Ocean Running

Last week we went on holidays. On a boat.

A bit more than a boat to be fair, it was the Disney Magic ship, a beautiful ship. As we were catching a late flight on Friday to Barcelona, I had hoped to get my long run in Friday morning, but hair appointments (not mine!) and getting ready meant time was limited, so I cut it short to 13 miles.

I didn't run Saturday, we spent the day getting settled in, and there was so much going on I couldn't leave the kids. Sunday was a full day sailing at sea, and I hit the gym. It is always packed on this day as you can't get off the ship, and funnily enough, it is the only day the gym is packed.
Anyway, I did 6 miles on the treadmill which was really tough going. The temperature was 28 Celsius and I don't think the gym is air conditioned. I have always hated running on treadmills, your stride is more restricted I feel than natural running. I did however avail of the excellent weights section, and enjoyed that.
Monday I did 7 miles, two warmup, then increasing to 6:50, 6:40, 6:30, 6:20, and a mile cool down, again with a weights session. Tuesday was 6 miles, although a bit more consistent around 6:50 pace.
A funny thing happened on Wednesday.I had made it a policy of not using the elevators, opting instead for stairs for that extra bit of exercise. As I was descending some stairs, I got a very sharp shooting pain in my left foot and I placed it down. The next few steps were fine, and then the pain again. It seemed to be transient so I was not too worried. I headed to the gym shortly after, and as soon as I had run just a few steps, the shooting pain returned, so much so, that I nearly came off the treadmill. I tried again, unsuccessfully, each time the pain getting sharper.
I had an idea that the sudden change from road to consistent treadmill mileage was not liked by my foot. There was however a backup plan. There was a running deck, and three miles and the more firm surface passed relatively trouble free. The foot however continued to give me problems for the next few days, so I decided to rest it entirely.

We got back on Saturday after an early flight, and I managed to get a sneaky 6 mile run in that evening. The first mile, my foot was sore, however, as the miles went on, the pain eased, so that by the last mile it was all but gone. As I ran on the hard road, I could almost feel my body realign its self  with each footstep.
Sunday was long run, plan was 18 at 30 seconds slower than target marathon pace. The previous weeks had gone well at 7:20 target, always coming in around 7:15 average, however with the break in running I was doubting myself, so I set the watch to 7:30. The pace actually felt easy enough for most of the run, it was quite breezy, but nothing too drastic. I finished the 18 miles with a 7:19 average, and I was pretty happy about it, particularly as the previous evenings 6 miles had been only 16 hours earlier it meant I did 24 miles in less than 24 hours.
Monday was a rest day, and wouldn't you know it, I started to get a cold. It was inevitable really, my wife got sick towards the end of the cruise, and both kids followed suit.
I really didn't feel like running today, my throat felt like sandpaper and my head was really hurting, but I decided I would try an easy few miles anyway. The first mile all I wanted to do was turn back. I planned 9 miles, but decided to shorten the course to 6. Funnily, after the third mile, I started to feel much better, and had gotten into a nice stride, so I changed the plan again. I did 4 easy miles, and then a 6:50, 6:40, 6:30, and 6:20 mile. The 6:20 mile felt easier than the 6:50 mile for some reason. I did a further two easy mile to cool down for 10 in total. As soon as I got in the door, I started feeling pretty miserable again though, and even had to lie down for a while, with some disapproving looks from the wife and gentle questioning as whether I was sure it was a good idea!
With the Dublin half marathon less than two weeks away, i need to keep training sick or not. Already I can feel my fitness going down from where it was three weeks ago. But at least if I am ill now, it is unlikely I will be ill again before the actual marathon like last year.