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August 09, 2004
73 ("junk miles" included)
I finished the week with 73 miles - a new high for me, and my legs feel surprisingly fresh. The last time I hit 70 was over a year ago and I could barely walk; my quads screamed for three months before my muscles and body adapted to the higher mileage. But then I fell pretty severely ill last fall and lost both my marathon season and my fitness. I picked it up again in December, but the highest mileage I have run since Dec. is 58 or so. I violated the 10% rule, but I think if we truly know and listen to our bodies, we are capable of a little deviation.
B. and I planned to run 18 on Saturday, but around mile 15 we decided to call it a run and we did the unspeakable: we took a cab home (talk about a major violation of all running "rules"!). I strained my glute muscles in a 10K in May and they have not healed 100% - I was cramping up and my knees were killing from running in lightweight trainers with over 500 miles on them. B. has not run for 2 hours since Chicago in 2002 so it was ultimately a wise decision to call it quits. I plan to run 20 this week on one of my old measured routes near my mom's house about 40 miles south from here. It will be quiet and traffic-less and I will have the perfect opportunity to gauge my pace and overall time.
Last night B. and I ran a fairly hard 7 mile loop. We meant for it to be a recovery run, but I did not feel like I needed to recover from anything (our run the previous day was 2 hours, but it was not stressful), and B. was feeling good. He also surprised me with a new pair of badly needed running shoes and I wanted to test them out! I have run in the Mizuno Wave Rider for 2 years, and most recently in the Mizuno Wave Precision (too light, for me at least, to handle the distance and mileage right now). I have returned "home" to Asics: the Gel Nimbus (the shoe I happily ran my first marathon in).
Shoes make a huge difference and I have definitely underestimated their importance in the past. I think every runner/jogger/walker should consider getting a gait analysis done so they know what shoe best functions and supports their natural biomechanics. I supinate (foot rolls outward) so I only wear cushioned, neutral shoes. The one time I tried to wear a control shoe (WHY????) I ended up sidelined for 9 months with plantar fasciitis in both feet. Yuck.
Posted by bridget at August 9, 2004 01:35 PM