Training Log Archive: TomN

I've been having a terrible time with running. First of all, I knew going into this calendar year that my workload was going to be maxed out. It's all stuff I want to do, but it was all going to happen at once. So I just don't have the luxury of doing a leisurely run with cooldown and some core strength. But since January I've had an odd neurological problem with one foot, it's got some drop, so my foot clops on the road and I trip over little things. It makes running kind of unpleasant. It's getting better, and I have almost complete control over it now, but who knows why, or whether it will happen again.

Then there's vertigo. It started about a month ago, for no apparent reason. I saw a specialist (got in before the pandemic but had to cancel the follow-up). It seems to have stopped of its own in the past 2 days. It didn't really impact my life, but it felt crappy and depressing. And again, I can only hope it doesn't come back.

Then last weekend I developed severe heel cracks, which got so bad I couldn't walk. Oddly, I could run (but I didn't) because my running stride has a midfoot impact, but walking is heel-striking. With TLC from my wife, these too have improved to the extent that I could run today without even a twinge.

So, here's hoping there's a training season ahead. Last year I ran something like 9 races and won them all, in the 65+ age group. I don't want to make it as hard as last year, but I'd like to get a few races in by the fall.

C • Fall races 7

Dad, daughter and dog. I'm really dreading the next step in coronavirus policy, making it illegal to go out. I just read that French police are issuing fines to cyclists who post their rides on Strava, for violating the no-outdoor-exercise rules. On the other hand, I also heard that having a dog gives you an exemption in Italy. Maybe I can rent my dog, who apparently never gets tired.