With my foot bothering me, I haven't run all week. Yesterday, I wanted to check out the D&L Half Marathon course, so I went out and rode my bike. I started the Cementon Trailhead and ended up riding over 9 miles to the Slatington Trailhead. I then rode back and it took me 1 hour and 40 minutes. After Hurricane Sandy went through, the trail was in surprisingly good shape. There were a lot of twigs, but not much else.
I saw the D&L folks asked for some help to clear the course. I met up with them in Slatington this morning. I thought I'd end up raking and picking up twigs. Instead, I spent over 4 hours filling in some of the washed away sections with stone. It was tough because I don't work my upper body at all and I had to do a lot of shoveling. I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow.
I was also working to get some pacers for the race. One of the pacers from the Runner's World Half was looking for pacers for the D&L. I managed to get Angie and Tom to do it. I wish I could've got some more people though.
Evening finally rolled around and it was time for the weekly LVRR Group Run. A guy named Karl asked earlier in the day if the run was still on. I said yes, but wasn't sure if he would show. I saw a car, the same make and model as mine, driving around, but they didn't park. A couple minutes later they came back and this time I got out of my car. It was Karl and his girlfriend Chelsea.
I almost left before they showed up. It was close to 6:10 and no one else showed. I was prepared to just call it a night and not run. I was glad to have some company though.
I wanted to test out the sore foot anyway. We started off heading east. That was good because it was nice and flat and there was plenty of light. That wouldn't last.
Chelsea ran beside me and Karl was behind me. We chatted about plenty, including the Runner's World race. Time flew by.
It wouldn't take too long before we were slowed down. There were some trees along the trail. The storm knocked them out everywhere. We had to stop and climb over a lot of them.
Shortly after the bridge by the Clubhouse, we came across two runners going the other direction with headlamps on. I decided at that point to put my headlamp on. Not just to see, but I also wanted to make sure we were visible to others.
I haven't used the headlamp yet this year, but today it was an absolute must. We would've run into downed tree after tree or tripped over branch after branch. There were a lot of trees down. Luckily, we managed to navigate around them. We obviously weren't the first ones to run the loop.
The trees were such a problem that we ended up off the trail right before the Fish Hatchery climb. I think a tree was blocking the trail. Even with the headlamp, I couldn't see too well. We ran through the grass and got back on the trail.
As usual, I climbed up the hill pretty well. Karl and Chelsea were back behind me. We had to go around a few more trees. I made sure to shine my headlamp back to them so that they could see.
After the Fish Hatchery, things cleared up. There were trees for the next half mile or so. It was nice and clear and flat. We cruised along.
The final three hills weren't too bad. There were still some trees, but we got by them quicker than earlier. Our pace was decent when we could run. We just had to slow down or stop a lot. The final mile was a solid 8:28. We finished up at 5 miles.
My foot still isn't right. It was bothering me, so I didn't run with good form. It was sore after the run. I guess staying off it a few days didn't help. I'm not sure how it will impact my race. It is just uncomfortable, not painful. I can definitely run 13.1 miles and I can run them fast. I'm just not sure I can run as fast as I would like. I'm certainly not going into the race at 100%. I will give it my all anyway.
I might try using an insole. I got one that seemed to help with walking. I put it in to run tonight, but it was uncomfortable. I took it out then. I might have to test it out on a short run tomorrow. That could make a huge difference. If I felt like I could put a lot of pressure on my foot without feeling anything, I'd do fine. I'm surprised that my quads are still sore too. I thought rest would help them. Maybe my running form threw it off
Whether I run tomorrow or not, I can't wait for the race. The course is pretty good and the weather appears to be outstanding. I'm definitely shooting for a PR. Other than my foot problem, everything is good. Sunday can't get here fast enough.
5 miles - 44:40 (8:56 pace)
No comments:
Post a Comment