back to the sauna, back on track

I took two weeks off. We were hiking lots and spending long days exploring, plus for the most part we were staying in pretty little B&Bs and I didn't want to release the sweaty post-run beast therein. Also, I was getting a bit run down anyway: avoiding gluten while dining in a predominantly bread-and-deep-fry region was pretty much impossible, though I mostly ate steamed shellfish and salad (not complaining at all! Nfld now has a snow crab fishery!!!!). Finally, I gave up at the Quidi Vidi brewery: I took a small sip of the last three beers offered. At that point, symptoms had already returned and there wasn't much I could do until returning to my gluten-free kitchenware, in for a penny, in for a pound. I can't remember the last time I'd tasted a proper beer. It was amazing.

It was a good vacation from many things, at any rate!

I was able to resume running pretty easily when I came back, although it's been kind of touch and go with emergency bathroom breaks for the first while (hopefully we're past that now, although it amazes me that I put up with that for years). Plus my knees have been affected. Usually it's mostly my fingers and shoulders, but a joint is a joint, eh? Fortunately, it didn't affect running at all, but sleeping was tricky for a few days. My knees, especially my left one, had to be just so...finally, I put a night splint on my left foot which kept the knee somewhat in alignment, enough so that I could sleep for at least an hour or two at a time. It feels a lot more normal now; I think the worst is over!

I've put in three harder workouts since my return and I've got a marathon-pace workout tomorrow. I still haven't signed up for the race. We're going to hang out with my extended family up north for a week and I'll have to see how I feel from that. I will have more control over my diet there; last year, I felt ok, just drowsy near the end.

Anyway, the workout I did yesterday went really well. I was surprised. it was 10X 1/2 mile tempo with 30 seconds rest...it was hot, 27C, so I walked for the rest intervals. My tempo pace was a bit slow but fine: avg 7:52/mile. The whole workout seemed to go by quickly.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate for my workout tomorrow! That's the only day I can do it on the route: we leave Saturday.


In other news: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms97mz3H69E :(