Day 7 - Long Run

Today was my first plant powered long run.  It was wet, raining, cold and muddy.  I also tried out my new minimalist trail shoes the New Balance MT10s.  The plan was to go out to Victoria Park, which is 5km away, then do laps of the park, splashing around in the muddy paths with my trail shoes.

At least they look like proper trail shoes now...

So how did it go?  Not quite as I was expecting.

The first thing I found out was the shoes are not comfy for hard surfaces. I'm a natural mid-foot striker, so I thought I'd still feel springy. But no, no springy-ness, instead I felt each step as it struck the concrete.  Not the shoes fault though, instead it was mine for not thinking it through properly.

Once I got to the park and the trails, I discovered the second thing - these shoes make no claim at all about water resistance.  In fact, they are better stated as sieve-like, water goes in easy, water comes out easy.  I imagine in a variety of conditions that will be really useful (trails on a warm day, after running through a river, etc).  Doing muddy 5km laps of the park with a 5km run home on concrete in soggy socks was not a training highlight I'll cherish.

So, once again not the shoes fault, but instead discovery process for me. 

Injury wise, my knee started playing up at the 3km mark, but by some miracle stopped hurting at about the 12-13km point.  Either I corrected my form or the soggy socks drove any consideration of pain out of my head.  Or maybe I'm just getting past a period of adjustment.  I may never know :)

What was the verdict for my first plant powered run? Inconclusive. For a start it is too early in the process for my body to have made many adjustments. Secondly the weather and my poor choice in running gear weighed heavily on the run.  I did manage to bang out 20km, in less than ideal conditions and as I write this in the evening, I'm feeling pretty much recovered. So +1 for recovery speed if nothing else.