20 Done!

Today was my last long run before CIM. Armed with nothing more than a bottle of water and and two GU packs, I hit the road. Since I could not stand to zig zag through my neighborhood one more time, I decided to work on my mental toughness and run around the Embarcadero loop eight times. It's two miles from my house to Cumberland and each loop is roughly two miles...perfect route for a 20 mile run and HS wouldn't have to worry about me (The Niners were playing so my escort stayed home).

If you want to see something funny, follow this link to my Garmin data and click on the "player" button ...you can watch my loops :-)

Last Long Run Before CIM by tpengilly at Garmin Connect - Details

My legs were pretty tired at the end of the run. I also had a couple of raw spots on my back where my sports bra rubbed. Other than that, I felt really good about the run. This is my longest run this year and it follows a brick workout on Friday and a 24 mile ride on Saturday. Come race day, I am going to be rested and ready. I'm starting to look forward to race day and Leatherby's!

Cloudsurfers - Run #3

The shoes felt good during the run. I did develop a blister on the bottom of one of my toes.  However, it could have happened with any of my shoes...I just don't know because I haven't done a 20 mile run in my Brooks or Mizunos. I am having second thoughts about racing in the Cloudsurfers though... I've got three weeks to decide.

Recovery

As soon as I got home I had HS help me out of my compression calf sleeves. I changed into a swim suit and headed to the back yard for an "ice bath." I was going to sit on the pool cover, but after my feet hit the icy water, the idea of sitting down didn't sound so good. I sat on the edge of the pool and tried to slide towards the middle. As soon as my butt touched the water, I was ready to stand up. 

I managed to stand on the cover, ankle deep, for about ten minutes. I then switched to the hot tub for a little soak and stretch for about 15-20 minutes. I went back to the cover for another foot/ankle soak for 10 minutes and then back to the hot tub.

After that, I changed into my compression pants (I will probably sleep in these tonight). I also got our TENS/EMS unit out of the closet. This machine is pretty incredible. Hook up the electrodes, turn it on, set the strength and your pain goes away. TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator, and EMS stands for Electronic Muscle Stimulator. Both settings can be used to treat chronic pain (my right achilles always feels tender). While the units function similarly they are different. The TENS unit stimulates the nerve endings while the EMS unit stimulates the muscles. I'm using the EMS setting.

Another foot pic