Aug 31

FUN:
Yesterday, after training, I went back downtown to try a fancy vegan restaurant. I circled the east side many times trying to find street parking. Finally, I found a good place with many spots. I walked about a mile to the restaurant, but when I got there, I saw that it was closed on Mondays! There was another that had looked good online, so I called my sister for the address. I walked there. It looked closed (more like totally abandoned and run-down), so I called her again, and she looked up the fact that it was closed Mondays as well! So I figured I'd just walk around to try to find some reasonable place to eat. There should be many options. But there were blocks and blocks of houses. Noooooo! Suddenly, though, I stumbled upon City Tavern, where George Washington and other members of the Continental Congress would go and eat. I had their West Indies Pepperpot Soup with spicy beef (barely), taro root (none), and collard greens... good. Then, an assortment of breads, including Thomas Jefferson's favorite - Sweet Potato Biscuits. Then, I rounded it out with Chesapeake-Style Crab Cakes. Yummy! Afterwards, I wandered back to the car.

Today, I found the parking spot quickly and went to Horizon, the vegan restaurant. I had homemade foccacia with pesto and olive oil. Then, Golden Beets, a little casserole cut-out with avacado, capers, tofu, and dill sauce. For dessert, the Blueberry Cheesecake, very fancy, and it tasted like any cheesecake would taste. Hmm.... maybe 'll go tomorrow?
When I went in at 6 (that's when they open) to get a table, they said that their normal tables were booked through 8pm! Must be good! I walked it off afterwards with a trip to City Hall and the LO/VE statue.

FIT:
So much walking these past 4 days. Yesterday, my legs were still recovering from the LR, but they were largely back in business today. Wearing the XC singlet, 1224's w/ arches, regular socks, tv, treadmill with fan. 5.2 in 42:46, 8:13 ave. Started slow… legs maybe still kind of recovering from the LR and lots of walking. For mile 4, I tried to do really small steps, to keep from overstriding and to work different muscles, which is a strategy I may need to use in the marathon. For mile 5, I just stretched it out and went fast, mostly just to cover some distance quickly, since I had work to do afterwards (although I ended up putting it off until 5am). Progression run. Splits> 8:54, 8:30, 8:16, (26:27 5k), 8:01, 7:40: (1:23 for 0.2). It's cooler in this fitness room than in the one at home, so naturally, I should go faster here... not that this was fast. Sunday's was fast.

My legs... banged up, but managing. The extra mileage is stressing them, I think. There's some surface-level sensation (because it's not really pain) on my upper medial tibia, which I think is a prime spot for stress fractures, but it's usually when I'm not running that I feel (or maybe just notice) the sensation, so I'm not concerned yet. To help with the banging, I tried shifting to a more streamlined stride, such that my legs are more under my body and closer together. It greatly affects how you pronate, since you're naturally going to suppinate more. It felt better to do it this way, at least at times. Maybe only because it gave troube spots a break, like the muscle switching strategy. Something else to experiment with in future runs.