The Pain of Racing Flats

At the urging of John, we all showed up in on Wednesday's clinic with racing flats.  Amanda, Walter, and I actually had the same pair of Mizunos.

We ran 2x2mi.  I found myself slipping in and out of landing on my heels vs balls of my feet.  When I remembered, I danced across the seawall, other times, I felt myself plodding along as normal.  It felt a bit awkward but I was running great and hit my target pace of 7 min/mile.  First time in nearly 2 months.

But afterwards, driving home, both my calves seized up, anyone watching me making the short walk from the car to my home must have thought I was twice my age.

Friday came and my calves were even more sore.  I was supposed to go for my tempo, but knew that I'd be upset if I didn't meet the pace target and would probably use my calves as the excuse.  Saturday, they were still sore, bearable but sore.  I elected to give myself one more day off.

Sunday, I ran my tempo.  11 miles at 8 min/mile.  Happy I hit it and I'm once again feeling more positive about Victoria.  I'd like to get my tempo pace down to 7:45/mile... that'd make me feel I have a fighting chance of BQing.

I won't be running for a week, but thankfully I'll still be having a very good cardio workout while I backpack the West Coast Trails.