Recovery 3

My new and muddy Saucony Progrid Omni 9's

Here's a quick update.  Yesterday morning I went for a 7 mile run, over one of my hilly routes.  Went fairly well although I still feel my running form isn't as "fluid" as it could be, plus I need to build up the distances again.

It was also interesting trying out these new running shoes, the ones I got yesterday from Aro Sports.  They certainly do seem to offer a bit more cushioning towards the front of the foot and to begin with they seemed fairly bulky, though they're not.  Soon I became very used to them and they seem fine, nothing particularly to say apart from them feeling really good when I was going up a steep hill.  There's one short section of this road which is about a 25% incline.  I could feel my toes enjoying a bit more flexibility going up this climb - not that it made me run any faster at all, though perhaps a little more sure-footed.  All fairly straight forward, home by 8.15am for a shower and breakfast.  Felt good on those endorphins for a few hours.

Early afternoon, gardening done, sun still shining and an opportunity for a quick ride on Audrey the Audax bike.

I thought I'd go out for maybe 30 minutes and see how my hand fared.  Not brilliant really and quite painful when I got back.  I was trying different positions in holding the handlebars and I think I'll invest in some padded mitts or gloves.  The problem is holding the bars for harder pedalling, like starting off, going uphill or just putting a bit more effort in.  I think a previous comment came, from Anonymous, saying how much power is transmitted through hands - exactly right.

I'm pleased I can pick up on the running again now but frustrated about the cycling bit.  I feel my cycling muscles are way behind, fitness wise, than where I ought to be.  This hand injury has cost me a couple of months of cycling and fitness so far.

While this has been a bit of progress, I realise I need to persevere to get back to where I was, say, 4 months ago when I ran a half marathon at Linslade in about 1 hr 44 mins.  Mentally I can still feel I'm bothered by work and not quite on top form again - a combination that background stress not being dealt with very well and a fairly involved workload. Although I fall asleep easily enough, I often wake up at 3 to 4pm with work on my mind.

But hey, a nice scenic ride and an opportunity to have a breather with a few photos: