May 8th, Sunday around noon
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!
Had a wonderful 11 hours sleep last night. Really needed that. I don’t have any races planned for the near future. So I’m going to back off and relax. I will try to take advantage of the new membership in the center State Hospital exercise facility.
I have been experiencing a lot of pain in the left foot since the race. I can’t explain what it’s all about. All last night and this morning it was very difficult to walk. It’s not anything to do with the Achilles tendon. I hope that it is not plantar fasciitis. That’s a condition that I had maybe 20 years ago while I was still teaching. Haven’t had that sensation in a long time. But plantar fasciitis is difficult to manage, a genuine pain in the butt. This doesn’t really feel like that. It’s on the right side of the arch just forward of the heel. It hurts when I push off on my toes. The general feeling is like a bruise, as if I stepped on a rock while I was running. I felt no pain at all whIle I was running, but after the race it felt like there was a cramp in my arch. I thought I would walk it off and things would be fine, but it has persisted this morning. I am tempted to use ice on it but have lost faith in ice. Since I stopped using ice on my Achilles they have seemed to improve dramatically. So I am putting heat on this morning and being very careful.
Training for Hills
I need thoughts on this subject from anyone who would like to contribute.
Yesterday’s unexpectedly weak experience on the hill has gotten me to thinking. I have always believed that if a distance runner is aerobically fit, Hills would not be an issue during a race. I think the question needs to be asked;
Do you have to train on Hills to run Hills successfully in a competition? and
How does this apply to the plus70runner in particular?
(I don’t know why this machine is capitalizing the word ‘Hill’ every time I say it.) LOL
I’m thinking that having reached the 25-minute range for a 5K that I need to reevaluate my goals and my training. I was very happy with yesterday’s performance clearly. But the experience on the hill made me think that maybe I am reaching the upside limit for the kind of training that I’m doing. I’ve never attempted Hill training because I didn’t feel that I was a serious Runner who needed to do that kind of work. Now I believe that if I want to go to another level, in the lower twenties, I would have to elevate my training. I will have to do harder workouts, probably longer workouts. I thought this would just come naturally overtime, and I could just enjoy the whole experience. Maybe that is the attitude I have to take and not get too crazy. However, I do remember running a 5k two years ago being so impressed by a 70year old guy that ran 25:30 to win the + 70 division. I am now that guy! How much additional stress do I want to put my body though? This should not be so difficult. I am having a great time training, competing and writing about my experience. Responses I get from old Runners and new friends give me a reason to wake every day. As you may have figured out by now I don’t have an answer here. But talking about it helps me to put things in perspective. So today is a healing day, a resting day and a thoughtful day. The sun has appeared in New Jersey for the first time in a week. I am planning to enjoy it.