This week was a tricky one. It's only the second week in and already I'm seeing how training like a triathlete over the past 7 years has kept me injury free. All of the cross-training just reduces the pounding on the body and allows it to recover while still undergoing other types of stress.... with running, it's the same beating everyday... and it really takes it out of you.
Early in the week my right Achilles was acting up while later in the week it was my left hip/piriformis (thanks in part to my ongoing Sciatic issues) but today on my long run they both seemed to hang in there pretty well. My hope is that all of these little things are just my bodies way of adjusting to the increased stress from the higher volume. I'm hoping that in week 3 these things begin to fall away so that as I enter week 4 and Phase II, I will be primed for the harder interval and rep training.
To round out most of the week I had an easy day of 5.25mi on Thursday, 9mi on Friday, which I split into two shorter runs and then a 14.25mi long run this morning. I made sure to get up and out early to get the long run done and I'm happy to say that it went really well! I brought an old gel flask (really small) that I used to use on the run in long-distance Tri's and filled it with a super-concentrated Gatorade mix (it holds about 8oz of fluid). I just held it in my hand for the duration of the run, which helped me focus on staying relaxed (i.e. when you squeeze the bottle, you're going to hard), and I drank about 2oz off of it every 25 minutes or so. I went out shooting to run 1:45 at 7:28 pace and actually went 1:46:21 at 7:27 pace, so although it's a slow pace, it does seem to be about what my body can handle at this volume and I feel better post-run than I have all week! Short run tomorrow and I'm done with week 2!!
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