Back to the VFFuture

I've been missing in action the last couple of days and millions of imaginary readers have been sending millions of imaginary worried messages to me wondering where I've been. I've been here, but it's been pretty quiet on the training front so there was little to write about.

The aftermath I feared would come upon me and smite me like a mosquito after my 26 km last Saturday never came. My foot felt fine after the run, at least until we went for a walk Sunday morning. The shoes I use for walking are not very good. Well, that's not fair: they're very good at keeping my feet warm, but they've been making my feet ache for ages, and last Sunday was no exception. I've been massaging and icing and stretching and it feels like the situation is under control (= my foot doesn't hurt, it's just tense) but I sure wish I wouldn't have to keep thinking about it.

Last night it was time for interval training with the club, and can I just say: our coach is amazing. He has so much knowledge which he gladly shares with us, and he knows when to joke about things and when to be serious. Plus he keeps an eye on each and every one of us (and there are lots of us to keep an eye on) and I suspect that he even takes our aches and pains into consideration when planning our training sessions. Not an easy task but somehow he manages. And he does this for free.

There wasn't so much running yesterday but we did focus a lot on muscle elasticity and strength drills, followed by some technique training and calf stretching. Just what I need, in other words. Doing burpees in the snow made me wish I'd taken my warmer gloves with me, but somehow that wish was quickly forgotten when the lactic acid that had accumulated in my legs after several hill repeats made me wish I could roll around in the snow some more and extinguish the fire in my thigh muscles.

This week is a recovery week according to my schedule, which means shorter runs. I took this opportunity to re-introduce my legs to minimalistic running. I'd bought some merino wool socks in town which I was dying to try out, and, after a great session at the gym (yep, I challenged myself with the weights again) I ran home in my VFF, taking a detour to make it 5 km. Those of you who have tried running in VFF know how great they feel on your feet. Those of you that haven't, what are you waiting for? Imagine running on cotton, because that's what it feels like to run on soft snow.

And the verdict? Merino wool socks rock. The temperature wasn't that low (-1), so I don't know how they'd work in lower temperatures, but this morning they kept my toes warm enough. My feet never got hot but they didn't feel cold either. I wish I'd bought these socks sooner so that I could have kept on running in my VFF during the winter.