Running With Jack

It was a beautiful 23C/74F when I got home from work last night. I relaxed a bit then got ready to run with my running club. I arrived at the trailhead about 20 minutes ahead of time, so warmed up with a couple kilometers. As I speeded up on the second kilometer I noticed a bit of discomfort in my left thigh, like an over streched or over worked muscle - not good.

I set off with the mid-pack group, but they were a bit slow, so after the first 6-7 minutes I took off with a couple faster runners. After about 10 minutes I started feeling the dull ache in my leg so let the other two run ahead and I trotted back and rejoined the mid-pack group. After a couple minutes this group started their interval training, i.e. took off and left me behind with a couple ladies who didn't want to speed up quite so fast.

Eventually we caught the group again after they finished their 800 meter sprint. We ran around 800-1000 meters, then the group took off again, my leg was feeling better so I hung with them, albeit barely. We continued this for another cycle or two, then jogged in the last couple kilometers.

I ended up with 14 km (8.7 mi.) for the night, at an average pace of about 5:30/km (8:51/mi.). After the run I enjoyed catching up on the news with the group, stretched, then headed home for some food. Later the muscle in my left thigh started tightening up and became quite sore, but I messaged it the best I could and it gradually felt better. This morning it feels almost back to normal. Tonight I want to take a rest night to get the body in shape for a race on Sunday.

On Sunday I am running my seventh marathon/ultra for the year, the Koberstaedt Forest Marathon in Egelsbach, between Frankfurt and Darmstadt, Germany. The marathon route consists of two loops around a mostly dirt/gravel forest trail with approx. 150 meter (500 feet) elevation gain/loss with each loop.

This is generally the kind of race that I excel at, but I haven't trained for a fast race so will wait and see how I feel on race day. The weather is looking very favourable with sunshine and temperatures in the low 70's (°F) expected. I'll let you know how it goes!