Feb 6

FIT:
Was delightfully sore yesterday, mostly in the calves and some in the quads. Dunno whether it was from the 22:00 3.1 two days prior, or if it was from the 5k combined with 5.1 mi the next day. But it means progress. I stretched a lot to help speed up recovery, and even threw in PT strengthening, wanting to stay healthy and on track for April.

I felt good the next morning (today), so after fueling and taking care of emails, I suited up for a run. Headed for the EHS trail. Either the uneven surface on trails puts less stress on any particular muscle group, or there are so many more distractions than you'd have on a treadmill, that running seems to hurt less on trails. In any case, it's great.

Out at 1pm, it was around "feels like 36", and I was in soccer sox, a visor (cloudy, looked like rain), a Starteer long sleeve tech tee, my Philly tee (took that off after loop 1), and gloves (also took that off after loop 1). Wore 4's w/ stab. Broke those out b/c I tried a 3 on one foot and a 4 on the other, and the 4 interestingly felt a little more cushioned and stable, even though I thought it had more miles on it. Better design, maybe? Also had my Nathan Shadow Pak, to hold my car keys, 4 Margarita Shot Bloks, and later, my gloves. I was surprised it could fit the gloves! But it worked. It made taking other stuff out hard, so I left it with my shirt later in the run, but it did fit in there (with some squeezing). Listened to Dirt Dog's Rambling Diatribe - he's an ultra runner, one of two good podcasts I've found.

So went out, not that fast, since it was muddy. It had rained earlier in the morning. Saw the goats again - gotta bring my camera next time... maybe tomorrow, if I feel okay, after church. Splits> 9:10, 9:01, 18:14 for 2, 8:59, 9:00, 9:03. So that's 7 in 1:03:30, 9:04 ave. At 2.5, I ate 1 Shot Blok, because I started to feel a bit low on energy - kinda surprising for just 22 min in, but I guess it had been a while since my last meal. Usually running dulls hunger, though, so still surprising. The pick-me-up from that kicked in about a mile later. Makes sense b/c I usually hold it in my mouth for a while, espsecially when the cold air makes the Blok hard. You'd have to chew hard to break it up, so I let it warm up, and when it's more jelly-like, I start chewing. I don't like how it gets stuck all over your teeth, and you really need water to wash it down, because it's almost sickeningly sweet (it is, after all, sugars), and I don't bring any for these shorter runs. It gave me a boost, though, I think.

What else... at about mile 5, I started feeling tired. My quads were getting fatigued, and my lungs had a hard time getting enough air. This is a hilly trail course. And so I had to push paste exhaustion for the last 2. That's good training if I want to hope to build up to 13 eventually. The last mile, my 7th, things were hurting, though - my medial right knee, so I didn't want to push my luck with injury and kept it at that. Moreover, I rolled my ankle at the beginning of the 6th, and on the last 2 loops going through the woods with steep downhills, things got really slippery, and I had to almost walk the last time around to not fall.

But it was a good run. I ate a banana while driving back. I've started to be more intentional about hitting that 30min refueling window. I now believe that there's a lot of wisdom in it. And once back, I added turkey and goldfish, had a wonderful hot shower to warm up, and then avacado and an apple, and in a few minutes, cheese.

Good run.