Fingers Crossed

The last few months have been very frustrating, running wise. After that silly accident in January I sure did not expect to be sidelined for so long (in fact, at first I didn't expect to be sidelined at all!), and it has been a very slow process.

However, finally it seems to be behind me. Last week I was still not quite right as I noticed after having a reaction to running the 10 miles to work but I repeated the same workout this week and suffered no further setbacks.

I ran 6 days this week, and the one break came on Friday, not because I felt I needed a break but because I just could not manage to get away at work, and then decided to take that as a hint and didn't try to squeeze in an evening run either.

I actually had another fall, after encountering one particularly stupid dog in the park. As we approached each other I veered towards my left, he veered towards my right, so all seemed fine, only for that damn mut to suddenly take a turn right into me and he got to my leg just at the split second of toe-off and I took yet another tumble. The lady was very apologetic, not that I could really blame her, apart from the fact that she had picked a particularly stupid dog for pet, but thankfully no damage was done.

Anyway, I turned the screw another notch on the weekend, first with an 8+ miles run on Saturday which went really well and I finished with plenty left in the tank, and had me wondering if all the cycling I had done over the last few months had kept my fitness at a surprisingly good level. However, the legs were definitely not sprightly on Sunday, so some damaged was done after all. I did a "long" run on Sunday, doing laps in Shanganagh Park so I would be able to gauge every 2k how I was feeling, giving me the chance to bail out early at regular intervals. I just ran slowly, at a very easy effort, and the legs seemed to be able to handle it. After about 5 laps I figured that another lap plus the run back home would take me right to the 2-hour mark, so that was that. I was reasonably tired afterwards, so how the hell I am going to fare in Connemara I don't even want to think about.

Oh, and I decided not to run a long ultra this year, for the first time since 2011. I hope my body will thank me for it by not falling apart any further. I had my eyes on the Donadea running festival in June, but eventually decided to skip it and just do ... actually, I don't know yet what I'll do instead. I'll play it by ear.

18 Mar

7.26 miles, 1:01:03, 8:24 pace, HR 153

19 Mar

4.39 miles, 36:32, 8:19 pace, HR 158

20 Mar

10.2 miles, 1:28:50, 8:42 pace, HR 148

21 Mar

4.5 miles, 36:43, 8:09 pace, HR 151

23 Mar

8.35 miles, 1:10:17, 8:25 pace, HR 139

24 Mar

13.73 miles, 2:03:43, 9:00 pace, HR 143