in the form of the Mistletoe half marathon this Saturday. I'm a little worried about the weather: low 30's, chance of rain. The "chance of rain" part is the latest prediction, and the part I'm most worried about. Or more to the point, it's the standing around waiting for the race to start in that weather that I'm worried about. I've never run barefoot in temps that cold before. And rain/sleet/snow? Sheesh. I might be bringing the VFFs along. Don't be surprised if I wear them for at least part of the race.
The feet/rest o' me are doing well with the latest increase in mileage/pace. I've got a mild soreness in my left hip flexor, which I've had off and on ever since I had a job wearing a tool belt. The job wasn't "to wear a toolbelt," just for clarification. I think the soreness has something to do with how I'm handling steep hills; I have a feeling I'm using my hips instead of my knees downhill. Bend the knees! I also have a little bit of tightness on the top of my left foot. That popped up after I tried the Gravel Path of Misery (Farris Park) last week sans vffs, which is ironic. You would think the pain from running/walking/stumbling on sharp rocks would be at the bottom of my feet. But since I find the rocks so stressful, it's hard for me to relax. If I don't relax, ie let my heel touch the ground, it puts strain on all the stringy bits in my foot. Hence, tightness. Just like I used to get when I wore vffs and aqua socks before going barefoot.
So how's that for a preemptive excuse? I almost hope I don't do well. How annoying would it be to find out that speed necessitates cold wet misery? Right now, I think I'd rather be slow in the tropics. Must be February. What? It's only December? Great. Just great.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Be wise about the decision to go out in the cold. An injury is far worse than a DNF.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the weather turns for the better, and your pains cease. As the temperature drops, I've been looking seriously at shifting most of my workouts indoors.
The thing is about the cold, I actually really like it once I'm warmed up. I can do that inside when I'm just going out for a run, but a race situation is different. If I can deal with the pre-race, I should be good to go, with the worst-case scenario being having to put the vffs on.
ReplyDeleteRe pains, they're minor and familiar. I've taken it easy since my long run on Sunday, and the foot issue is pretty much gone already, and only mentioned it because of how (I think) I got it. I've started stretching the hip a bit, and much to my chagrin the soreness is 91.443% gone. I hate stretching, and resent it when it appears to work.