Saturday, September 17, 2011

Week 12/17 HM Training - Run #2 TRACK WORKOUT

Scheduled:
1 mile warm-up; 2 X 2 miles @21:22; 1 mile cooldown

Actual:
1.6K warm-up; #1 @21:13 (pace 6:36/km); #2 @21:37 (pace 6:37/km); 3.5 km walk cool-down

Today was a big test for my leg.

Wallace and I walked to downtown London for 1.8 km before starting our 1.6 km jogging warm-up (I measured the distance ahead of time, using gmap-pedometer.com). It was a little odd to be running with him through the busiest section of the city, but it was fun, too. :) I had decided to switch Catholic high schools for this weekend workout so we were heading to Catholic Central High School for a change since it is the closest high school to me within walking/running range (Western is just minutes away, but I would have to pay $80 a month to use their track. :( My sister uses Trent University's track for free - no fair!).

There's a difference between CCH's track and St. Thomas Aquinas's track (where I usually go). CCH's is much older and has little green space around it. There is also a very tall chain-link fence that surrounds it so I felt like I was in a prison fenced-in area - LOL! With people walking on the sidewalks on the other side of the fence and gawking, it was a little strange.

My first workout went very well. As usual, I started out too fast and had to keep checking the Garmin to rein myself in until I hit my goal stride, which became easier to maintain once I leveled off.

I encountered several issue during my second workout. Wallace started dragging behind me. He has never done that so I wasn't sure what was wrong. I stopped my watch, tied him to the benches, and continued my workout. It wasn't long before I felt a twinge in my calf, similar to what I felt during the half marathon. I suddenly felt the tightening in my calf and I immediately changed my cadence and slowed down. This did the trick, although it made me ultra-paranoid while running. :( I was concentrating on this when Wallace started baying. It caught me off guard because my little pooch never taps into his beagle heritage to bay. Aroooooooooooooooooh! He sounded so sad and despondent. He really did not like being left behind while I continued to run around the track. I stopped again, retrieved him, and then finished my workout. This time, Wallace did not drag behind me. :)

I chose to walk home the entire way because of the tightening on my leg. I gently stretched it when I arrived home. I also researched the injury more online and realized that maybe utilizing RICE all week had not been the smartest idea; a cramp needs heat. I am confident this is not a tear or an injury; I can literally feel the tightening, which creates the discomfort. I just need to keep working it slowly and gently, with heat, light stretching, and rest.

2 comments:

  1. $80/month to use the track?! That's ridiculous! You could probably just hop the fence! lol Every time I used to walk by (aside from maybe 3 times), there was no one even using it!

    I hope your leg gets better!

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  2. The fence is quite high now. :( Too bad because this is the perfect distance from my home. And the the $80 restricts the user to evening hours only.

    Thanks for the good wishes about the leg. Not happy with how long it's taking to get back to normal!

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