Runs 51 & 52

Managed to get 2 quick (8:00 pace) miles in yesterday at noon. I was trying to run a little quicker as I felt good and wanted to mentally get past the 8:00 pace hurdle. Might have been a mistake as my left shin is hurting today. Still managed to get out for my usual 4.5 today. Left leg below the knee had all sorts of issues, weakness, ankle sore, shin splints on both sides of leg, blah, blah, blah. The worst part is everything else feels great but I can't unleash the dogs! Still managed a decent 9:00 pace today. It would have been 9:30 a month ago.

Sore

Ankle very stiff/sore getting out of bed this morning. It loosened up quickly enough but is still worrisome. I'm thinking a doctor's visit is quickly approaching. Ran my 3 mile greenway loop at 26:56. Negative splits as I started very slow. I was sore all over from yesterdays run and needed to ease into the run. Amazing what only one week off will do.

I'm back, sort of...

Last week was supposed to be a light week, it ended up being a zero mileage week for two reasons. 1. I totally neglected to plan my sleeping periods and ended up fairly jet lagged (not the norm for me.) and 2. the ankle was still sore. I was hoping a week off with over 40 hours of flight time would sufficiently rest the ankle. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel any better although everything else does. The good news is that I still managed to lose a couple of pounds, airline food in bus. class isn't all that bad for you.

While I started to run in late July, November was my first real running month. November total was 18 runs / 71.5 miles / 9:22 avg pace. August - October total was 27 runs / 71.2 miles / 9.27. Probably explains the ankle injury.

Despite the soreness, I still went out on my 4.5 mile loop today. Went out a little to hard as the muscles all felt fresh. Ended up running a PR by about 20 seconds although I kind of crashed on the last 1.5 miles (HR avg was 169, highest in a while). Still happy with the sub 40 minute run.

I'm going to keep running and icing for a few more weeks and see what happens. Hopefully the weight loss coupled with stronger and refreshed legs will help alleviate the ankle issues. If not, I'm going to head to the doctor early January to have it checked out.