Thursday, February 18, 2010

The rain washes everything away

01/17/2010 - 01/23/2010

This is the week where, against all odds, L foot does not revert back to its injured state. This is also the week where, against all odds, I enjoy running in the torrential downpours. There's something serene and calming yet stormy and alive about this rain. I typically hate the drizzly California light rains, but these downpours--love it.

I also decided that my foot troubles are likely the result of a slight defect in my mechanics. As my L foot (aka the Runty One) is shorter than my left, it doesn't hit the ground in the same way that the R foot does. I've been landing a little bit pigeon toed in an effort to swing it over the extra bit to make it symmetrical with the other one, but as a result the little toes were kind of getting crushed (as evidenced by a lot of new blisters) and I think the third joint bore a lot of the force. I've been making an effort to land in a way that distributes the impact more equally across all toes, and its been fine so far. Fingers crossed.

Sunday 01/17: 5.3 miles, 45:15 (8:32 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Kind of weirded out by the nausea, so took it easy. Foot felt okay, the swelling hasn't returned, so hopefully that's a good indication. Nevertheless, I still felt dizzy and nauseous upon finishing. Haven't felt well in general last week, so maybe I'm sick at a low level.

Monday 01/18: 5.3 miles, 44:31 (8:24 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
I wasn't going to run today, to be cautious, and also due to general malaise... but it was so beautiful after the rains, I decided to hit the Arroyo. Felt amazing, air was fresh, arroyo was ROARING... almost did a faceplant due to the newly eroded trail surface but overall it was an awesome run. Felt much better afterwards than before, no nausea.

Tuesday 01/19: 5.3 miles, 44:43 (8:26 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Inspired by yesterday to run in the foggy morning in a light rain. Felt a little tired, but better towards the end. Still struggling with all of the new rocks. Sprained both ankles, gahhh... the R one actually is in pretty bad shape. Also, crazy blisters! Not sure why.

Wednesday 01/20: 5.3 miles, 43:31 (8:13 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Raining pretty hard. Loving it, feeling good, felt like I was cruising despite the bad footing. Only a slight tweak today on the R ankle. Got to get that under control... at least the ankle sprains are taking my mind off of wondering if my L metatarsal is going to blow up again.

Thursday 01/21: 5.3 miles, 43:05 (8:08 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
A calm morning, didn't get a lot of sleep, but the run was restorative and felt good. Also notably, I finally managed to get through the entire loop without re-spraining an ankle. I guess running 5 miles is restful, because the faster paces are coming a lot easier.

Friday 01/22: Off, shots. Travel to Denver. Since I'm not running every day anymore I didn't have to do a night run when I got there :) ... or maybe :( ... I'm not fully reconciled with how running and I are going to relate going forwards. It seemed prudent to give the L foot a day off though, despite the fact that it's been going strong so far.

Saturday 01/23: 5.2 miles, 44:01 (8:28 min/mile) 2 x Washington Park Loops
Oooof, this one felt bad, cardiovascularly... like having a plastic bag over your head. Felt crappy, I guess it's been a while since I've been at altitude.

Week Total: 31.7 miles, totally decent post injury re-building

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