My last June Bank Holiday weekend in Ireland has just gone and I have spent it in the way I love the most: outdoor adventure, running and good craic with friends.
On Friday morning before heading down to the kingdom (Kerry) I had my long run of the week. This time I ran for 16km, when I was approaching the 9km I thought that Phoenix Park is not big enough now that I'm adding up more miliage. Problem solved when I took a deviation and discovered a whole new Phoenix Park. I have this image of myself running and running in this field where the grass is not cut, like in those cartoons I used to watch when I was a child.
I think running like other passions you might have is not only about being fit, which is a great thing on its own, but mainly your mind that feels free from everything. It's like there's a door that opens and lets all your imagination flowing and expanding. You come up with a new idea, solution or way to see things each run, especially the long ones. I don't know whether it is that I have more time to think about something or the major effort I put on a long run.
I have to say that after this long run my right foot started hurting a bit. I was a bit concerned whether I would recover in time for the climb of my old friend Carrantouhill.
It is a mountain located in County Kerry, and is the highest peak in Ireland. It is 1,038 m (3,406 feet) tall and is the central peak of the Macgillycuddy's Reeks range; meaning "The Black Stacks". There are two other peaks in this range above 1,000 m (Beenkeragh, 1,010 m; and Caher, 1,001 m).
Luckly it didn't hurt for the 9 hours hike, but I was almost limp for the next day and half and I recovered just in time for the Flora Mini-Marathon, which I finished it in 01:01:12.
If I think the first of the category Over 60 did it in 46:38...well, that's the beauty of sport, you're always young and can achieve everything you want.
Despite this hard weekend and the fact that the foot was still hurting, I made the mistake of not listening to my body, so I kept training.
Rule #1 DO NOT RUN if your body is telling you not to.
As consequence, I ended up being forced not to do anything for the following week: no swimming, no hike, no spinning and no run. And to make it worse I also had an infection in my stomach.
I had to do some research myself as the doctor was useless, and found out that these two symptoms are caused by overtraining.
Damn! I was doing so well! I was following my training schedule, I was focused not only on running but other things I was doing during the day, positive thinking ect...
But now this week, I felt behind the bars and I struggled to focus on things.
Today I felt better and I was able at least to go to the park for a walk, since the pain is not that strong anymore. I walked for about 5km, but with two breaks: one because I wanted to lie down and enjoy the nice weather and the other because I needed to and didn't want to force the foot work too much...I've learnt my lesson.
I hope I can start training little by little again next week as the Half Marathon is in two weeks time. For whatever reason I feel confortable about it, even though I haven't run that far yet.
Fingers-crossed!
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