28km, caught by the storm

Out for a new post-PF record, I'm planning to run 32 or 33km today. The weather forecast is not looking good but I still have 4h ahead of me, more than I need.

The day is hot. Although I'm running topless and drinking regularly, I feel the dehydration striking and the sun burning my skin. My heartbeat rises to 160bpm, I can't manage to lower it down, even with a steady pace and deep breathing. As a result, my legs tire quickly. But the trail is wonderful and I'm discovering new areas, as I come closer to the Muggelsee lake. But that's for another run!

The first complaints of the storm echoe far away. Damn it, still 10km to run and I need to stop to buy some water! When I hit the trail again, it starts to rain. I speed up, my legs complaining at every step. I cover another rainy 5km, when I realise that I'm not gonna make it. I'm heading straight towards thick black clouds. The storm took a shortcut and caught me!

I barely have time to take refuge under a garage shelter. It's cold, rain still reaches me from everywhere, bolts of lighting are striking around me and I have both feet in the water... Time to pray! To make things worse, I'm trapped in a very middle-class area: nice houses and old grumpy residents, not a chance any one of them would let me in if I knock on the door!

After 30 min of shivering though, a peaceful guy walking with an umbrella just passes by in front of me, no more worried than he would be on a sunny afternoon. Without an ounce of hesitation I run behind him and catch him on his porch. I don't know what I tell him but I don't think words are necessary. I'm soaked to the bones. Very kindly, he waits with me on his door step. His dad (or grandpa) is more like I expected and doesn't want me into the house. It's a well known fact that soaked and exhausted runners asking for shelter are dangerous serial killers!

Anyway, his (grand) soon eventually offers to drive me home. My run is done anyway, so I gladly accept, happy to see there are still some nice and helpful people in this world. Total: 28km for today, a bit less than I expected but I was lucky. I could have waited 2h for the storm to stop, like my little adventure under the bridge last year :)

16km, home rest

Resting week between long runs. Now that I am running in the 30's, I think I should follow Hal Highdon's TP progression and change my stepped training, to alternate long and not-so-long runs, one week after the other. I did manage to run 28km and 30km with only one week of rest in between, but I doubt it is wise to do so, as the distance keep increasing and my feet have such a short time to recover.

YES, I said FEET, as I am more and more convinced that my PF is close to being healed, whereas my other foot is threatening to get hurt as well. I shall now treat both equally and take good care of them both :)

Anyway, resting week as said before the big 32k. I ran 6k on Tuesday and a steady 16k on Sunday night, while spending 4 days in the Family. Too much to eat, too much to drink, food for the body, food for the soul. Sometimes it's all you need to get fit :)

Back on tracks with a huge week and 50km ahead. Ahoi mousaillon!

The big 30

It's a small step for men, but a giant step for me!

This is a personal note to my injured foot, my friendly lumbago and my helpful doctor who told me I should stop running:

TODAY I RAN 30KM IN 3:35min... DEAL WITH IT! Miracles do happen, when you're too stupid to quit.

30km... After these last few week of running in the 20's, it seems natural and almost no big deal to reach this distance. But now that I think about it, I've just run the third longest distance of my life, after a difficult 32k and my marathon three years ago. And I remember striving to finish both of them and the week of unbearable muscle pain right after that.

No difficulty this time though. I'm covering the distance as usual, slowly but steady, average pace around 7:00, heartbeat below 150. A bit depressed listening to Madame Bovary, I switched to a motivating playlist and my legs feel lighter already. Today I'm exploring new areas, quite motivating too. I finally found an app that lets me plan a route online and follow it on my phone without getting lost. Exploring the woods, I don't notice the kilometers flying by.

My foot is not complaining, but it's hard for my calves. I also noticed lately some pain randomly hitting my right leg. It makes sense in a way: In the past two years, I focused so much on my left leg, stretching and massaging it all the time, that my right one is left behind. It may very well become the week one soon. I need to start giving to both the same attention.

I finish in good shape, still able to run some more if I weren't out of water. I need to refill on the way, 1,5L is way too few for such distances! I spend the afternoon recovering, eating and drinking like if I had not in the last two months! A nap would have helped, but no time for that, daddy's errands to run. The night is peaceful, no fever, no sweating. Next day is better too, little to no muscle pain. I'm definitely recovering faster than ever. But I need to run seriously during the week, at least twice, or my body won't stand such distances much longer.

All in all an amazing victory on myself. Next week is a resting one, I'll run short on Tuesday and probably around 20km on Sunday. I am now convinced that I can run a marathon as planned in 9 weeks! If everything goes according to the plan, I will run it like a long run, therefore being ready for another race (the 50k?) in no time :)

28km, pushing the distance

After a week of rest with less mileage in Vienna, it's time to push some more and (re)conquer new distances.

28 km today, no big deal, although quite tired towards the end and left foot a bit sore. I'm always finishing at the edge, but recovering quicker than ever, thanks to my foam roller and drinking a lot (of water!)

The 30's are not far and I plan the big step for next weekend. I'm also trying to shift my rubbing days to do my long runs on Saturday morning and have full Sunday free.

See you on a week for more adventures :)