Just about recovered from the weekends long run so time to get out again tonight. After a gloriously sunny day it was a fairly bright chilly evening with clear skies. Temperature was dropping fast so no time to hang around!
So in terms of the stats….
5.26 miles in precisely 50:00 mins so 9.30 min miles and a grand total of 624 cals departed so I must be making at least a small dent in the calories piled on in Epernay.
Two of my personal favourite running tunes turned up back to back on the MP3, which coincidentally was sounding very good again with the benefit of the new headphones which were required after the last ones gave up the ghost on Sunday.
The tunes referred are Ray of Light by Madonna and Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. To be honest when they come around I tend to immediately play them again as I just think they are great songs to listen to when you are in the “zone”.
I have to confess I find it very difficult to resist stretching out my arms in flying mode as I trot along listening to Ray of Light. It just has such a great uplifting beat. As for Crazy, I have tried to put it forward as one of the best ever pop songs but have not been able to persuade too many, if any, to my point of view. I just think it is 3 minutes of perfect pop music.
Some other good songs as well the best of which were Tumble and Fall – Feeder, The Cave – Mumford and Sons, City of Blinding Lights – U2 and Roll Away the Stone by the wonderful Mott the Hoople.
So anyway, tight calf muscles.
I tend to suffer from these as I build up my marathon training and have tried various ways to avoid them. The current regime is to do regular calf stretches, wear Skins calf support sock things (very elegant), have a cold (rather than ice) bath after my long runs and to have a sports massage on a 4 – 6 week basis. Last year I suffered quite badly and had to resort to seeing a physio who specialised in the Gunn Method which involved having acupuncture needles placed into the tight muscles – sounds unpleasant but I have to say it worked very well.
So this year I am hoping that my regime together with properly fitted running shoes (post gait analysis at Moti) will see me through. I will keep fingers crossed as well.
