Blowing in the Wind

Thanks for all your comments, folks. The majority seems to think that I’m not completely bonkers but about as sane as the rest of you. Hmm. Ok.

I keep having issues with my legs. My left hamstring seems to have finally recovered, but now my right achilles is acting up. I spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday worrying about it, because it was really sore, I could hardly walk. I didn’t know if I should have some rest, because tendonitis is just about the last thing I want to get. Luckily, when I got up this morning I immediately noticed a big improvement. Running today made it slightly worse again, but the pain is much less then yesterday, and I’m coming round to the idea that it was only a passing problem.

I’m not having much luck with the weather at the moment. Tuesday’s 20-miler was run in rather wet and windy conditions, yesterday’s rest day was a beautifully sunny day, and for today’s 12 miler the gale force winds predicted for Tuesday finally arrived. I ran most of it at the foot of a hill called the Devil’s elbow, as well as in the wood towards Ard na Sidhe, where it was somewhat sheltered, but it was still bad enough. To make things worse, the blister that I thought I had avoided on Tuesday came back with a vengeance. I already felt it after one mile, and at the end of the run it was huge. I can’t really complain too much about my feet. This is only my second blister in a year, and I have covered a lot of miles with soggy feet.

All in all, today’s run went fine, considering the conditions and the fact that I’m still a bit fatigued from Tuesday. The heart rate was a bit higher than normal, which I presume is because I’m still recovering. The calves and hamstrings felt fine.

I’ve also got another Caragh Lake photo for you. This is me with the twins in the garden of the plush Ard na Sidhe hotel. We never stayed there (couldn’t afford to), but they don’t mind us strolling around in their vast and stunningly beautiful garden along the lake. Unfortunately, it didn’t look quite as inviting today at 6am in the morning.

12 Jan: 12 miles, 1:41, 8:25 pace