From Bad to Worse

two little runners ~Kristen

Last week, I complained about my bad mood and my bad feet. This week, things got worse . . .

Sunday was my long run. I did the shoe switcheroo. But realized that I don’t care for the New Balance 890s anymore. I could not run with quiet feet in these shoes. Normally, I am nearly silent when I run. I often startle people when I pass from behind. But in the 890s, I was clomping. Comparing the shoes, I noticed that the 890s have a flat toe. The Mirages have an elf toe. My sense is that the elf toe makes the heal-to-toe transition smoother.  

The scheduled run was 16 miles @ 8:00. On paper, this should be a medium effort run for me. But it turned out to be the hardest run of my training cycle so far. It was cold. It was windy. It was raining. But mostly, I was wiped out. At mile 11 I questioned whether I could complete it. But I pushed through and finished, if for nothing else to make it back to my car. This was a terrible idea.

Monday I woke up in just a vile mood – tired from the hellish Sunday long run and anxious because I had a ton of work to get done that day. So I went to the gym early to bang out a leg work out before heading into the office. This was a terrible idea.

Let’s just say there were tongue lashings given to people who did not deserve them. Very, very bad behavior.

Wow, so I had been tinkering with the idea that I might be heading into the land of the overtrained . . . and the gym incident made me realize that I really needed a break from training. I very rarely get mad, let alone yell at people!

I self-imposed rest on Tuesday, and Wednesday. I needed to yank myself back from potentially falling into O territory. I also needed punishment for the very, very bad behavior. And I thought this would give my feet some time to recover. So I stuck to rest days on Tuesday and Wednesday. I spent some time doing low intensity foam rolling, yoga, and stretching. And feeling very, very bad about my very, very bad behavior.

Thursday it was time to run. I picked back up with an interval workout. About half way through the intervals, something was off in my left foot. It felt like I had made too many left turns while I was running about the inlets along the Embarcadero. So I decided to run straight-aways for the rest of the run – 5 more miles. This was a terrible idea.

I was limping the next morning. Pain wrapped around the back of my foot under the ankle and over the top between them during the toe off motion of walking. An anklet of pain. I could barely put any pressure on my left foot. So yet another rest day to complete the week . . . Hey, marathon training is not all smiles and butterflies!

6 weeks out (34.5 miles)

Sat. 4/13 - easy run in San Dieguito Lagoon. 8.5 miles @ 8:45. 

Sun. 4/14 - long run to Cabrillo National Monument. 16 miles @ 8:00.

Even on a cold, windy, and rainy day, the views on this route are breathtaking. 

Mon. 4/15 - leg workout. 

Tues 4/16, Wed. 4/17 - rest. 

Thu. 4/18 - 10 miles with 4 x 1.5 miles @ 6:50.

Fri. 4/19 - rest.

two little runners ~Kristen