Morning runs again?

Nine weeks ago was the last time that I ran on a Saturday morning and although I managed 14km it was too uncomfortable to want to try again. Now my gut disturbance has been much improved for 6 days such that I've not suffered from pain at all.

Today the Cofield pool was on 9am opening with 9am children's lessons  so I'd have had no chance of a decent swim. My arms and shoulders still feel a little tired and achy from the last 2 weeks of hard work so perhaps that was a good thing.  So, with supposedly pain-free guts I ran around the woods. I had been tempted to do a half-marathon route but that would have been stupid after not managing anything over 10km, and nothing before 17:00 for literally months. A longer run can be done another week when I'm sure I'm a bit more in training and not going to take a step backwards.

Ecclesall Woods are always lovely so I completed a 9km loop, including a slight extension as I was feeling fine!

From Alcatel Pop D1 Android phone,

I wasn't rushing and took the opportunity to trial the Alcatel Pop D1 a little further on both Tracking and photography. The camera isn't great, it does get the essence of a scene but nothing more. The GPS worked a little better than previously and I'll write about that elsewhere.

New shoe try-out

In a break in the clouds I nipped out and ran around the woods in the shoes I bought last week. The single reason for choosing the Asics FujiRunnegade (a horrible name) was the low heel around the lateral malleolus, supplemented by the neoprene gaiter.

Online reviews are a bit mixed, some suggesting that the heel area can cause blisters due to the multiple layers of fabric, but for my 7km trial they were fine. The sole is definitely not intended for road mileage and probably designed for short course obstacle races and fell runs. They felt secure on the leafy, muddy tracks in the woods. On tarmac they were squishy and I could feel the lugs moving underfoot although I never felt any slide.

The heel drop is reputed to be around 6mm so on the low end of my normal range and on that basis  it's probably sensible that I elected not to wear them on last week's event. They would have been great on the heather and peat but perhaps hard on my calfs on the frantic last few km.

Another nice aspect is that the uppers are clearly broad and not tapering, that is more foot-shaped than many shoes. I'll have to see how things go over the next few runs but today they didn't dig in around my heel even though I made a fair pace and had to adjust my feet as I stepped through autumn leaves onto the uneven terrain underneath.

Back to back with a hike

Today's back-to-back was a 22km hike using favourite paths. The weather was far better than forecast and after a few dry days the paths were firm. There was a slight breeze on Houndkirk Road but as it was behind us it wasn't unpleasant.

Wood sorrel on a rotting log

By the end of the walk my legs were tired but nothing painful and only the vaguest hint of calf cramp.