Notes
Disappointing day. Dropped out after the second loop. I could tell about a mile in that my shoes were not very comfortable but I didn't not think that it would be a big problem. As we started the second loop my left foot started burning, especially on the ball of my foot. It got worse and worse as we went on, as we hit four miles I could really only run with my toes curled up or if I planted on my heal and avoided pronating through completely. This had happened a few times before. In February at some point I had to cut a treadmill workout short because of the same thing. It got to the point where it was just excruciating and I could tell I wouldn't be able to run normal the rest of the way. I decided as we came down the home stretch of the second lap that I wasn't going to drop out but then as we turned up the hill after the 5mi, it got even worse and so I decided to call it a day.
This was especially frustrating because I was feeling so good. I know that it's easy to talk big, but this was definitely my best run first 5mi of an Ides of March. Last year I got out too fast and was just hanging on after one lap. The year before I let a bunch of people get away from me on the second lap and just never, mentally, got into racing mode. This year I stayed patient the first mile and hung back. All 7 of us were pretty much in one back through the mile. As BS, Kennedy and Crumrine started pulling away a bit I let them go but stayed relaxed and steady. Came through the 2.5mi at 14:15. After the first lap I made an intentional push to catch up to Paul and so from 3-4 we were together and Shark was tagging along too. My breathing was really relaxed and I felt like I was in a good spot. Unfortunately, all the stuff with my foot was going on too. So while I was feeling great in one sense, I was feeling awful in another. Started slowing down because I could really stride normal and still came through the 5 in 28:49 (14:34 for the second 2.5). In my mind I had planned on making a solid push the first half the the 3rd lap and then relaxing until the last two miles. I doubt I would have negative split as drastically as Paul but even if I had run 29min for the second half I would have been in PR range. Bummer.
In some ways this was still a really positive experience. I got some feedback on my fitness and found out that I am probably in better shape than I realize. Being in genuinely GOOD shape is not far off. Also, doing only 5mi instead of 10 will be easier to recover from. I've been pretty beat up this week, so hopefully I'll be able to still have a solid week coming up. My left foot is still kinda sore but I don't think that this will be an issue going forward. Looking back in my log at other times that this has happened, it seems like a certain pair of old but thick socks has been the culprit. I can't absolutely prove that, but I'll avoid that pair for a while and see what happens.