Thursday, January 8, 2009

Thursday - Middle 3?

No Middle 3 for me, or anyone else today for that matter. Nice day, in the 60's with sun, a little windy but not bad especially for January.

My calf and knee both felt good when I woke up this morning and up to when I left for the Y for my lunchtime run. I jumped on the bike for about 5 minutes before stretching for my run, hoping to loosen things up and warm up a bit. Then stretched my calfs before the run. Good group today, Tom, Pete C, Craig M, Matt and Scott (well Scott passed us from behind after a late start and did a lap around the park). Anyway what just a couple of months ago would have been a sure fire middle 3 showdown, was an easy January run on a nice day.

The first mile was fine and I was feeling great, then I felt some tightness in my calf about 1 1/2 miles which got gradually worse. I stretched at the lights and at the turn around at the park 3 1/2 miles. By that time the pain had begun and was steadily increasing. Especially on the uphills, I found myself counting how many uphills I had on the way back to the Y. I was determined to run the 7, but was concerned something would pop and I'd be set back from recovering.

On the way back, Matt and Tom pushed the pace and we started doing 7:15 minute miles. I hung back a bit with Pete C, not wanting to take any additional risks, but got sucked into a fast finish down the hill. Last mile was 7:20. The guys showed no mercy which is good. I will pay them back some day soon. :) I told Pete C it was frustrating because I have the conditioning (lungs / aerobic) but because of injuries I can't get my legs to push myself. I was breathing easy through the run (except for the pain).

Lots of talk about Moab, the guys who are not going to Moab are going to be sick of hearing of it by the time it gets here (I know I usually am). Scott is going for a 1:18 (a 5:55 pace). My goal is a 1:30 (a 6:52 pace). Seems impossible now with the injuries.

After the run, I stretched out both calfs at the Y for a long time and then stretched some more in the shower. Walking back to work, I had a bit of a limp and some pain. Took some Advil and put on my calf wrap. Hopefully I didn't do more damage than good. I'll massage it tonight with the machine and see how it feels tommorrow.

On the bright side, my knee felt much better with only some minor tightness and irratation so perhaps it is on the mend.

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