May 26

FIT:
Oh man, I feel good. I think it might be all the sleep that I'm finally getting. My daily schedule consists pretty much of just running, eating, internet, and sleeping. I feel sleepy a lot, and I'm probably still catching up from a 50 hour sleep debt just from last week, plus whatever debt I've accumulated during the entire school year. I felt good during today's run, though. I was tired at first, but I was surprised at the decent pace I kept up even after yesterday's decent run. It was 50 degrees + light cold rain, and I was in a sports bra on the way out and the UA long sleeve on the way back, but with the backpack, which carried a 4-pack of Myoplex shakes on the way back, I think the 59:47 run was pretty good! I don't know exactly how long the wm run is when you swing out to Route 1, but I guess we can just keep things simple at 7.5. My body feels fine, and I feel like I could run it again!!! although my ankles are a bit strained - probably because of the extra weight.

Splits> 9:32 t, 3:52 p (slow start on the t but nice pace to the p), 3:41 h (nice!), 4:00 b (21:07), 4:17 x (felt so good during this leg, sped it up every now and then with bursts when I lept over rooty areas), 2:21 wm (27:45), 6:11 wf, 4:34 b, 4:17 h, 3:56 p (nice considering the pack! felt good and pushed on through despite the weight), 3:52 t, 9:08 h - sweet run!!! Given the 6:11 and the 4:34, I think it's maybe 3 minutes longer... about 0.4 miles longer? So I'll adjust and say that the run is 7.8 miles, since I was probably slow getting started after the stops. That makes a 7:40/mi pace, with pack!

Cool thing - I went to The Running Company to get some fuel for runs, and I got to talking with the guy at the counter (I'm terrible at remembering names), and he offered to look at my treads and my gait, even though it was pretty clear that the Evol's were a good fit for my pronation and that I still had many miles on them. On the treadmill, he noticed that even with the Evol's, I still pronate. He offered to let me try on some insoles, but the arches seemed to be small and towards my heel (which he said was good b/c that's where the support is most needed, right under where your foot meets the leg), but it just felt so different from a shoe. He heard that I do 16 mile long runs even though I only do 15-35 miles per week, and he cited Daniels' Running Formula, where the LR's should make up 25% of the weekly total. I'm 100% at worst and 50% at best. So he suggested that I up the mileage the rest of the week. Oh yeah, the conversation started because I mentioned my bum knee. He said that as I run, the small muscles that do the stabilizing get tired and the bigger ones have to make up for them. As I train more, I'll build up the stabilizers. He suggested core and leg exercises, like lifts, a squat where you grab one leg (like a quad stretch) and touch that grabbed leg's knee to the ground (or as far as you can go). He also said that as I train more, I'll find that I need less water. That's good news, since carrying around 40 oz during summer runs will pound my legs quite a bit. Runners are great. We all enjoy talking about running, trading tips and experiences, and helping each other out.