Time: 2 hours 40 min
Distance: 29 kilometers (18 miles)
Comments: This was supposed to be a building week with a ten percent push on last week's effort. Instead it turned out to be a pull-back week with me coming in at about 56 percent of Week 7's total.But, unlike the dog days of June, I'm not upset over this. A bit anxious, but not upset. Well, not yet, anyways.
And now we are less than two months with a solid four weeks of work left to get to the 20-mile long run monster. Part of the reason I pulled back last week was trying to avoid the push I felt obligated to do last time at this point. I'm now convinced that hard-headed insistence on completing the two 20-milers was where my plans went most awry.So I'm babying my ankle/shin with ice, ibuprofen and prayer. I'm trying to get three stretching sessions in each day and I'm doing my damndest to stay off my feet as much as possible.My nerves, though, are a bit on edge. Need to work on that.The plan this week is to start slow and proceed in that spirit throughout the week. My original schedule called for last week to have along run of 16 miles and a pull back this week. I've bumped up the long run to the 17-miles and will try to push that effort through into next week if I can.
Injury update: I've really noticed the lower leg ache during runs and, after the effort on Thursday, there was a noticeable bruise-type pain right above the shin. That led to icing and two days off.But I woke up today feeling dragged out and tired. Headache as well. That's the classic symptoms of overtraining right there, buddy. So I popped a couple of ibuprofin and slapped the ice on the ankle and made, that the plan for the day.