I definitely have a cold or something. Right now, it’s mild enough that it’s not keeping me from my normal activities, but it’s slowing me down. I waited until all the schools were in session this morning, headed out at 10:00am, and ran a little over 5 miles. My speed and cadence were definitely below average for a 5-mile run, but most of the run felt fine (at one point, I briefly considered going 6.5 miles, which I probably would have regretted). When I finished, I felt wiped out, which is definitely not usually the case. The good news is, my right hamstring is continuing to improve. There’s still a little bit of minor discomfort, but slow jogging didn’t bother it at all, and faster running bothered it less than it did two days ago.

I ran this morning for the third day in a row. Today’s run was 7.2 miles, yesterday’s was 4.9, and Friday’s was 8.5, so I ran about 20.5 miles in just over 48 hours. If I add in Tuesday’s 10.2-miler, That’s almost 31 miles over the past week, which is most definitely a record. I did not plan to do this much running in a short period of time. My COVID shot bumped my running schedule back a day last week, so I ran Friday instead of Thursday. I ran again Saturday, partly to get back on my regular schedule, and also to see if I could run on consecutive days with no ill effects, something I had not done in a very long time. Today’s run was unplanned. I had intended to take the kayak out, but it was a little too windy, and I wasn’t able to get out as early as I had wanted. In need of something to do for exercise prior to watching sports all afternoon, and feeling fine physically, I opted to run again. I’ll see how I feel in several hours, but I suspect I’ll be good. I don’t intend to run 30+ miles every week, but if I’m able to run regularly on consecutive days, it will give me a lot more flexibility in my weekly schedule. It’s also a sign that some of the hard work I’ve put into learning how to run properly, without stressing my feet and joints, may be starting to pay off, which is good to see.

I was not able to get out for my usual Saturday 9 or 10-mile run today due to time constraints, but I did manage to squeeze in a 10K. It turns out that I tweaked my right hamstring when I tripped during Thursday’s run. I could tell at the time that it was a little bit unhappy, but it did not bother me much for the rest of that run, although I did stumble over my right foot several more times, which makes me wonder if I was unconsciously favoring it and not lifting it high enough. This morning, the hamstring was pretty stiff when I started the run, but eventually loosened up, although it never got to a point where it wasn’t bothering me at all. I suspect it will take a week or two before it’s feeling normal again. The good news is, I didn’t trip at all today, and I didn’t seem to be scuffing/dragging my feet as much as I did on my past few runs. My pace was a little bit slower than usual for this time of year at 10:50/mile, but my cadence was 184 steps/minute, which is about normal by recent standards. Other than the mild hamstring discomfort, it wasn’t a bad run. I’ll use the foam roller and heating pad a few times before my next run, likely on Tuesday. I have a COVID/flu booster scheduled Tuesday afternoon, so I’m hoping to get a longer run in the morning in case the shot takes me out of commission for Wednesday/Thursday.

With autumn upon us and the daytime temperatures getting a little bit cooler, I now have the advantage that I can wait until after all of the local schools are in session before I head out to run. That’s what I did today, leaving the house a little past 8:30, and the streets were mostly quiet. I had a pretty good run of about 7.7 miles. The only annoying thing about this run is that for some reason, I tripped 4(!) times. The first time was my own fault, as I was reading a work text on my watch and not looking where I was going. My left foot got tripped up, and I narrowly escaped falling down. The subsequent times were all with the right foot, and just small stumbles. Up until today, I had not had a tripping issue in several months. Over my past 2 or 3 runs, I’ve been noticing my feet (particularly the right foot) “scuffing” or “dragging” more often. It may be that I’m getting into a pattern of not lifting my feet high enough. My running cadence over the past several weeks has been really high (often 185+ steps/minute), so maybe it’s time to sacrifice a few steps per minute in the interest of getting my feet higher off the ground. This will be really important if I ever get more into trail running, as irregular trail surfaces would greatly exacerbate the tripping issue. I’ll monitor this over the next few runs, and see if I can get it corrected.

We have a tropical system meandering through the area this weekend, so things are a bit windy and rainy. It looks like this one is going to pass south of us before heading out to sea. Right now, we are just getting effects from the outer bands of circulation, which means there are a lot of breaks in the rain. I took advantage of one of those breaks to head out for my Saturday run. I went 10.01 miles at an average pace of 10:20/mile, making it my fastest 10-miler so far. The run was mostly rain-free except for a 15-minute shower at around mile 8. Temperatures were in the upper 50s. It was the first time I ran in long sleeves (plus a rain jacket) since probably last spring. As I had expected, my Vibram V-Runs and toe socks got pretty waterlogged. In spite of that, my watch reported my average cadence at 189 SPM. I’m not sure I buy that, but if it’s accurate, I’ll take it. However, my toes were beginning to get cold at the end of the run, and likely would have gotten uncomfortably cold and/or numb had it been any cooler out. I’m likely going to have to reconsider my footwear choices in these cases. I’m hoping my new pair of Xero HFS, plus wool socks, will be warmer than the Vibrams in dry weather, but I doubt they will keep my feet dry if it’s raining. I’m sure my waterproof Altra Lone Peaks would do the job, but they’re a bit on the heavy side.