overtaking haynes

During yesterday's run i wanted to quit running i was so frustrated. Today I took an advil which i never do and switched to my cure all 1lb each montrail hardrock running shoes. Have no idea when the last time i wore these were as the tread is starting to come off but they have soft shock absorbing inserts i had put in. I remember wearing these during a track workout with Haynes when i had a toe blister so bad i could barely walk. I tried on 4 different pairs of running shoes but they all were really painful. i looked online and found what i had and no sight mentioned time off...it doesn't really help, it just remains tight. So i went with the hard soled montrails and i'm not running on any trails for the time being cause any root or piece of rock just kills me. I warmed up for 2.3 miles on the dirt road by my house at just under 8:30 pace and then decided to do a 5 mile loop at tempo pace. I started in 6:35, 6:45,7:00,7:00, 6:50. It was pretty humid and the loop is very hilly with elevations from 550ft to 800ft. There was actually little pain by the end of the tempo run and then i did a 2.5 mile cool down (another loop) and it started to come back. Overall though feeling much better. Will stick to the roads this week. Even the dirt roads aren't comfortable anymore cause they have tiny pieces of gravel in them. 

ran on the road today...some of it was dirt. Took 2 advil today, cause in the morning my foot hurt a little. loosened up during the day and then took another one right b4 running. Felt only mildly uncomfortable until i took the dirt road to the park...i stepped on a pebble and had excruciating pain for a few moments. ran it off and was fine. feels better than a couple days ago so i'll keep running. hopefully i'll be up for a decent track workout tomorrow. it's funny how these days the track is the least painful while a slow jog in the park is devastating.  

Went to the track today after work. i saw an older asian woman walking with her hands behind her back clasped together...i wouldn't have thought anything of it except there is an older asian man who i almost hit every morning on my drive to work that also walks like that. i wonder if it is genetic or cultural. it looks pretty cool though. 

 the weather was perfect for a track workout but i was a little bit unsure of my new running shoes. last workout was miserable but i put some body glide where i had trouble. unfortunately the skin on the side of my left foot came off today and is bunch up a couple mm thick. my skin isn't made for the track i guess.

i did 3x2 miles today and i was mistaken that i had thought Haynes said to run b/w 6:10 to 6:15 instead of 6:05 to 6:10. First mile 6:08, second 6:20. Didn't feel like i was trying really but was afraid of the workout. Took 2 laps around the track then did 6:10, 6:12. I could hear the blister sloshing around but it broke on the 3rd repeat. I'm amazed that it takes so little time to form a blister. 6:08 first mile, 6:11 second. Didn't lock up and felt like i could have done another 2 repeats at this pace but could only manage to do 2 cool down laps due to the pain.

 The ball of my foot was only felt during warmup and the track is really the best place to run for me due to the even surface. Only 3 more weeks really of training. I'm kind of enjoying the workouts again and the week off from racing makes me feel much faster.

 I also started taking endurox R4 after every run to see if it will help me recover better. it can't hurt.

 will take another crack at the 5x1000 in a couple days if the track doesn't have some sporting event on it. I think i need v02 workouts and speed more than anything else right now.



 

objective: deal with painful blisters and run through any additional foot pain before it gets dark.

 Used a liberal amount of vaseline to cover the blister which is 1/3 the size of my foot. not really a blister anymore but raw skin. didn't need the advil today for my ball of foot pain...felt yesterday's workout a little bit i guess since i didn't really feel like i had a good pop in my stride.

 decided to not add on any additional miles to avoid bats and not overdo it cause i plan on doing 5x1000 tomorrow on the road with the gps. No more track until the blister heals. i think the road is flat enough that it will be close to the track in terms of speed. not enjoying the road pounding. i hope that by this weekend i'll be ok to venture out on the trails again, at least ones that aren't too rocky.

objective met!

was going to do 5x1000 until last night when i saw a workout in advanced marathon training was 6x1000. not like i really read any of it...

i couldn't go to the track because my foot looks like it is bleeding so i had to go do the workout on the road. i went to the flattest place i know which is the road with the most traffic in my town. i almost ended up getting hit by drivers pulling out of side roads not expecting runners but i'm still alive. The course had 2 slight hills, not more than 10 feet or so each but enough to feel. I took 90 sec of rest in between. the first couple i jogged but had to walk at the end. splits were...

3:38, 3:32, 3:36, 3:36, 3:38, 3:41 

 i enjoy doing these on the road much more than the track. it was too dark to really do more mileage and my left foot still has a bad blister and just feels awkward cause i'm compensating a bit. i think by sat it won't be a factor.
 

5.5am, woke up at 5:30 only to find out it doesn't get light enough to see and have no chance of bats till 6:15. ball of foot pain is gone but red skin was dreadfully painful. loosened up after about a mile and was not too bad. pain is relative. 

 5.5pm same out and back loop. i like the 1.1 mile dirt road, there are only 3 houses on it and one of them is a farm.

 it's getting dark too early! am thinking about getting to work at 7:30 to get off at 4:30 to have more light.

 

was planning on running to some trails to run but after running down a dirt road thought better of it. my blister only was unpleasant for 0.5 miles and then was fine. It was a beautiful day and I actually enjoyed running on the scenic roads around town. I unexpectedly found a 1.5 mile dirt road that no cars can go on. Don't know why it's there but it was real pretty, especially the part that went by the swamp. Managed to do an 18.8 mile loop than did an out and back for an even 20. The hardest part was the 300ft climb in 0.5 miles at mile 18. Tightened up a little bit around mile 14.5 but nothing too bad. Could have cruised the flats pretty well but was in no condition to deal with hills. Averaged 8:30 which is fine considering the course. Not sure if i have more or less confidence about breaking 3hrs right now. i'd say this was a neutral run. 2hrs 50 min, wore some old trail shoes which were really quite comfortable on the road. maybe the advil i snuck in helped.