Another High Mileage Weekend

Notice I said "weekend" and not "week". That's because all my mileage this week took place on Saturday and Sunday. That's right, I didn't run at all on the week days. I wanted to and planned to, but stuff and weather prevented me from getting out and running. I did some cross training though. Two mornings of weights and 50 minutes on the elliptical on a third morning. Am I worried about not getting enough miles under my belt going into this 24 hour run? Yes. But I'm also worried about over training. Maybe even more worried about over training.

Everything was a little frosty.

This weekend alleviated my fears about not running for five days in a row. Saturday, Ladd and I ran 21 miles, including a trip down to Chippewa Lake and back, and then around the south side of Medina. Temperatures were in the upper teens to very low twenties, but it was sunny and that made us feel a little better. The gusty wind however, did not.

Just a little frozen trail work.

On my most recent trip to Second Sole, I purchased three new pairs of running shoes. Why so many? Well, the shoes I have been running in for more than a year, the Asics Gel Stratus, have been discontinued and I need to find an entirely new "perfect" shoe. I began the Saturday morning run with one of the new pairs, the NIKE Lunar Glides. They felt great when I tried them on in the store, but didn't feel so good out on the road. After only a few miles I knew I they weren't for me and that I would need to return them. I was able to change into another pair mid-run, some Asics Gel Nimbus. They, on the other hand, are very comfortable. But still, they're going to take some getting used to.

My right foot still felt a little banged up heading into Sunday's long run of 30 miles. Ladd and I met Dan H. back at the Hinckley Metropark to run 3 mile loops. How fun! During our second loop the rain/freezing rain began to fall. The weather deteriorated steadily from that point. It was a miserable outing. My shoes were soaked and the trail socks I was wearing weren't able to drain, leaving me with numb feet. I became thoroughly soaked all over, freezing whenever the wind would gust. Parts of the trail began to ice over, giving us unsure footing in spots. We were very close to calling it quits! But we realized at some point that it wasn't getting any worse, so we kept running. Ten times around Hinckley Lake, which is hilly, is certainly overkill training for a basically flat one mile loop. My Garmin showed 3,000 + feet of elevation gain. It was a very tough physical and mental run.

So tough that I'm still looking at taking a rest day today. My feet hurt in places they normally don't. Some tendons or ligaments or something. They just feel abused. I don't know if it was the new shoes or the 52 miles in two days, but something just wore them out. Everything else feels just fine! I'm pretty confident that the 24 Hour run is going to go well as long as I go into it rested and healthy. I may feel miserable during it, but as long as I can keep moving forward, the worst shouldn't hit me until after I'm done.