Two good days to wrap up a decent week. Got out to the Appalachian Trail yesterday for a long easy run. Not to sound like a broken record, and I’m sure people across the country are all enjoying the same thing, but another beautiful day – third day of spring, 79 degrees, not a cloud in the sky with a nice little breeze. Definitely not normal, but you won’t hear me complaining. Went about 9 miles, 65 minutes, nothing too crazy. Calves have been sore all week (don’t think this helped them out at all), but other than that and the usual joint fatigue I usually feel around the 60-70 minute mark it felt pretty good. Wish they all were this pleasant.
Woke up today with the calves registering one more than “sore” on the pain scale. They were tender to the touch, probably time to start doing something about it. The rain that rolled in made it easy to get in the pool as I wasn’t missing anything out on the trails or roads. 75 easy minutes in the HydroWorx pool, then just as importantly an extra long session with the massage hose. It wasn’t hard to find the soreness as I worked my calves, had to go easy on them. I’m guessing I’ll be in the pool again tomorrow as I expect it to take a couple days of babying my legs to allow them to recover. With Monday being a travel day to an airport hotel (airport hotel = 5 lane highway in industrial wasteland) I will definitely be on the elliptical, so hopefully by Tuesday I will be able to get out on the roads again.
Chicago and Laredo this upcoming week, two cities that have a rich history together – I actually think they consider themselves sister cities. Just kidding, I think the only thing the two have in common is the final letter of their name is “o”, but for some reason the schedule builders at FedEx decided to send me back and forth between the two for a whole week. Should be home Friday for lunch, tentative plan is to jump in a college race on Saturday in Philadelphia (Widener University). Hopefully I am fresh and pain-free by then, with a decent week (albeit track workout-free) in between.
I have made a conscious effort this week to work on a task that makes overhauling your golf swing seem as easy as blowing your nose. My running form pretty much sucks, so I figured its about time to try to get a little more efficient. I bark at the kids on the team about their form all the time, but know that its 100% “do as I say, not as I do” – my trademark “Frankenstein” arm action is not to be imitated by anyone. So, 4 days down, probably 400 to go, but hopefully one day I can race without mothers screaming and grabbing their children to head for safety. Thinking about working on every arm swing is definitely tiresome, but how hard can it really be to break a 43 year old habit?
Video tribute to my fellow “less than perfect form” runners….
“Rise Up” Francis! And if you claim you don’t like Journey I know you’re lying!
