Tuesday, April 8th: 2.04 miles in 17:51, average pace 8:45
This was the fastest I have run in a long, long time, I think maybe ever. And it felt really good. It wasn't any harder than my last four mile run despite being more than a minute faster. The weather was beautiful. 55F, the sun was shining, and it was very still. My ankle did quite well. It didn't begin to ache until around mile 1.8 and even then it was very mild. The pain didn't linger after I stretched either. So a definite improvement.
Thursday, April 10th: 2.05 miles in 17:32, average pace 8:34
This run was a little faster than Tuesday's and that is crazy insane! It was hard. My legs felt really tired and heavy and I felt like I was breathing hard. I had added some more ankle exercises to my stretches and I think that made a difference. My ankle did well again. Some aching at the very end but not until even closer to the 2 mile mark. We also had beautiful weather. 68 and winds of 12mph or so. It was my first shorts/sports bra run of the year :-)
Still though. I can't get over my time. I didn't feel like I was running as fast as Tuesday at all. I actually thought I was going quite a bit slower so that was a very happy surprise when I looked at my phone. I didn't believe it until I compared mine to Justin's. I'm excited though! Now to keep it up.
Saturday, April 12th: 2.05 miles in 17:53, average pace 8:42
This was definitely my hardest run all week. I was having a had time steadying my breathing and was feeling pretty nauseated. I'm not sure whether to contribute that to being overheated or that we left for our run immediately after breakfast. I was definitely over dressed though. It was sunny and 58 when we were heading out. That definitely doesn't call for a tank top or arm warmers.
I started feeling my ankle a little earlier on this run, around 1.5 miles instead of 1.8. It didn't really hurt though. It was more just that I was aware of it being a little off. But it settled right in after I stretched it out some. Things are looking good though.
Overall thoughts:
I made a couple of changes this week. I began some intensive stretching and exercises targeting my posterior tibial tendons. I am going ahead and doing all the stretches and exercises on both ankles since my right ankle hurt in 2012 and my left ankle hurts now. I figure that they both need it. So far it does seem to be helping quite a bit. The pain has been getting less during runs and is still completely disappearing the rest of the time.
This week I also switched from my winter shoes (Merrell Barefoot Lithes) to my summer shoes (Merrell Barefoot Pace Gloves). To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the Lithes. They're more of a soft shell shoe so they're warmer and more wind/rain resistant than the Pace Gloves but they're not anywhere near as comfortable. The Pace Gloves are a more flexible shoe, both in the sole and the uppers. I have fallen several times while wearing the Lithes and, the past couple of weeks, I found that I was occasionally scuffing my toes on the ground while I was running in the Lithes. I've been wearing the Pace Gloves on this week's runs and I haven't had any problems like that so far. I'm hoping that having a lighter and more flexible shoe will be easier on my ankle as well since there won't have so much resistance from the shoe.
All together though, I am pleased with our runs this week and particularly with our pace. I know it'll drop some as we increase the distance but it's very nice to know that I am capable of this much speed. I'm hoping to maintain as much speed as possible as we ramp up the miles. Ideally I'd like to speed train to get myself to a place where I'm consistently running a 8-8:30 minute mile for my long runs. But that'll take just a tad bit of work and for now I'm just going to focus on distance. One thing at a time.
Fort4Fitness: 24 weeks
Huff: 36 weeks
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