I did the 18 miler that I had originally scheduled for Tuesday, and it went pretty well. My hamstring felt a lot better, though I still had the odd twinge, and the feeling that “something” wasn’t 100% right was always there, but it didn’t really trouble me. I take that as confirmation that the pains I felt on Tuesday were indeed caused by sitting in the car for 5 hours on Monday.
Getting up was easy, because Shea woke me at 4:38 because he was scared in his bed. That’s the same issue at the same time of night every single morning since we have come back from Dublin.
I originally intended to run 11 miles along Caragh Lake and then a 7 mile loop towards Killorglin, but it was very windy, and to make things worse, the wind came in from the East, which means that I, on the exposed western shore of the lake, felt the full force. After struggling against the elements for 4 miles I gave up and turned back. After I passed my driveway, I did two 5-mile loops from our house to Ard na Sidhe and back, which is running through a little wood and therefore much more sheltered from the wind. It was indeed much more pleasant to run there than along the lake, but the fact that by now it had stopped raining certainly helped. It was very tranquil, apart from an animal making some sudden noises as I ran past on a few occasions, but I presume they got more of a fright than I did. It can be quite spooky to run in a forest in the middle of the night with just a little bit of light from a headlamp. It looks a bit like those scenes in a horror movie when a doomed character is running away from the monster, just before they are caught. (not that I want to scare you ;-) )
The hamstring is a little sore now, and I will take it easy over the next days. There is a 10 mile race in Mallow on Sunday, about an hours drive from here. I’ve been uncertain if I should run it, so close after the 5k last week, but I think I might do it. I will not race but will treat it as a 10 mile tempo run.
5 Jan: 18 miles, 2:33, 8:30 pace
Running in the woods, in the dark sounds exciting! I've read about all the little green eyes...spooky..
ReplyDeleteHope your hamstring settles down.
I've been doing alot of stretching of my lower back and hips and am getting back on track after a few weeks.
Sure is good to be on the mend and know I can run again :)
I am in awe of your milage...way to go.
Good workout and fat pace, now you have a thought less. The long run is over.
ReplyDeletesounds like you made the best of what was a quickly deteriorating run. i have yet to do a night-time run in the woods. sounds quite spooky and reminiscent of some of my experiences in the military. i'll have to give it a try sometime soon!
ReplyDeleteGreat run! Fast! Yeah - that nighttime forest run scares me - the thought of it. I love animals, but those noises might have freaked me out! Again, great job on your long run!!
ReplyDeleteIs not that you want to scare, it is scary, your HR was high?
ReplyDeleteRunning while you feel something wrong, last shorter when you think abbout something else well not always.
I always have problems running after doing long trips in the car. Worse is long flights in cramped airplanes.
ReplyDeleteI've had good luck running races as training runs. The hardest part is to hold yourself back though. I've set at least 3 PR's doing "just to finish" races!
Nice job on the 18! I think it is an excellent idea to do the 10 mile race and use it as a tempo run rather than shoot for a 10 mile PR. My biggest complaint after all my marathons in which I am aiming for a fast time is that I did not do enough tempo runs.
ReplyDeleteWow, 8:30s for that distance - nice running!
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