Foot in a Bucket

So last night I started an email to a friend with the line:
"It's now 12.10am and I'm sitting at my desk with my left foot in a bucket of cold water."
It's probably one of the better starts to an email I've written. My foot was in a bucket of water because I was giving it a faux ice bath. I didn't have any ice available after my run and I really couldn't face getting into the bath up to my waist because it was late, so I decided to just soak one foot and then the other into a bucket of cold water and hope that would help reduce the swelling in my tired, overworked and slightly rebellious feet. Hard to say if it worked or not but I'd like to think the placebo effect alone can give me a bit of a boost.

The reason I was soaking my foot was that last night I finally ran 30kms. It took me a freakin' age and I still can't quite account for all of the time I spent. Unless I've got my times wrong, I think it took me 3.5 hours. Now there were some toilet stops, breaks for taking on water and energy gels, plus a good stretch session at the half way point but still, it seems like that took longer than I reckon it did. No matter, I finished the distance, I did it with no issues from my right foot and at the end I did it with energy to spare and a smile (well half smile, half grimace) on my face. I reckon I was doing it tougher at the 25km mark than I was at the 30km mark. By the end I was having to tell myself to slow down because I was getting a reasonable pace going (I was nearing that finish line!) and there's no need to be going fast and adding extra stress to the joints.

What I reckon I learned from that run was firstly that my feet felt better when running with more of a forward lean so that I was landing mid-foot rather than heel first. When I started landing heel first too often, I would sometimes get the slightest twinge of pain. I would then adjust my stride and all was good again. I also got a lot of confidence from the run. It's great to be able to finish a run and still have energy to spare. I only took two energy gels too. I thought i would have used more than that but closer to 30km, I was actually starting to feel a little like I wouldn't mind a quick vomit. The thought of taking on an energy gel didn't appeal at all which surprised me because they are a very tasty chocolate flavour and I usually really look forward to getting stuck into them!

The listening selection for the run began with three podcast episodes of History Of Rome. Fascinating stuff! Then it was onto all of the songs on my phone on random. It bounced from Wu Tang Clan across to The Walkmen and then over to Regina Spektor. All over the shop! Finally I finished up with the new Bon Iver album in an effort to help me slow myself down.

Right, well now I've gotta get the body right for Sunday's Sandy Point Half Marathon. I really hope I get my Garmin watch back before then!