The devil is in the distance
So, I decided to simulate race day conditions on my day off. This consisted of a pasta rich meal for dinner the night before, getting up at 6am the morning of, a carb rich breakfast (porridge) and a few hours of warmups. I also had to visit the doctor before my run which possibly distracted the mind.
The weather was absolutely rotten by the time I was ready to run. We’re talking proper chunky style run so I was completely soaking from just a few minutes of running. I have no idea how much my clothes weigh wet versus dry, though I’d dare say I was carrying at least a few extra pounds. Benefit of a cold wet day is that your heart isn’t having to work quite so hard to get blood around your body or keep you cool.
My tight shin problem was still evident during the first 2-3k, although this subsided fairly quickly and I can only put it down to tying my shoes just enough to prevent heel slippage as opposed to for total foot security. A new problem did however rear its ugly head: achilles tendonitis, or sore achilles tendon. For whatever reason, the one in my right leg decided to flare up halfway through my run. I have never, ever had a problem with this in all of my time running recreationally, and it did start to hamper my performance towards the closing stages. I have a few ideas as to why this became a problem. It was incredibly wet and I ended up having to dodge a lot of puddles, which may have overexerted muscles I normally do not use in running, with the achilles tendon overcompensating. I did actually step in a puddle at one stage so my foot was soaked (damn dog walkers standing in the middle of the path) and this did initially irritate my foot. I was also wearing a plaster on my right big toe to balance my feet up, again possibly overcompensating. Lastly, the cold weather may have caused my muscles to cool down too quickly, causing the strain.
My finish time was 2 hours and 2 minutes, closer to 2 hours and 3 minutes. It’s frustrating because it means I could have been faster if the conditions had been more favourable, but the silverlining is that I wasn’t any slower in less than ideal conditions.
Rehab consisted of deep tissue massages for the affected leg, twice a day along with an ice bath to keep potential swelling at bay. Walking was fine immediately afterwards but anything requiring calf movement was tough.
All signs are pointing to “yes, I am becoming faster” as each week progresses.
