If you’re wondering, last night’s run wasn’t all that great after all. I felt good yesterday afternoon, and I felt like I rode reasonably well during the ride back to the Harlem train station after work, but then I spent an hour on the train heading back to Stratford before riding the last mile to my house, so that by the time I got home, it was after 6:00. Honestly, at that point the last thing in the world that I wanted to do was to go run. But that was the only time I had, and I knew that I needed to put in at least some miles during the week, like it or not.
I made myself some Gatorade and then popped a handful of jellybeans in an attempt to raise my blood glucose long enough to get some temporary motivation, and then I went out to stretch. That worked well enough, and fortunately, that last mile on the bike had at least warmed my legs a little. I eventually headed out around 6:20, iPod set to a mix of Tool, Tears for Fears, Van Halen, Daughtry, and a selection of cuts off of Slash’s recent solo album. I started out trying to keep my cadence high while holding my effort at or below an aerobic threshold—roughly 80% effort or less. Or, to put it another way, I started out trying to take it easy while simultaneously holding decent form. But that’s a tough balance for me personally because my cadence has a tendency to fall when I’m either tired or just running easy. Which is another way of saying that I’m a natural over-strider, but over-striding can lead to injuries. To keep my cadence up, I have a choice of either shuffling along with teeny-tiny steps or just pushing a little harder to maintain better turnover—and better form—naturally. So, bottom line, yesterday’s run was about finding some balance between relaxed pacing and proper running form.
In any event, the jellybeans Tool’s Ticks and Leaches carried me through about the first mile or mile and a half, and after that, I had to start gutting it out. It wasn’t as bad as all that, but that third mile took some real effort, and if not for a couple of timely up-tempo songs off of Slash’s album, I suspect that last mile would’ve sucked a lot. Regardless, I got back home just before seven o’clock—total run: four miles exactly in 33:09. That’s right at 8:15/mile. That’s not quite a tempo run for me, but it’s a touch faster than I’d meant to go, and it took considerably more effort. I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not.
I got home to find Sally sitting on the front porch with a glass of wine and the phone, talking to her sister. She’d worked the morning at her job with Birth-to-Three and then taught art to kiddos for the City of Stratford in the afternoon. She’d therefore ordered pizza for dinner, and after I got home, I had maybe ten minutes to stretch before that pizza arrived. I did some ab work while my kids set the table, paid the pizza dude, and then took a quick shower while Sally and the girls started eating. After that, I read Super Dinosaur #2 to the girls and then put them to bed, and then Sally and I sat down and watched Covert Affairs on Hulu. I was in bed at 9:30.
And I was up this morning at 5:00. I felt tired and a little hung-over, which tells me that I probably didn’t drink enough water when I got home last night. Also, my legs were a little more sore than usual, and my right knee is aching where I had the plica earlier this year. Again, that’s probably caused by a mix of dehydration and inadequate stretching, especially post-run. I’m sure the rain outside didn’t help. But truth be told, I was just as happy to see the rain because I think my legs can probably use a day off from the folding bike. In any event, when I go for my long run this weekend, I’ll have to make sure to wear my knee brace, or I’ll be risking injury—a concrete example of why stretching is important and what the consequences are when you fail to train properly.
Tonight’s a swim night, and I’ll do my long swim of the week Saturday morning. I’ve got to give some thought to balancing those workouts—and the necessarily short recovery time between them—but that’s at least a surmountable problem. In the meantime, there’s a whole day to get through, along with all of its inherent challenges.
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