Running Chick

I did a zippy five miles tonight followed by 20 minutes of strength training. My first two miles were totally uphill, and were my slowest. The remaining three were downhill/flat and I was able to crank out times in the 10-minute range for those. In all, I was able to average 10:40 miles overall. Not too shabby.

My strength training routine varies from session to session. Tonight I worked on my abs (100 sit-ups on the stability ball), arms (50 push-ups, then bicep, tricep & shoulder work with the 10 lb. weights), back (reverse sit-ups) and legs. Since that was my first strength session since probably April, I'll probably be sore tomorrow. No pain, no gain.

Foot report:

socks - yellow Smartwool micros
tape - big toes, one piece underneath

No blisters, no tender spots.

That's the third day of running with no foot issues. I think I finally found the recipe.

Next up, Six on Saturday. I'm starting to get bored running the same old routes. I think I'll head toward Atlantic Mine and Old Mill Hill. I figure if I go early enough, M-26 will be traffic-free. I was thinking around 6:00 AM ?

Not.

Today I did my first brick workout. Bricks involve running and biking consecutively.

The first part of the brick was the run. 3.25 miles (up the Shopko hill) and back to my place. That damn hill. I still can't make it up all the way, but I was able to make it up a minute faster than I did back in March. My recovery was also faster by two minutes.

The second part of the brick was the bike. 7.65 miles at an average speed of 10.2 mph.

Surprisingly, my legs did okay after all the flogging they took. However, tomorrow and Wednesday will tell the true tale.

The third part of my brick involved picking up a few things from Shopko then the grocery store.

Foot report:

socks - yellow Smartwool micros
tape - big toes, one piece underneath

No blisters, no tender spots.

I did a nice, easy six miles this morning. I got up at 6:00 AM (horrors!) hoping to be out the door in 30 minutes, but it was still raining and windy so I waited until 7:00 to head out. I love running in the early morning hours when the rest of the world is still sleeping. It makes me feel very empowered.

So, on the foot front: my feet are pretty tender at the moment. I've been taping my big toes and putting tape on all my tender spots (note to self: buy stock in the medical tape company). I've decided that I should make note of my taping and sock wearing after each run to see if I can pin down what's going on.

So...

socks - blue Smartwool micros
tape - big toes, one piece underneath

Result: no blisters, tender spots but not as bad as Wednesday

I also discovered that a pre-run breakfast of a Pemmican bar bar + tea equated to a gastrointestinal "situation" which caused me to race to the restroom of the Citgo station around mile 3.5. The ensuing guilt for using the bathroom but not making a purchase is enough to remind me to never do that again!