Today I had zero interest in running, so instead of bagging the run, I decided to chase that elusive Pepin segment again and put on the Razor 3s figuring that I would run easy the rest of the run. I needed external motivation to get my butt out the door.

However, when you feel like this it probably is not a great day to chase a segment.

The Run

Planned run and focus: After Tuesday’s aborted no track workout and a longer run yesterday and too many leg miles…blah, blah, blah. I figured that running easy was a better bet. Well at least until I got right before Pepin and finally decided to see what I could do.

• Course: Pepin Test Course
• Weather: Clear, 72°F, Feels like 72°F, Humidity 55%, Wind 5mph from SW
• Distance: 4.01
• Time: 36:23
• Pace: 9:04

Splits:

• 1.0 – 8:56
• 2.0 – 7:49
• 3.0 – 10:16
• 4.0 – 9:17

Pepin Segment – Distance: 0.58 / Time: 3:51 / Pace: 6:33 / Second overall and my all-time best.

What did I do well?

I didn’t bag the run.

I didn’t quite get the segment, missed it by 10 seconds, but I did get 2nd overall and my best effort yet.

The idea of running easy today was a good idea and I probably should not have chased the segment, but I needed the motivation.

Figured out the probable cause of my ankle discomfort – more on that in a moment.

What do I need to work on?

After running the hard push through Pepin, I felt pretty well zapped and just plodded along slower than usual especially going back up Philbrick Hill, it felt as though someone stuck a needle in and sucked out all the energy. So I just let it go at that and took what the body gave.

My head really was not into the running thing today and I was surprised when I saw the results of the Pepin segment, I figured that I would be about 20 seconds slower than what I ended up running it in.

Shoes:

Skechers GoRun Razor 3 8.5s – Well I really learned a lot about the Razor 3s today. I found out that I have to wear really thin socks even in the 8.5s or they begin to bother my right forefoot, not enough to mess things up too much, but more a discomforting distraction.

Also I began to notice my ankles starting to bother around the bottom of Philbrick Hill and became rather uncomfortable coming back out of Pepin after the fast segment. When I got home I checked my running spreadsheet and blog posts from when I got my other pair of Razor 3s and figured out that I started noticing some ankle stuff going on after I started running in them and not before.

For some reason I got it in my head that it was the GlideRides that were bothering my ankles, maybe or more likely it was the Razors.

Today I had not run in the Razors for a week and was having zero issues with the ankles. So it goes to show that sometimes you just have to experiment a bit to find out what is going on and where the problem actually is.

So I will put both pair of Razor 3s in the back of the garage and bring back the GlideRides to see if they are part of the solution. I guess I do need a little more firmness than the Razors provide.

What was I thinking?

Pretty much the first mile I was thinking I really do not want to do this today. The resistance was strong and actively attempting to take me out of the game sooner than later.

I also had been going back and forth with the idea of chasing that damned Pepin segment and finally when I got almost to Pepin, I decided to go ahead and see what I had in the tank. It wasn’t like it was going to bother anyone but me.

When I started off, I knew I was at the correct pace, unfortunately from the house to the black mailbox on the corner, I slowed more than I thought and picked up the pace again too late. The slowing down was more of that mental resistance than the body not being up to the pace. I know that I can steal this segment, but need to go for it when I am fresh and willing to really chase it.

I was not impressed with the Razor 3 at the faster pace and they are probably not the go faster shoes that I am looking for, especially with the feeling that I had with snugness in the toe box and the ankle discomfort.

Learning a lot about myself and the my shoe rotation this summer, versus just going out and doing willy nilly buying shoes on eBay and then having so many that I don’t know what is causing some of the aches and pains.

Although these did show up as my last Father’s Day present yesterday with the Amazon gift cards I got.