The Darkness Is Coming

Sunday: Third consecutive day of running, not what great trainer wants me to do right now, but that is how it worked out round my life this week. I got out for a run later than usual, after 1pm, once the other half got home from the gym (who is, incidentally, displaying a keener interest in fitness right now). It was drizzly and cold, so I had the long sleeved top on for running. I spent much of yesterday pondering over my past form, all recorded on fetch. I noticed that I have got a lot faster over the months, coming down from 14min miles to my fastest being 9min miles, but at the same time, I am running for shorter periods. For all my intentions to keep it slow and focus on endurance, I haven't kept endurance up with the speed. This was on my mind when I got up to run today. It's so easy to start off fast, and it feels good (temporarily), but I made a real effort to begin nice and very slow today. I felt a lot stronger, I noticed, throughout the run, compared to a week ago, and I wasn't drinking any juice to make me feel like that. I had a great deal of water yesterday, I am sure that contributed to how I felt today. Plus, new motivating music on my mobile helped me a lot through the tough bits. The only area of concern was an ache in my right foot, around the heel/arch area; this has been with me for weeks, possibly months, but it's only been noticeable when I walked barefoot. Today was the first time I felt it during a run, and whilst the ache was bearable, I plan to see the doctor to play it safe, having been advised by fetchies that it may be plantar fasciitis (a common injury). That aside, today was great; I hit the recommended 30mins and felt great, so kept going. This didn't last long (hehe) and I stopped at 36mins 57secs, having covered 3.69miles. Really very pleased with today, this was my longest continuous run in rather a long time. I think I am coming out of the 'dip', I have been feeling stronger in my last few runs and I feel less exhausted in general. Perhaps the post-fatigue from the tonsil infection is finally dying away, helped along by me eating the 'right' things as much as possible. Whatever the reason, I am just relieved I am running better, and I felt a real buzz post-run today. Got to hang onto that thought; my mother in law (mil) is arriving next Sunday, staying for a few months, and whilst she is a lovely person, I am dreading the whole coming-and-going of (certain unwanted) family during this time, as well potential personality clashes. I think I will need my running more than ever, as a way of blowing off steam and as an escape from it all. Who knows, maybe it will get even better - my injured runner friend once, or twice, commented that I was too nice and needed anger to better my running. Does anger or happiness make a better runner? That theory may well be tested vigorously in the months to come.