Sunday 1 March 2020

Sensible head!

It was no surprise today when the BBC news confirmed that this was the wettest February since records started.  Even running around the streets involved getting your feet wet never mind when you were off road on the trials where you just had to plough straight through the water.  As long as you had the right socks on then your feet dried out and you didn't get blisters.  However if you had socks that retained the water - ouch!  But it's really not a big deal in comparison to the people whose houses have been flooded - I can't begin to imagine how bad that would be, that's real life.
On Monday I got my calf taped again and I'm back again tomorrow.  With the longer trail runs it's becoming more of an issue but I've been managing it for years so here's hoping.  On Friday I had a triple training session so I left the house at 4.45am and drove to Tollcross where I started a 1hr 20 min run, followed by a gym session then a 2k swim - fair to say I was tired for the rest of the day but that's all part of the plan.
Yesterday I had a 3hr 15 min run to do so I set off at 7am so I'd meet my pals at Chatelherault at 9am for a short amount of company.  The wind was strong but in the main it stayed dry.  I deliberately ran slow, very slow as this was my longest run in more that 6 months and it was more about time on my feet and I had a faster 1 hr 50min run today so I stuck to my plan.  Again my pals waited for me at the usual point in the run and Michael even dropped back towards the end of his run to give me a short amount of company and a little boost.  Going long is tough physically but I think the mental side is harder.  You have to get used to the conversations in your head over and over again but their comes a stage where the distance doesn't matter.  You're almost on autopilot and that's a nice place to be.  My foot was sore after the run and walking in bare feet had me limping.  I'm ok when wearing shoes with orthotics but even then I was hobbling around.
I awoke this morning to 55mph winds battering the house, rain, sleet and a sore foot.  I weighed up the advantages and disadvantages of heading out for the run and decided that with my foot hurting so much, it wasn't worth going out in these conditions.  So I elected for a tough indoor bike session which had my quads screaming at me and my heart rate in zone 5 - I'm sure it had nothing to do with yesterday's wine!  I know it would have been more beneficial to have stuck with the plan but sometimes you have to put your "sensible head" on and consider the bigger picture.  Running in winds that strong can be dangerous and I thought my foot would thank me for the rest.  Hopefully I'll get some pain relief when treated on Monday.  Here's looking forward to better weather.