Speed

I know that I follow this advice, without even thinking of it. If you look at my mile splits on the Daily Mile widget at the bottom right, you'll see my last miles tend to be faster than the middle miles. Weirdly, the people in my pace group seem to follow this advice, too. We all speed up the last mile or two, even though we're not running slower than pace up to that point and don't discuss trying to finish early.

Day 61C--12 Mile Run

Yesterday was the 12 mile run. We started at Foster and ran all the was down the lakefront to the middle of the S-Curve of Lake Shore Drive, to Chicago Avenue. I finished, and were really, really close to our goal pace of 11:30. Just like last week's run, the pacing was thrown off by multiple bathroom and drink breaks.

That didn't mean I finished without pain. My calves and thighs were sore, as were my feet. This was the first distance where my flat feet seemed to cause a problem. It was also the first time in my life where it caused pain on the outside of my foot. I've gotten used to arch pain, even though I haven't had much of that in training this year. Yesterday I had pain in both arches and in the outside of one foot.

Because my pain was farther reaching and more severe than prior weeks, I decided to follow my coach's advice and try an ice bath. I didn't use actual ice, just really, really cold water from the tap. I stood in the water to help my feet, but needed to get my legs into the water, too. The thought of sitting down in the water scared me to no end, so I had to find a way to sit down close enough to the water without getting my bits wet and frozen. Luckily, Jenni is a super-genius. She gave me a big stock pot to turn upside down and use as a chair. That allowed me to soak my legs for 10-15 minutes; much longer than if I had been freezing my privates. That bath and some advil is allowing me to walk today without limping.

Day 19--abs

I spoke too soon yesterday. I was posting about 24 hours after I had worked my abs, but the pain must have been waiting for 36 hours to pass. Last night, right before going to bed, and continuing today, I have been in some discomfort. I'm not really in pain, but I can feel the strain on my abs when I cough, laugh or move. I have enjoyed how my abs feel to the touch, though. My stomach feels taut, which is my final goal. I just hope that doing some yoga this evening will help with the ouchies.