Today’s Focus

Reality Check

Planned Workout Description: 

Workout: Day 7 Stryd Intro Plan – 45:00 easy run

Purpose: Long Run

Well, the longest run I have done since my injury back in March. This is the start of getting more of my endurance back.

Focus – Run Efficiently

The long run is important to help improve your endurance from a physiological perspective. It also gives you more time to practice pacing by power!

Try comparing your 45:00 run with a 30:00 run earlier in the plan. How did the average power compare between the runs? Was the pace relatively the same? How about the elevation? Lastly, take a look at the RSS and see the differences. RSS can help tell more detail about a particular run and how intense it was relative to your power output over time. RSS can also be compared over a longer duration of time, called Running Stress Balance, but we’ll touch on that in just a few days.

Morning Prehab and after the run

• 2 x 15 Straight Leg Eccentric Calf Drops each leg on the ladder
• 2 x 15 Bent Leg Eccentric Calf Drops each leg on the ladder
• 30 – Calf Raises both legs on the ladder
• 10 – single leg calf raises no support on the floor
• 20 x steps hip extensions

Warm-up: 

None

Run #1

• Course: Philbrick Laps – End at Big Pine
• Type: Intro to Stryd Day 7 – 45:00 Easy
• Distance: 4.88
• Duration: 46:37
• Power: 207
• Running Streak Day #: 3

What I Actually Did Today: 

I did what the plan called for, an easy 45:00-minute run. The heat made sure that I didn’t attempt to go too fast, and I purposely stayed in the shade whenever possible. I wouldn’t have wanted to go too much further without getting some hydration, that is for sure. All I know is that I am not acclimated to this heat yet, and even when I am, I have a feeling that this year, I am going to keep things a lot slower than I have in past years.

If the summer is primarily in the ’80s and ’90s, I might have to think about going back to the gym sooner than I thought I would. The time that I run usually is after Bennie’s second walk, and by then, it is relatively warm. I just don’t enjoy running at the crack of dawn and prefer my 9-10 A.M. start times. I have the freedom in my schedule to make those kinds of choices, so why not run when I prefer it. That is a benefit of being retired.

When I looked at my paces on Strava, the first 4.0-mile splits were within an 8-second range, which surprised me. Although the graph looked like a squirrel running up and down trees.

Since I finished down at the Big Pine, it meant that I had to come back up Stevens Hill. Now I have designated Stevens Hill as a no-walk zone during runs, which presented a bit of a conundrum. I had just finished my 45:00 planned workout, was hot, sweaty and feeling pretty much like crap and really didn’t feel like running up that darn hill. So was I still doing my workout or not?

In my mind until I get back to the house, I am still doing part of my workout, it just meant that I had to get my shit together, walk to the Blake intersection and then when I got back to the lower gate, do what needed to be done. No, I didn’t want to run, but sometimes you do what is the correct thing and to me running up Stevens Hill is an important part of my running this year.

So of course, I ran up that darn hill. I started at the lower gate and finished at the upper gate. No, I didn’t set any world records, personal bests or steal a segment, but I ran that 0.2 miles in 2:00-minutes and didn’t walk up the hill.

Pretty much a non-event to most people, but an important crossroad for me. I kept my word to myself and didn’t take the easy way out. I will run up Stevens Hill and kept it a no-walk zone.

Variables that impacted the run: 

Injuries/Niggles: The left Achilles didn’t complain too much until after 4.0 miles, so that was really good, and I didn’t get heatstroke, so that was even better. 

Weather: Clear sky, 79°F, Feels like 82°F, Humidity 61%, Wind 3mph from N and hotter by the time I got done

Shoes: New Balance 1080v10 (Blue) – I really liked how the red 1080v10s felt while running, but they were just too small. While they might have claimed to have been a size 8.0, they felt more like a 7.0, so I was wandering around eBay last week and came across a pair of 1080 v10s in size 9.0 and put in a low-ball bid and won.

I wasn’t expecting to win, but now I am the proud owner of a pair of size 9.0 1080v10s in the Blue with orange highlights colorway, and I really like their looks. 

Getting to the important stuff, the fit is a helluva lot better. They don’t cramp my toes or Tailor’s Bunionette like the red pair did. While they might be a tad long, I will take that over too small any day.

However, they didn’t wow me, and my feet bothered a little towards the end of the 45:00-minute run. The right foot bothered me a little more than I expected based on how the shoes fit. I may have pulled the Injinji toe socks on a little too tight, resulting in a bit of discomfort from the socks. I have done that before with other shoes, and it felt more like that was the issue than how the shoes fit. Next time I will wear other socks and see what happens.

Otherwise, the fit was good. The only other issue was changing the laces to the last eyelet to avoid some minor heel slippage that I felt with the stock lacing pattern.

Other Stuff

I am attempting to figure out what comes after I finish the Intro to Stryd 2-week training plan next Sunday. That is where the reality check is smacking me pretty hard regarding my Achilles’ progress versus the goals that I had set for this Summer and Fall. 

No matter what I decide, it will be based on the reality of where I am physically while focusing on long-term solutions or goals, not just the next two to three months. 

It is easy to have great goals, fantastical thoughts, and ideas about what you can or should do, but a LOT harder to look at where you actually are and figure out how you will get to where you want to be.

“Optimal training is centered on clear, executable goals. We train to improve specific abilities.”

Excerpt From: Bryan Green. “Make the Leap – Think Better, Train Better, Run Faster.” Apple Books.