Swimming, and The Return of the Ankle

Another lunch time swim this afternoon, and no weights tonight. I managed to squeeze in 1500m in the pool in the midst of an all-day meeting, and was considerably late getting back from the planned 30 minute lunch since I had to eat after getting out of the pool and then make my way back to the boardroom. Oh well...

I have a conference call to do with my course this evening so no time for weights. (Boo!)

My ankle has started acting up again, with some not unusual pain (for me), but more intense than I've felt it in months. I don't think this will stop me from running just yet. However, it certainly was a surprise to feel it at the beginning of yesterday's run since the ankle has been a good little joint for a while now. The pain is right where I tore the ATFL (anterior talofibular ligament in medical speak), which is odd given that this ligament is completely torn! I was hoping that today I'd be OK, but that was just wishful thinking. In any case, given my plan to scale things back a little this week the timing is not so bad. On the knee front, I continue to improve though slowly. I still feel a twinge now and then when I walk and with the odd step when running. Perhaps a couple of weeks of easy running after the race in October will cure all my ailments.

And lastly, after talking to some people, and getting a helpful comment from Marcy on my last post (GI issues) I am convinced that my elevated level of sugar intake was the culprit behind my stomach pains. I am feeling better today, thankfully. Tomorrow I will have to get my 5k run in before going to work (I never had to do this before, but scheduling is forcing this upon me) and hopefully everything will be back to normal by then, at least on the gastrointestinal front.

Sugar Sweet Weekend, and 9k LSD

So, this weekend was definitely not of the nutritionally sound variety. Malcolm's birthday brought many treats, not the least of which was his Geo Dude cake, and then on Sunday my Mom brought us a huge slab of my favorite cheesecake from a Polish bakery across town. It's a good thing this place is across town or I'd be partaking of the cheesy goodness much too often! In short, Monday was much more sluggish than usual, and with my 9k run set to go in the evening I was wondering what the after-effects would be. Of course, there is still a decent piece of cheesecake left in the fridge with which to drown my sorrows...


Mid-day training thoughts:

I am still not sure how to proceed with this week's training. The plan calls for the 9k tonight to be LSD-ish (6:00/k pace, or about 9:39/mile). Tomorrow I'll be swimming, but may miss my usual weight workout on account of a conference call that is scheduled (in)conveniently at 8pm. Wednesday I will do another 5k "maintenance" run, but may back off a little and keep the pace slowish, somewhere in the 5:30/k (8:51/m) range. Thursday is another swim day, and weights. Friday is off. Then Saturday... Saturday calls for a 10k at a fast pace, and that is what I am considering modifying. I may do this as an easier run just to get the distance in, but I am afraid of pushing myself again. Cardio-wise the gains from these tempo type runs can't be discounted, but my leg muscles are feeling the effects. I may have to decide day-of rather than plan to slow it down in advance. I'd love to be able to do this 10k under 50:00, though!


Tonight's 9k:

Back to the business at hand - what would be the consequences of my sugar intake over the past two days? I thought that I would most likely feel sluggish, especially as the run progressed. However, and I have no experience to draw from when making this conclusion, the result was something else and totally unexpected. Instead of feeling sluggish I felt fine, except for the bowel pains I began to feel at about the 2.5k mark and only got worse. Yes, I've finally got something of this variety to post about. I've read more than a few things in the blogosphere on gastrointestinal issues as they pertain to running, but have never experienced anything negative until tonight. As I ran I wished a toilet had been strapped to my ass and it became harder and harder to keep going and maintain my pace. Although walking would have likely relieved some of the "discomfort", this was not an option since running meant I was getting closer to home and the bathroom contained therein. What the hell did I eat? I don't remember anything funky, but it sure feels like I drank a quart of curdled milk or something. I really hope this is a very temporary thing, but sitting here I am not exactly totally recovered, and this is now two hours after my run!

As far as the run went, I was quite pleased. I kept my heart rate under 150 for the most part and on the perceived effort front I'd say this was pretty easy, perhaps a 5 out of 10. My pace surprised me a bit since I was aiming from something in the 6:00/km (9:39/m) range, or maybe a tad faster. Instead, I managed to hold 5:30/km (8:51/m) pace for the entire run and it felt really easy. I'll have to re-evaluate my training since this type of pace was supposed to be more difficult... It was a bit chilly out, and I'm thinking that had something to do with it.

Garmin don't lie.

The google image of my route.