Dec 21

FIT:
Yesterday:
45 min Strength (including PT) - billy bands, elastic band, and mat. 45/45 leg lifts, PT - only abductor strong - flexor/extensor/adductor lots weaker, left knee crinkles @ pillow (30 reps), 2x40 quad dips, 40 slow pushups, 3 min plank, 200 crunches/side, 140 fly crunches, left achilles bad last night and today during band PT, rt butt sore, everything rolled on foam roller smoothly, tho.

Today:
4 mi in 30:40... 7:40 ave pace. Rolled and stretched pre-run, to get out the stiffness leftover from the 5.3. Achilles bugging me today @ work, too, so esp worked left calf. Did 1.5 mi @ 8:30 to warm up, 0.5 @ 8:00, 0.5 @ 7:30, and 1.5 @ 7:00. It was good practice for the 5K, where I'd have to hold a bit sub 7:00 for 3. I felt pretty good bod-wise, besides ball of rt foot poundy in last mi. According to Running Well, the left achilles prob that started the night of the 5.3er was prob either caused by 1) tight calves, and/or 2) high heel cup. My left calf is in fact super sore (both are sore and have been for weeks and weeks, but the left one especially since the 5.3er. The Progrid I wore for the 5.3er does have a high heel cup, too. It had caused my achilles to bleed into my shoes when I wore non-soccer socks with it before. So today, I chose the Evolution 3's (which is getting up there in miles) with the Stability insoles. Those insoles have caused blistering on my left arch. Haven't had blisters in a long, long time. New thoughts on the Stability insoles... it's reasonable for it to have a big hump where the arch should be, but the big hump (which is centered, I guess mainly for cushioning?) extends too far back towards the heel pad of the foot, so it doesn't line up w/ the arch. Eh well. For now, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. It's decent enough to run in for the 9+ miles so far, and just as it's good to change up surfaces, and, by extension, shoes, maybe it doesn't hurt to change up insoles, too, so long as it's not totally unsuitable for your pronation type.

Okay... to keep you from falling asleep...

FUN:
After the run, I did my usual ice bath (the outdoor pool). Air temp: 37 degrees. My body was HOT. It was really cool to see steam radiating from my body. My head emitted clouds of steam, while my hands had a smaller layer of steam dancing over it. It was pretty neat to watch, well worth getting yourself really hot indoors so that when you go outside, you can play.