Wow. Has it been since June 10 that I last wrote something on here? If I was one of those mega-blogs, I suppose I might feel kinda bad. But really not a whole lot has been going on this hot hot summer.
I have had no major problems due specifically to the Thunder Rock 100, or to the mater of doing two 100 mile races within 6 weeks of each other. I made sure to take it nice and easy. However, there have a few tough weeks and missteps, from a variety of factors. First, it's hot. I remember last summer when I was in Chapel Hill, and having a markedly slower pace. Of course some of that was attributed to the hilly nature of that area, definitely a lot of it was because of the weather. Definitely at least 15 sec per mile it seems. Secondly, I have a bit of weightlifting. For the majority of the summer, it's been on my own, at the Y. Nothing crazy long and hard, but there were definitely some squats in there, which I could always feel during my runs. And then, last week, I buckled down and joined Morrisville Community Crossfit. Crossfit is a pretty unique mix of exercises. Heavy loading, gymnastics, dynamic lifting... it's hard to explain exactly. If you know what it is, you probably either love it (and are a member of a gym) or you think it's the devil. I'm not a hard convert. But I definitely seen my brother benefit from it. It's in NO WAY WHATSOEVER going to replace my running. However, I want to see myself become as balanced an athlete as I can, and it's a fun community.
This past week, my running got sidelined for a little bit. Everything was fine and dandy, but over my 15 miles run on Saturday, I just had an ache in my foot; afterwards, it felt terrible. I've had issues with stress fractures in the past. It's developed before from either too much mileage, or ill-adjusted sheos. I'm sure adding some of the dynamic lifting from Crossfit didn't help. I also did not respected the rest day (Thursday), which I'm sure didn't help. Lastly, I was experimenting with a pair of Altra zero drop shoes. Even though they are nicely cushioned, they may still have promoted too aggressive forefoot running that stressed the metatarsals. Since it felt similar and in the right location, I decided to be safe now. Better to take a week off now than 4-6 weeks later if it really goes south. It felt pretty much resolved by Tuesday, but I took yesterday and today to do some swimming and enjoy getting settle at the Crossfit gym.
The job front is still in limbo. But that may be OK. I've got the Assessment Center for Durham County in about three weeks, but also some other things going on. I'll hold out for a little bit. I'll just say I'm feeling very proactive and motivated.
Soundtrack:
Reckoning by Pillar
My Enemy by Hans Zimmer (this is an instrumental piece from The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
