovely morning together while I made pancakes for everyone. They used to be a weekly thing on the weekend, but life got in the way. The rest of the morning was really productive; it must have had something to do with a good night’s sleep. I managed to get the lawn mowed and the edges done; washed all the bed sheets and more; and gave the car a much overdue clean inside and out. This was all finished by lunchtime, and then it was off to CBoy’s baseball game for the afternoon.
MGirl had been out Friday night, and again Saturday night; this girl has a better social life than me, but that wouldn’t be too tough. I had to stay up until midnight to collect her, and was then up at 5.30am for my run. I headed out to Darlington for a marathon club run; the John Forrest National Park (JFNP) 12.6km cross country run. It was only ever about training and I thought it would be nice to run in a different location other than the usual laps of the suburbs. It was a lovely morning, the temperature was down and a stiff breeze was blowing. I had set a goal of finishing in 1 hour 15 mins and although I missed that by finishing in 1 hour 22min I was pleased to say I wasn’t the last one out there! Yeah.
The group took off fairly quickly, as is always the case I’ve found with WAMC runs; and I tried to stay within myself and run my own pace. After 2 kilometers I’d passed a few people and was focusing on trying to catch this rather large man who was about 6’3” and 120kgs. I couldn’t fathom how he was built for running, but he was doing a great job and I wasn’t reeling him in unfortunately. Physiology can be deceiving in runners! After that I seemed to be running on my own for most of the rest of the race, stuck in the middle of the really fast and the really slow. I focused on keeping my HRT in the 170’s and keep a little form. It was fun following the hot pink plastic marker tape tied to trees and logs. The run even went across some large boulders as well; so something different. A couple of nasty hills set me back a little and made me question what I thought was an increasing fitness level. I opted to walk them, as I will be doing in the Death Race and was a little disappointed when two people passed me on the major one. My HRT was topping out over 180bpm when I stopped to walk, and they just did this little shuffle jog past me. When we topped the hill I focused on reeling them in one by one, which I managed to do. They ended up catching me again about 500m before the finish and I was happy to let them go. It was clear I had more work to do…a lot more.
Stretching in the car park while people were milling around and waiting for the last of the race to come in, I realised that my leg was hurting again. It was actually hurting a little at the beginning of the run, as it had done on Friday. All my pre-emptive icing of both of my calves has not paid off and the right one seems to be doing what it did before we went on holidays. I am so, so disappointed…but not defeated yet! I stopped at the petrol station on my way down the hill and bought a bag of ice. I went straight to MGirl’s baseball game and sat on the sidelines for two hours icing my leg on and off and having a really good stretch. I then went home for a nap and then took FD#1 down to the shop and gave her a bath; she smells like a Princess again.
This morning I’ve made an 8am appointment at the physio, so fingers crossed they can advise something. In all my wondering what to do about my leg I recalled that when I was doing triathlons (and having gone to a sports podiatrist) that not only did we put orthotics into my running shoes, but that I had a 7mm heel lift/wedge inside one shoe. I think it was the right leg? Wouldn’t it be fantastic if all I had to do was get another wedge and all my worries are gone? Hope so.
This afternoon (instead of my scheduled run) I will take FD#1 with me when I take CBoy to his first session of ultimate frisbee (his new interest) and we will walk a few kms while he is having fun! I also really need to get the stepper inside tonight. I think it might be the way to aerobically work myself with less impact as the foot never leaves the foot plate and is less impact than running. Hopefully I’ll also get some rehab exercises from the physio and everything will be alright! Thankfully this is a rest week on my program, and although I didn’t intend on doing NOTHING, at least I can back off a little without concern.
No comments:
Post a Comment