May 6th, 2009 – 10K3

Ahh, 10K3.  Another concocted run on my part, but one that I consider an active recovery run.  It is all zone 2, which means it is a pretty short distance, and only an hour long, which means it isn’t a significantly long run either.  I like doing it as my last run before the race.  It’s more about listening to my body at that point and seeing exactly how much or little I can push myself while not really pushing.

The hole in the top of my left foot continues to weep terribly.  I don’t know what to do about it.  It won’t heal, because every shoe I wear has the potential to rub on it.  It isn’t infected, at least, so I’m not as worried about that part of it.  It is really just more an annoyance than anything for me at this time.  The one on my right foot never got this bad, so I don’t know if the foot pod being on this shoe caused it or if it was just worse to begin with.  I just know I’m bleeding into socks now and that can’t be a good thing. :-(  On top of that, I’ve felt a blister on my left heel!  What????  OK, I’m going to say that with the new lace effort, I’ve left the shoes too loose.  They aren’t built incorrectly, I can run in them, I’m just not doing well with either the thin socks or the laces.  I’m going to say it is a little of both.  The runner’s socks are very odd.  Maybe I shouldn’t use them and all of this becomes moot.  Hard to say.

Housekeeping:  6.4 miles in 60 minutes for a 9:22 per mile average.  660 calories burned.  I was surprised I’d gotten that close to 700, which I consider my 70 minute target, but I also know I’m hauling around those extra pounds and that should in theory mean I need to burn more calories.  The distance was only mildly annoying.  My pace never got above 8 minute miles, right at 7.5 miles per hour, which was a function of being in zone 2.  What was annoying was the duration of time at that pace before I had no choice but to slow it down.  I ran less than half of the work section a speeds slower than 8 minutes per mile and most of it back at 10 minutes per mile.  That’s really slow any more for me and it just shows that my body is not back to top shape.  Oh well, in the end I’ll get back to that level and once I put the weights back into the routine, I have no doubt I’ll burn off the extra weight or more accurately the excess fat and really get ready.

I’m excited and nervous about the race even though I think I’m likely going to do worse this race than the last one.  Possibly even worse than my first.  I just enjoy seeing how I stand, and the race is small enough that if I surprise myself, I could actually be one of the top 3 overall.  That would be so incredible.  I want more than just a three pack of racing socks for my prize. ROFL!

Cheers!