Good intentions were so nearly borne out last week! Runs timetabled looked like this:
Mon: 4.8km easy
Tues: 30 min pace
Thurs: 30 min easy
Sat: 8km
Actual runs looked like: Monday, TICK! Tuesday, TICK! Thursday, uuuurgh, TICK! Saturday, WOOPWOOP, mah sister is in TOWN and we are going to celebrate the jubilee by drinking and eating patriotically-coloured M&Ms!! So the good intentions struggled, and compromised on Sunday. However, the persistent summer rain on Sunday put paid to all that nonsense, and the 8km was bumped to Monday (actually was 7.5) & followed up with a 5km run Weds. This was a bit disappointing - whilst I kept to a reasonable steady pace for both runs, and manage to prolong the time I ran before walking to about 23 minutes, I did this at the expense of average speed. It seems counter-intuitive that I would end up going slower if I keep running, but I suppose this is just a fluctuation that should be sorted out as my training continues and I manage increase both pace and my jog-to-walk ratio.
The main issue yesterday seemed to be the outside sides of my thighs, which hopefully is just overuse and not Iliotibial band syndrome (It's hard not to be a hypochondriac when looking at medical information online). The thing which caught my attention is the propensity of flat-footed runners to experience this - I am very flat-footed and over-pronate (my foot rolls inwards). When it's muddy, I somehow always end up with a great splash of mud on my ankles or trousers from kicking it up with my wonky feet. I did buy nice fancy trainers from Run & Become which seem to have helped a bit, but I was a little worried at this new pain - however, whilst I could feel a concentrated ache running up both thighs for most of the day afterwards, it seems to have faded almost entirely now.
Happily, today is a rest day (and my birthday :-D) so I will take a walk and do a little yoga, eat plenty of cake and have a little cava and I reckon that should sort things out. I'm off to London for the weekend, and my training plan demands a 9.5 km run and a 30 minute "pace" run - no idea when I'm going to fit them in with the rain and the travelling. I've a few 5-ish km runs recorded with MapMyRun around where my sister lives, but what would REALLY help me out would be a GPS running watch - for which I am planning to pony up the money. I am undecided so far but Garmin seem to get consistently good reviews. I've been looking at either the 305 and the 405CX, but that'll quite possibly change before I manage to click that "Buy" button.... will report on developments as they arise....
