Today’s Focus

Recovery and fact-finding.

Planned Workout Description: 

Workout: Day 2 – Stryd Intro Plan – 30:00 recovery run

Purpose: To recover from yesterday’s 2:00 minute challenging portion of the run. I know that Stryd has to accommodate all levels of runners and that many who are starting to use their product(s) are not long-time runners, but the wording of the workout explanation is VERY basic. I would prefer having a quick two-line or less purpose description of the workout to start. Then go into a long-form explanation of what is going on, how Stryd will help your running, or the workout’s purpose after that. Not all runners who start with the Intro Plan are newbie runners. 😄

The other purpose for me on today’s run will be to find out if the size 8.0 New Balance 1080 v10s bother the Achilles or not. They were the shoes that I was wearing when it decided to start being really grumpy back in March. Then, a couple of times, when I attempted to do a run while rehabbing the Achilles, the Achilles got grumpy again during or shortly after those runs. 

I feel that it might have something to do with me pushing too much of a load too soon on the Achilles and that the 1080s allow me to toe-off harder than some other shoes, which in turn aggravates the Achilles more and makes it grumpy. We will find out this morning.

Warm-up: 

100-ups 

Run #1

• Course: Howard-Bartlett-Stop just before the tar on Philbrick
• Type: Recovery
• Distance: 3.11
• Duration: 30:09
• Power: 203
• Running Streak Day #: 2

What I Actually Did Today: 

I maintained the recovery pace that I wanted to do for this run. This is supposedly zone 3 for Stryd, but we will see where the auto CP ends up at the end of the Intro Plan. Deleting all the old runs didn’t seem to do a lot of good because it appears that Stryd continues to add them into the CP equation.

Variables that impacted the run:

Injuries/Niggles: The left Achilles wasn’t happy this morning felt pretty grumpy most of the day. Read more below to get the reason.

Weather: Clear sky, 69°F, Feels like 66°F, Humidity 52%, Wind 5mph from N

Shoes: New Balance 1080 v10 (Red) – Oh well, I kind of thought that this would be the result after wearing them for walking for a couple of days. The 1080 v10 size 8.0 simply is too small and narrow in the toe box. By the end of the 3.1-mile recovery run, all I wanted to do was take them off and throw them on the give-away table. I was so focused on how badly my feet felt at the end that the run was anything but enjoyable. 

The midsole has a firm but cushioned feel, which I like, but the fit just did not work for me at all. I would have to have a wide version or a size 9.0 to accommodate the width of my foot. 

I also love the red/orange colorway, but the colorway doesn’t matter if my feet hurt like they did today after only three or so miles. Also, after running in them, I noticed that my Achilles did bother more than it has in about a week. This leads me to believe they are a part of the problem and not part of the solution. I waited to think about things for a bit this afternoon and decided to go into the give-away pile tomorrow morning.

Other Stuff

The contractors are almost done with the work on the house and will be wrapping up tomorrow or early Thursday. They are great guys, but I am ready to get back to my regular routine and not have the distractions that their working on the house requires. The finished product is excellent, and our house is a helluva lot sturdier than before they started.

Otherwise, just another day.