Lucky

Despite all my moaning about the storms I have to run through, I have generally been fairly lucky with the weather. Maybe it’s just my perception, but it always seems worse in the evening than in the mornings. I usually drive home from work, notice the rain pouring down and the wind howling and think to myself “no way I would be running in this weather”.

My luck ran out temporarily on Monday. It didn’t seem too bad as I got ready to go out; I did hear the wind and the rain, all right, but it sounded ok. Once I was out on the roads, and especially once I left the woods behind me it became apparent that the wind was a lot stronger than anticipated. I struggled for a good 2.5 miles, then I turned a corner and had the full blast into my face, and after a minute or two I decided that I really didn’t want to fight the elements this way for another 3 miles to the turnaround point. I turned around there and then, and added my trusty loop to Ard-na-Sidhe (plus a bit extra) to make up the shortfall. In the wood the wind wasn’t nearly as bad, but once or twice I heard a tree creaking, and it was a bit scary, but I escaped unharmed. I even added a dozen strides to the run. I try to do them once a week, and Monday’s 90-minute run seems the most logical one. I can’t do them in a tempo run, and I certainly don’t want to do them during a long run. Despite all the capers with the weather and the strides my heart rate keeps getting lower. That’s definitely a good sign.

Tuesday made up for Monday’s appalling conditions, the wind was still there but much more restrained and the rain had ceased at some stage during the night. The road was still full of puddles and I had to be careful and try to run around them rather than straight through them, but it was pleasant and the moon was out bright enough to cast a shadow. My problem this time was the heart rate; I once again struggled to get it up to 160. I worked and worked and worked, checked the HRM and got dismayed by the display. The legs felt very heavy, which is probably a residue from Monday night’s hour of football, but I finally managed to get them going, and the second, wind-assisted, half of the run seemed much more manageable than the first one. This was definitely a 1/2 effort rather than a 3/4 one like Sunday’s run, but in the end I was pleased to find that I can run 7:25 pace even with heavy legs. A year ago this would have been more or less my pace for a hard tempo run, and for no more than 4 or 5 miles at that (and with a HR 10 beats higher). Now I can keep it for twice that distance on tired legs.

Less than an hour after my run the heavens opened for the worst rain yet. Believe it or not, I really was lucky this time.

My right achilles is acting up once more. As ever I don’t feel any pain while running, but it has been sore ever since, and I’m starting to get worried. Several months ago I had similar problems with my left achilles, and at one stage it developed into tendonitis and I had to cut back for a few weeks. I don’t want that to happen again. I’ve already changed into a new pair of shoes, which is my usual remedy for that kind of problem. If it gets worse, I might indeed have to cut down for a while.

Niamh forced me to throw out all my old runners. I do admit that they took up a lot of room in the shoe cabinet, but it was still heartbreaking. She just doesn’t understand the emotional bond between runner and shoe. To chuck them into the dump just like a …, well, old pair of shoes felt like a betrayal on my part. Ok, I’m exaggerating. Still. I’ll miss them.

8 Jan: 10.5 miles, 1:31, 8:40 pace, avg. HR 143
9 Jan: 8 miles, 59:23, 7:25 pace, avg. HR 155