The Terrell family has spent most of the last week up in McBain at Uncle Gord's Lodge. Thankfully, I did have time to continue with my "training" or whatever you want to call it. All 3 of the runs below were done at the local high school track (McBain Rural Agricultural School, home of the Ramblers - "FEEL THE WHEEL!).
Day 13 - ran one mile at the track. I just barely squeezed this one in. It didn't happen until 9:00 at night. By the 4th lap, I could tell my right calf was getting fatigued. By the last lap, I decided to pick up the pace a little and that is when I started to notice a little right medial knee pain (Schnikes Scooby!). I realized I had lengthened out my stride some and when I shortened it up, the knee pain stopped. Basically, my foot strike was starting to happen in front of me instead of underneath me. Oh, and as a side note, the rubberized surface of a track can tear your foot up, or at least it can tear up mine. Just the left foot though. Curious.
Day 15 - Hot. That is the best description I can muster. This run actually started as a bike ride on a mid 90's day. After about 19 miles of mostly riding into the wind, I ran for 8 minutes on the infield of the track. I just couldn't go in further (I had planned on doing 11 minutes). It was too hot and I was too tired. But I did get it done, and that is what matters.
Day 17 - This was a good run. I really felt things start to click. I kept my cadence relatively high and I ran the mile in 9:38. I didn't even check my watch until I was finished; I just ran at what felt like a good pace.
There were a few encouraging things from these runs. First, at an aerobic level, I certainly could have done more. There was not a great deal of fatigue on Day 13 or Day 17. The only reason I stopped was because of the need to pace myself from a musculoskeletal perspective. Second, running on the track gave me a chance to play with my stride and try to get into a rythmn, which I think I accomplished. Third, it just felt good to run. One mile is only one mile but it seems like a mini-milestone to me. Like I have crossed a threshold. People often say, "I don't think I could even run a mile". Granted, these people probably could but they are the type that would never try.
What's next? I will probably stick to a mile for the rest of the week to allow for adaptation. My hope is that I will be able to make it to the mile mark without the right calf fatigue.
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