Riding a Bike in the House

The beautiful spring temperatures sank away and left us with another cold and rainy week. Not that it was bad, and realistically, there is still the chance for a last rogue winter storm. I guess it might be fun to get a couple more rides on the Snow Bike before taking off the studded tire and transforming it into Spring Rainstorm Bike.

Today was one of those colder rainy days. Since I got in a couple of hours running in the mud and rain yesterday, this afternoon I decided to stay inside and make a cheesy little movie:



It was another promising week of training. I completed 85 miles on the bike and ran for 30. I have been able to maintain my improved form and keep my joints injury and pain free. I have noticed a change in the way workouts feel. They are now all starting to begin with a state of muscular soreness that at first throb make me think I should probably take it easy. The good news however is that about 2 miles in I get loosened up and feel faster and stronger than ever. I'm contributing the early run stiffness to age and training volume. A longer time to warm up and a need for more stretching seems to be necessary with every passing year.

I am still managing to get all of my miles in wearing the Five Fingers. My feet and ankles and knees are still loving them. Though, I did encounter the first problem with them on a long trail run this weekend. Somewhere about 4 miles into a 10 mile run at Busiek, I must have came down perfectly on the point of a very sharp rock right in the very center of my left arch. It caused a dull ache to remain in my foot with every step. For a short time I thought I might have injured it to a point that it was going to be a problem. Luckily, by staying on the softer mud and grass to the sides of the trail and focusing on stepping lightly, it began to gradually get better and within a couple miles I was able to put it out of my mind for the rest of the run.

Today it was still on the sore side and there is a small red spot on the bottom of my foot. While this was really nothing, it does make me ponder the choice to wear the FF's in the race. Will I be able to run off a sore spot like that when I am 12 hours into the race, or even 20 hours? For now I am still sold on them and I am hoping that I will see my feet become even more conditioned to handle tougher surfaces by doing my longest runs on the most difficult terrain I can find. I think I am still learning to use the shoes as well. You can't just blindly stomp down the trail when you get tired. You must be aware of your footing at all times.