Training Log Archive: slow-twitch

Oceania Middle Distance, Waikawa Beach.
Was never 100% sure throughout the morning if I should go out there today but after watching the world cup action and hearing nothing but good comments from the top runners about the terrain it was just too tempting to resist. Did go for a jog on the most uneven bit of ground I could find once I ws strapped up before making the final decision and the prognosis seemed ...ok. Just aware I was going to need a lot of discipline to keep at a safe speed.
So... the race itself. Got off to a good start, trotting along at a happy pace and navigating well. Somewhere along 7-8 it became apparent that speed control was unlikely to be a problem - even with fully operational ankles my fitness levels wouldn't have been playing ball. Probably only lost around a minute-90 to this point, a few issues with detail in the circles and drifited wide to the vague thing I thought was the track I was going to attack 4 from -despite the fact the real one was bleeding obvious. Lost a bit at 11, turns out it would have been safer using the beach route (but others went much further astray here anyway). But the real problems were 16 & 17, dropping me from 10th (and ahead of Eric Morris) to 13th. 16 must have been almost on the control before I started ignoring my compass and got dragged out almost to the stream. Took a long time to relocate then had to work hard to convince myself I had punched 15 - think I'd got a little brain-cooked in the open dunes. Then despite simplifying 17 down to a nice simple leg still tried looking for it well too soon. So a bit disappointing what would have been a satisfying run in the circumstances fell apart a bit at the end.
Despite the soft sand and scrubby veg being everything I'd feared in terms of ankle-risk, seemed to get through ok. Feeling afterwards it had been tweaked a bit but nothing I noticed at the time. A bit sore now but more tired-sore than pain-sore. Will endeavour to get a few minutes worth of ice onto it sooner after the remaining races.

Maybe tomorrow? I guess I've got another morning on my feet to get through first but at the moment rapidly alternating between feeling happy and confident about the foot and nervous about the outcome if I turn out to be wrong.

Event: 2013 Oceania Carnival & WC Races
 

The last 2 days have been all about ice & rice. This morning have started experimenting with contrast immersion twice a day (I think that's what it's called) on the basis that I don't really care if there's a small chance it will fuck me up completely if there's also a small chance of speeding up the recovery. After the next session I may even start trying ye olde rotational/strengthening excercises just to get an idea if there's any hope. My foot is obviously starting to feel bored, couldn't seem to keep it still and out of pain-inducing angles last night so it felt quite sore at first this morning.

As far as how the next few days look, I can forget friday and saturday. There's a remote possibility I could feel ready by sunday but should probably err on the side of conservatism. Will still aim for the oceania sprint (tuesday) though there's no hope that would be the run I was hoping for.

Was not a good run and came to a premature end when I hit the edge of the track with my bad ankle. So that's that for oceania probably.

C • :( 2