25,5 sunny kilometres

I'm in denial. Despite what the weather forecast says (snow on Monday, sub-zero temperatures tomorrow), spring IS here. The ice has melted in most places and soon I'll be able to run in the woods. My body could do with a change of surface.

Yesterday I failed to think like an intelligent person in possession of common sense and went for a 10 km run in my Mirage, the third run in 3 days. My calves were still aching from Wednesday's VFF excursion, but I paid them no mind. My stupidity strangely paid off. My knee didn't exactly complain, although it did seem slightly unhappy with the whole situation. It was kind enough to let me complete my run without collapsing. And no inflammation followed. Another unexpected benefit of this run was that my calves felt better afterwards.

So there was nothing to stop me from going for a long run with the group today. Certainly not the beautiful weather. I chose my Kayano for it, not wanting to push my luck by running so many kilometres in new shoes. There were 7 of us that met up in Skatås. It hasn't escaped my notice that once again I was the only girl. Where are all the female runners?!

We ran over the Götaälv bridge and down by the water on the Hisingen side. I really like that place. It's yuppie paradise there and I'm definitely no yuppie, but there's something about the pier by the water, a summery feeling that I can't resist. Well, maybe in the winter.

Älvsborgs bridge was much easier to run over, because we had the (strong) wind on our backs. When we reached the highest point and started descending on the other side, my knee started feeling like it was running a fever (ha! A pun. I crack myself up). It obviously didn't like downward slopes. We were running at a pretty fast pace, for a long run, and averaged a 5.15 min/km for 10 km. It was going too fast for me and I was getting tired, and as a result my technique was rapidly becoming horrendous.

We took a break by the Gothenburg Opera to stretch and I asked the guys to slow down a bit for the rest of the run. They obliged, because they're nice like that. My knee felt better now, and I could run the rest of the way back to Skatås. Still, I thought I'd spare my knee the agony of running up the final hill and walk instead.

It was really soothing to take a shower and then a dip in the outdoors pool afterwards. The temperature in the water was 9 degrees and I only lowered myself down to my stomach before I reminded myself that going into cardiac arrest was probably not the best outcome to this great day. I tried to stay in the water for a while to cool my legs off, but only managed a few seconds. Still, that was enough to make my legs feel much more refreshed. My knee probably appreciated the treatment too.

Afterwards we grabbed some coffee and something to eat, and talked about our plans. We have exciting races that we're planning on running together, at least some of us, and it was really fun talking about them. The combination of endorphins, coffee and good company was the perfect end to this run.