Long recovery run

I was happy to get my long run in safely this morning for two reasons. Firstly, after the 4 mile race I was so beaten up I had to delay the long run till the Monday. Yesterday's race effort seemingly not so damaging as the previous race. Second, I had been concerned the night before as I went to bed that I may not be able to run on Sunday. Standing up for two hours in the same place at the Charlotte Criterium (bike race- I now have even more of a respect for the fitness and speed of pro cyclists!!) and then an hour in the same place at a bar for Lauren's birthday, my left calf had started cramping badly and by the end of evening I was walking with a noticeable limp.

Note that I mentioned the word ‘bar’ in my previous sentence. Yes I was given a pass out for Saturday night and was determined to have a few beers and enjoy it. The unfortunate down side of going out for a few beers in Charlotte is that it is a logistical exercise to arrange getting in and out of town. Coming over from England where you can drink freely and rely on public transportation to navigate around afterwards, this has been one of the harder transitions I have had to face since the move. I will not drink and drive and I’m not paying 30 bucks for a cab home. This time I was able to get Lisa to drop me into town and I got the last bus home. The bus however only comes within 2 miles of my house. So I still have a 30 minute walk once I get off! On Saturday night this was a limp home and by the time I hit the sack eventually at 1am the calf was definitely a concern.

Three hours and 20 minutes later off went the bloody alarm and I forced myself out of bed, the prospect of 16 miles hardly enticing. Fortunately the calf seemed okay and I was meeting Spada after 5 miles so I got out there and got it done. Spada and I picked up Beigay and then we ran for 45 minutes or so before the main CRC group met up and I finished my run up with them. It took me over 2 hours to cover those 16 miles but I was just happy to have got this done so i could enjoy the rest of the day with the girls. A friend had a surprise birthday lunch at Maggiano's so I was able to eat my bodyweight in bread, pasta, meat, salad, apple crostada and ice cream before heading to the pool with the kids.