Climbing

There was no soreness on Sunday after Saturday’s swift 9.75 km, but the legs had definitely lost their spring. I did not feel bad as I started out on my long run, but I had absolutely no zip in my legs and was content to slog along at a rather sedate pace. Admittedly, the fact that I was running straight into the gale force wind had something to do with it as well, it just was not the day for breaking records. I did speed up for the last 5 or 6 miles, because that’s what I always do, and also because the wind was finally at my back.

There still is not much zip in the old legs, but I think that’s still mostly down to Connemara rather than that faster pace on Saturday. I keep reminding myself that I ran 100 miles only 5 weeks ago. However, the HRM gave a couple of nice surprises on Monday and Tuesday. It has been a while since I have seen figures in the 130s, so progress is being made even if I'm not really able to tell from subjective feelings alone.

I had a sore throat on Tuesday first thing in the morning. I wasn’t sure if it was the same bug that had caused a few minor issues last week, but since the HR was unaffected that day I guess it’s a new one. It’s the time of the year for colds of course, half the office is coughing and it’s no surprise when I do pick up the odd sniffle.

Wednesday morning saw the return of a rare beast, namely a midweek long-ish run. It required an early rise and it was pitch dark outside when I left home, so I brought the reflective clothing as well as a headlamp along, for the first time this year. A couple of days later I would have had the moon for company but today it meant a dark run in the rain. I better get used to that, I suppose.

The legs were rather sluggish again, but more worryingly I felt my left Achilles again. This has never gone away completely over the summer, but it had gone down to “barely noticeable”, or 1/10. Today the last couple of miles felt rather uncomfortable. It was back to basically unnoticeable for the rest of the day, though. I'm pretty sure it’s the climbing that causes the Achilles to act up, and I have just run the very hilly loop around Caragh Lake three times in 10 days and twice in 4 days. That’s a bit of a problem because I firmly believe in strengthening the legs by running uphill. For now I have restarted my usual strengthening routine, namely eccentric calf raises, which has worked very well in the past, and hope for the best.

15 Sep

18+ miles, 2:24:00, 7:57 pace, HR 143

16 Sep

10 miles, 1:19:00, 7:54 pace, HR 136

17 Sep

10 miles, 1:16:39, 7:39 pace, HR 139

18 Sep

15+ miles, 1:58:55, 7:53 pace, HR 141

Last week’s mileage: 80+