Test run to see how the knee felt. No Ibuprofen today, so I could feel if the knee started acting up. It turned out that the knee was ok, although I felt couple of twinges in the first mile, but then it went away. I ran some distance on grass parallel to the paved path to minimize impact. But my quads and hamstrings are STILL sore from sprinting on Monday. I'm amazed how 33 sec. of max. speed can cause such soreness! Although this time it's better than a month ago when I raced 200m for the first time - that time I was crippled for a week. Interestingly, Ibuprofen has no effect on muscle soreness, at least for me - I was still feeling it. Maybe I was feeling it less than I would have without Ibuprofen, who knows.
So, it wasn't a comfortable run, but I was glad to get out after 2 days of not running. The weather continues to be the worst in years. The floods are a huge issue now in England with thousands of people displaced and homes destroyed. It reminds me of hurricane Katrina aftermath, although probably not on the same scale. It's been raining again all this week, and today there was a massive storm with violent winds, horizontal rain and it was as dark as nighttime. A lot of my coworkers jumped from their chairs and stood glued to the window - they say they haven't seen anything like this in years and years. But by 5PM it cleared up somewhat and that's when I rushed home and went for a run. I'm so ready for our vacation next week (going to Nice). At least to see some sun this summer and not have to wear a jacket in the middle of July!
In other news, I got London marathon official magazine with the entry form in the mail. I'm debating whether I should apply as "good for age" with my Rotterdam time, and beg them to let me in despite being 45 sec. over the limit. Or I can apply to Boston, for which I qualified legitimately. My main feeling though, especially after my fiasco in Rotterdam, is that I'm really not that interested in running another marathon unless I can run 3:15-3:20. And that can be predicted once I'm able to run the half in 1:30. I can race many halfs and recover in a few days, and not disrupt my flow of training. Marathon tends to destroy my rhythm for many weeks. If I can run half in 1:30 then I at least will have a shot at a decent marathon performance. I think I need to focus on increasing my fitness and bringing my times down in shorter distances, without getting hung up on the marathon.
Total time: 54:40 (8:57 pace). | 