Training Log Archive: piutepro

I repeat the blue course of last weekend at Moneyhole. I try out some alternate route choices, which I had considered but not used on Sunday. I start with a big bang between 1-2, running somewhat lackadaisical (meaning I think I know where I am, not. Bad concept), drift west and lose contact. On most other legs I improve the time, on some by an amazing amount by being more decisive and direct. On two legs I try a more direct route and get stuck in undermapped green, so I lose time. On one leg I contour through cliffs and rocks instead of going over the hill, which proves to be faster.
The conclusion is, that most route choices during the race were right on. I could have executed them better in some cases, avoiding jiggles and unnecessary turns.
Overall today's time is four minutes faster. This is not conclusive, since I deliberately tried some green routes. The ideal combined of both days would probably be about 10 minutes faster than the 85.01 of Sunday. Maybe another thing to test. Join the ideal routes and run at full speed.

Blue - Splits

The 'crisp fresh waffle' loop. Today it is 10 centimeter longer than usual, due to some earth stretching under the sun. A deep blue silver shimmer is over the Hudson. I catch some and bring it home and put the silver blue into a jar. I will see if it is still in there tomorrow.

4x 3 min. tempo run with one minute rest. I am somewhat slower and don't want to hurt to foot. It is rather a test to see if I can run fast again.

Run to and from tempo runs. It is cold and I need some time to get up to speed. Did they switch May and April by mistake?

The 'slurping stone' loop. The toe (not the toy) story seems to fade out. It seems, as it usually happens, they injury got better after doing the blue course yesterday. As weird as it seems, but many injuries get better after an effort and intense running. Or maybe it is just time to get better.

Blue course at Moneyhole HVO meet. I move with injuries pointing the way, so to speak. As our HVO team doctor says, if it were broken, I wouldn't run around like I do. (disclaimer: The diagnosis is purely for entertainment and is not to be taken for professional advice).

I run through the on and off rain. Some controls I catch in the last moment when looking back and seeing it at a cliff or the boulder. It can get tricky, since the green has expanded and some trails were moved. So once people lost contact, they were out for a while.

I am in good shape after tapering off all last week. Hope I can resume tempo runs soon.

Getting ready with some jog before the race and cooling down in a thunderstorm. Nevertheless I run until I feel good and relaxed.

Blue - Splits

The double toe loop. The colors of the left toe have gone back to normal skin tone. It is one of the weirdest injuries I ever had, both toes wrecked. It seems to be the last joint on the left toe and the second last joint on the right toe. I hurt them within a week, in separate crashes. Maybe I was trying to protect the right toe when hurting the left toe.
This is a stupid story and maybe not worth writing about it. It is not invented nor does it have a good poetic value. A prosaic one maybe. Of course the concern is, if something is broken or partially broken. In Sweden or Canada I would get an X-ray. Here I do African medicine: See if it gets worse and wait.

The Carrot Cake loop. I tape both toes, hoping it puts less strain on them. The problem is that other parts of the foot and legs start hurting, when I try to avoid using too much weight or strength on the toes. But today it goes ok, running goes better, I can even add some speed.