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.

Beautiful, fall-like morning today, with temperatures in the high 50s and low humidity. I skipped my morning run yesterday in favor of paddling, and won’t have another opportunity until Monday at the earliest, so I headed out this morning in lieu of my usual Friday climbing. Not only was the weather nice, but Howard County schools were out as well, so things were quieter than usual in the neighborhood. I went 10.16 miles, besting my personal best distance by about a tenth of a mile. It was only my 4th run over 10 miles, and it was my fastest, at 10:53/mile, which is almost 30 seconds faster per mile than my second fastest of 11:22. It’s kind of ironic that most of my speed PRs, today included, came when I was not consciously trying to go fast. I was just trying to maintain a comfortable pace with a high cadence, and it worked out great, with a definite assist from the weather. If I do try to go fast, it seems like I start out going too fast and then poop out early, ending up with a slower average pace overall. The run was pretty good comfort-wise, with just some fatigue in my feet towards the end. I suspect that will abate somewhat as I my feet get more acclimated to running these distances.

Yet another sweaty run this morning. We got ¾” of much-needed rain overnight, but one of the storms woke me up at 4:00am, and I was awake for about an hour. As a result, I slept late (for me) and didn’t get out the door for my run until around 9:00. It was humid (as usual) and by then, the sun was up, making the first half of the run feel kind of oppressive. The second half was better, as breeze and a low cloud deck had rolled in. I ran 9 miles, and was out of water by about mile 7.5, underscoring my need for greater water-carrying capacity if I’m going to be taking longer runs in these conditions. I also need to invest in some moisture-wicking short sleeved running shirts that fit me a little bit better than the ones I currently have. Most of my athletic tops are rather loose fitting, which works well for certain activities, but in these conditions, they get really heavy with perspiration and start to chafe after a while. I guess I have some ideas for my Christmas list. The good news is that I seem to have figured the lower half out — I’ve been wearing moisture-wicking running tights over boxer briefs for all of my runs, and have not had any issues with chafing or heat rash “down there” for the entire summer. My favorites are my two pairs of REI Swiftland shorts, but I have a pair of Rabbit shorts that I like as well.