Today’s Focus

Where I am now – not where I was or want to be.

Planned Workout Description: 

15:00 minute recovery run.

Purpose: To recover from yesterday’s workout. 

I have a tendency to run my recovery runs too fast based on the runner I was or the one that I want to be, and yes, I know that I need to run at a slower pace. Today, I need to focus not on how fast but how well and efficiently I run.

Warm-up: 

Too much going on, so I just headed out the door and started running. Sometimes that is all you can do.

Run

• ·    Course:  Howard-Tiffany Bump O/B
• ·    Distance: 3.01
• ·    Duration: 29:49
• ·    Power: 202
• ·    Running Streak Day #: 11

What I Actually Did: 

I know it was only supposed to be for 15:00 minutes. However, the Achilles never complained, and I was running very easy, so I figured as long as I didn’t up the effort that I could keep going. I focused on running well and wasn’t in a hurry to get anywhere. I just plugged along, keeping my word to stay slow and do an easy run. If the leg had started to complain, I was going to stop at any time after the 15:00 minutes were up. It didn’t.

This was my longest run since March when I messed up the Achilles, so it was gratifying to be able to run 3.0 miles without stopping due to the leg bothering so much.

Now, to not get cocky and screw everything up. Duration seems okay; it is more the “go faster” stuff that seems to bother the Achilles than time on my feet.

Variables that impacted the run:

Injuries/Niggles: The left Achilles was noticeable when I started, but where I kept the intensity at the easy level, it didn’t really increase until I was just about done running. The right foot and lower back have worked themselves back out again and felt fine.

Weather: Clear sky, 60°F, feels like 58°F, Humidity 67%, Wind 3mph from N – The weather doesn’t get much better than this.

Shoes: ASICS EvoRide 2 (24.24) – Not any complaints. I wore the Injinji toe socks and put the Tailor’s Bunionette toe spacer on over the socks, and it worked fine. Which seemed to help with keeping the right foot more comfortable. 

Other Stuff

I have not been able to do the Intro to Stryd workouts since I can’t do all-out running with my Achilles. So, the CP that Stryd currently has me at is inaccurate and not what I would use as the range for my recovery runs. The 202 Power felt just about right as an easy run, and I think that the 260 that I initially input based on the 5K time back in January was pretty accurate. Now to get through June and see what it turns out to be.

Reading

The Positive Split 

A quote that got me thinking this morning.

“Settling into steady improvement demands undo appreciation for where you are now, even if you wish you were higher.

Reflecting on the deeper truth of patience and “journey” appreciation, what emerges is that no one knows when your best moments will occur. Balancing aspiration with appreciation demands investment in both even when they’re at odds with one another…

…As runners, we push past patience so frequently, and encounter injury so often, because we dream that on one special day, we might escape the typical confines of muscle fatigue and oxygen debt, and bound freely toward a better version of ourselves.

So two things are true: patience is virtuous, life is the journey and not the destination, but also to unlock magic, we must imagine and consistently strive for moments of ability that seem almost unattainable.

That’s the balance. That’s why a simple sport is so difficult.”

 Peter Bromka

Prehab & Rehab – stuff that I have to do

I did the bare minimums today. 

The work on the house wipes me out mentally, and by the time the carpenters leave for the day, I am done. Doing more is not an option, and it takes a while after they go, to regenerate the brain cells.