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2:15 with the dog.  It was great running weather, about 7 C and a little drizzly, but not humid.  Super for me, not so much for other people, I guess: it was almost empty in the forest.  When we got there, we jogged one loop, then did the next one as a fartlek. 

My mental soundtrack.  (kind of NSFW around 3 min, but I chose this version instead of the cleaner ones on youtube because the director also posted some illuminating insight here.  Admittedly, it took me a couple of plays before I got into the video, which is crazy because what's not to like about something that has kung fu, a Western saloon, a robot AND a unicorn?  The six year old me would have been all over that.  But I suppose I was in the wrong mood at first, but then I got on board.  This was even before I read the director's blurb, which perhaps suggests that I have an open mind.  As in, hopefully not leaking open.)

Unfortunately, I seem to have developed a new sort of glitch.  Near the end of my run, my left leg sort of seized up.  There wasn't a lot of pain, hardly any, in fact, but I couldn't bend my knee or swing my leg forward properly.  Running was too lopsided so I stopped to walk, and then something sort of popped and loosened up.  Then I could run, but just for several minutes before the problem returned.  Walking is fine, though, and fortunately I was on my way home by this point.

I can't remember having this issue before.  Possible culprits:

Incomplete recovery from the 50 miler.  Was this my longest run since?  I can't remember. 

Recent gluten mishap.  It's been pretty slight, and I haven't felt joint issues before now, but maybe they were brewing.

Different shoes.  Today, I wore the trail shoes I'd worn for the first 40 miles of the race, and they were fine then, but there were very few roots.  Unlike my home trails, on which trail shoes didn't feel agile enough.  I've worn them just once or twice.  They were too clunky even though they are actually the trail version of the shoes I usually wear.  Yeah, not quite their intended use, and I can't believe they're over two years old, but they've been fine except the mesh lets too much sand in after four hours or so.

Anyway, today, the trail shoes felt ok except I kept snagging my heels on roots at first.  There isn't much difference in the drop, 8 mm as opposed to 6 mm, and I'd thought I was adjusting well, but maybe this was enough to bung motion up after a couple of hours.  Maybe I was tilting my feet up towards the sides to clear the roots.  Who knows?  But it seems clear that they're not going to go the distance.

I'm a bit gutted because I was considering wearing the trail shoes for the ultra.  But plan B isn't out of reach: wear my usual shoes, take them off every couple of hours or so, and dump the sand out.  Surely my lazy butt can manage that at least.  I'm hoping to do a long run next weekend, so I'll give it a whirl then.