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Olympic Challenge Day 5 : 13.2 miles run, 3.9 miles walk, 61 miles down, 144 to go.

Run, 13.2 miles, 1:52,  Average HR 148, Calories 1133
Walk 3.9 miles, 1:30
Total 61 miles
Distance to go: 144 miles

Sun was shinning today, light cumulus drifted up high and light breeze, a simply wonderful day for a gentle long run along the shores of Loch Venachar so I headed out for one my half marathon distance loops to take in the sights. All morning I was still stiff from the hill race two days previous, in particular my glutes ached particular on going up/down stairs and during the run the discomfort of running so soon after a hard race made itself known particular on the down hills.  My right Achilles was also a little uncomfortable but as the miles ticked by the discomfort eased off and I able to cruise along and easy pace without problem. My heart rate after a couple of weeks being a bit elevated during runs was settling lower which was nice to see.  The stress of having an unwell child and visits to hospitals all has its effect, one of which showed up in my resting HR all my HR during training runs.  A couple of weeks with everyone at home and getting better has reduced  stress levels all round and with it the suppression of my aerobic fitness markers such as HR for a given speed and calories per mile.  Not quite back to where I was just before the Highland Fling back in April but not far short. Once back home I felt generally pretty good but on taking off my Roclite 295's and starting to walk around barefoot I got shooting pains from the underside of my left foot, I have on occasional had a few niggles from my plantar fascia but none for many months.  I had slight discomfort from my right  plantar fascia as well.  I stood on my foam roller to message and stretch out the tension but still they remained sore.

After dinner Ellen, my youngest daughter, aged 8, and I went on a walk up along the route of the Callander Highland Games Junior Hill Race.  Ellen had been keen to do it having heard about the Junior event running up to the Highland Games.  She didn't fancy entering the 4 mile hill race, but really wanted to see the route so off we went.   My plantar fascia was still aching so I wore my Vivobarefoot Neo Trail shoes, without doubt the most comfortable shoe I own and perhaps have ever worn. The Neo Trails have next to no support of course and very little sole between my own sole and stony trails - might sound sore for someone with an inflamed plantar fascia but it's great for an all round foot massage.

Two miles into the walk we turned off the official Junior route and follow the Senior route down to the new Bracklin Bridge. An experiment with the front facing camera on my HTC Ones S didn't come out well, just too low resolution, foggy and blurry, but... it's a fun and cute picture so I've included it :-) The view from the bridge was a delight in so many ways! On the return trip Ellen spotted one Roe Deer in the woods that watched us from behind the tree trunks.  Then further along we saw another right in the middle of the rrail we had been on just half an hour before on the way up to Bracklin Falls. The Deer just watched us and we watched it for a couple of minutes.  I had a chance to get the phone out to take some more photos, but alas the ones zoomed in using digital just didn't cut it, so you'll have to do with the wide angle view. We eventually left the Deer to enjoy the wood on it's own and heading downhill back homeward.  Less than a hundreds metres down the trail Ellen spotted something tiny moving across the trail - a small frog, I tried to capture it on the trail but it's camoflage was just to good to pick it out in the evening light.  It was daft enough to jump onto my hand so I was lucky to get this quick short of it before it left off into the undergrowth. Ellen was chuffed to bits about seeing the wildlife and the erudite comment that sometimes you see amazing things when you don't look for them but if you try too hard often you don't see anything.

The walk did my sore feet a bit of good, but still they were uncomfortable heading to bed. As much as I really enjoyed the run along Loch Venachar in the sun, and the lovely walk in the evening with Ellen the prospect on injury halting my Olympic Challenge was a worry.

Posted by Robert Osfield at 20:03