27.44 miles for the week, probably my last week of running all bare.
My head cold lingered throughout the week, leaving me with low energy. I got in one five-miler on Monday, one four-miler on Thanksgiving (Thursday), and 10.39 miles yesterday, down by the Mississippi River. The rest of the mileage consisted of my one-mile run-commutes. Set a new windchill low on one of them, at -2F/-18.89C, and got to my lowest air temp low of the season on another, at 10F/-12.22C. I ordered a handheld
Brunton Wind Weather Instrument to see if the windchills on my runs match those of online weather sites. There is sometimes a wide range given for windchills, even within the same site. On Accuweather, for example, the windchill given for 'now' and the windchill given for the current time on 'hourly' can vary dramatically.
I stubbed my toe at the beginning of yesterday's run while mistiming a shuffle step off a newly constructed curb. It bled a bit at the nail, and I considered heading straight home, but I ran the rest of the run on it anyway. It felt fine until the last couple of miles, when it started to stiffen up. I think the mild numbness helped fool me into thinking it was less serious than it was, because after my feet had warmed up at home, it really started to hurt at the met joint. I had to take some pain-killer to get to sleep. Ran this morning on it, but now it hurts again, and looks swollen. Oh brother. It'll probably be OK by tomorrow. We got above-freezing highs for the next few days, so I want to get in some decent running before it cools down again towards the end of the week--single-digit highs by the weekend.
The Icebreaker merino wool kit continues to perform wonderfully. I even got Merino wool boxers for my runs now.
I felt bad running with a bloody toe in a well-populated area. All the recreationalists on the river's bike/pedestrian paths looked at me with concern of course, because of the cold (it was around freezing), but then if they saw the blood on the big toe, they must've really thought I was nuts. I hope I didn't give barefoot running a bad name. Bad PR, like, 'he must stub his toes all the time running like that.' In fact, I do seem to average one stubbed toe per year.
Only got in two ST sessions last week. In the second one, on Friday, my energy levels were almost normal, after a couple of good nights' sleep, and I got in a decent bump. It's funny how after just a week off, how completely unmotivated I can become. But then of course as soon as I do get in a workout, I feel great and want to do it again soon. I love the feeling of mild post-workout soreness, so much better than the non-workout sogginess and lethargy I feel otherwise. Hopefully the week of unplanned 'deloading' will have done some good, and refreshed me with full recovery. I can feel a great week of pumping iron coming on. I may even try some of the Olympic lifts I've been meaning to get to.
I'll stop for another week or two, do a lot of calf foam rolling, and hope for the best !!!
Be sure to try rolling your foot with a wooden foot roller, and massaging the arch vigorously. If you feel painful knots in there, press harder until they're gone!
4.5 miles home in a wind-driven rain at 4C. A good reason for wearing shoes in some conditions
Wuss!