I had to take my 16 year old daughter to the high school for "roading" this morning at 6:00am. I ran around the block a couple of times (one mile) while waiting for the car to warm up. I ran another mile at the high school track while I waited for her driving instructor to show up. I then returned to the neighborhood and ran another 5.6 miles on the my serpentine route. I averaged 7:58/mi for the "warmup up the car" mile and the same for the "wait for the instructor" mile so I decided to try to average under 8:00/mi for the rest of the run as well. I had the overall average displayed on my Garmin. My glove covered the last digit so for most of the run all I could see was 7:5x (couldn't see the x digit). I didn't know if was 7:50 or 7:59 or somewhere in between. With about a half mile to go, after running on some icy side streets, I looked down and saw 8:0x. I pushed the pace a little that last half mile and ended up averaging 7:59/mi. I know I could have run a faster pace. This wasn't a speedy tempo run. My goal was to average sub 8:00 running at a relatively easy effort. My effort was probably better classified as easy marathon pace rather than simply easy, as I was pushing a little to keep my legs moving through the cold. Regardless, it felt good to run a little faster today than I have been recently.
I finally got a Strassburg sock yesterday to see if it will help with the PF and Achilles tendonitis in my left foot. I used it last night while sleeping. I slept fine and, it may be wishful thinking or my imagination, but my foot seemed to feel a little better already this morning. Actually, the new arch supports I got a couple of weeks ago seem to have help the PF. It has been much better, but the Achilles tendonitis hasn't seemed to be improving over the past many weeks of rest and reduced training. The sock claims to help with PF, Achilles tendonitis, and tight calves. These are all related issues I've dealt with off and on for years. I'm optimistic it will help. Time will tell.
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