And onto the next...

Recovery week is over and boy am I glad! It was tough trying to back off paces and run slower last week, especially because my legs were bounding with energy on the roadways and ready to forget the trail. My quads were rightfully "tore up" after the PMPB but are feeling healthy and strong again. During my race I noticed my feet were cramping up because I was trying to grip with my toes on the trail. I have had "bad feet" since I was put into Toeshoe/Pointe ballet class at the age of 9, well before my growth plates were done developing. Alas this was my own fault because I knew the risks and begged night and day. So ever since then, my arches will cramp and charlie-horse with ease on some days in a very painful manner. Such was the case once I pulled off my shoes after the race which made me realize that I treat my poor feet terribly for all that I demand from them. I never stretch them, I never massage them, I never strengthen them.

In a kind gesture of sorts, I headed over to REI this weekend to pick up a new gizmo - the FootRubz! For a $5 investment, I thought it would be worth the curiosity. I l-o-v-e it! I'm notorious for ditching my shoes under my desk at work so I tossed the FootRubz ball under there too. A few times a day I'll sit at my desk and roll my feet with it. Its a massage and stretch in one and I can tell a difference! Love it!

My other purchase was a new pair of shades for being out on the road. I've been running in my "driving sunglasses" - not sporty in the least bit. They are a thick heavy plastic with polarized lenses but they slip off my face and bounce around. The tortoise film is peeling off. These poor things have been through a rough year. Over at REI they have Pepper's brand sunglasses. For $30 I was able to pick up a stylish, sporty pair of sunglasses with the rubberized nose and ear grips to stay put. I'm not even kidding when I say they are half the weight of my old ones. And with the polarized lenses, they'll be great for running and driving. It's been rainy the last few runs so I'm looking forward to taking these out for a spin today.

I decided not to purchase a Garmin Forerunner watch while I was at REI. I had been considering it the last few weeks but after putting it on, I ditched the idea quickly. I have itty-bitty wrists and the watchband was on the smallest notch, which worked, but worried me. The watches (I tried several models) are quite cumbersome and heavy too. I'm always open for other ideas or opinions, but I think for now I will table the idea of investing in a $400 computer for my wrist.

In other running news, I've gone music-less for nearly two weeks. I ditched the iPod in preparation for the trail race and haven't picked it up since. I'm finding that I run more in tune with my body and can keep pace much better. It may come back out for a long run here or there, but for the most part I'm going to try to keep earbud-less out on the road. There are so many benefits (safety and running -wise).

Today's planned run: my first speedwork in over two weeks due to tapering and recovery. I've decided to try a new type of track workout for me - a Pyramid. My next race is the Biltmore 15K so I'm focusing on hills and distance, but definitely want to get some good speedwork in. The pyramid will be:

1 mile warmup run to the track

400 m

800 m

1200 m

1600 m

1200 m

800 m

400 m

1 mile cooldown run back home

The pyramid will be at goal 10K pace (8:20ish) and I'll do all the steps at this pace rather than trying to run the shorter steps faster and keeping up with a million different target times. With a 400 m recovery between each, it'll be a pretty long workout - about 4 "hard" miles and 2 "recovery" miles with 2 miles warmup and cooldown. The recovery laps may end up being walked just so I can take off some of the running mileage. I fully anticipate that tomorrow morning's 3 mile run will be even more of a crawl than it usually is...

3 1/2 weeks till Biltmore...