A Change of Pace

I try really hard to be open minded about things.  I try not to assume that I'm right and 'they're' wrong.

Sometimes though, I get a shock because something I took for granted suddenly gets blown apart. When something that seems so obvious that it's not even worth thinking about turns out to be wrong - well, it messes with my head.

Geoff messed with my head.  He is my chiropractor who regularly saves my legs when they start acting up.  I went to see him yesterday.  I told him that I had been running well and virtually pain free for a few weeks.  Then, on Tuesday, things flared up.  Tight calves, shins, ankles, feet - the works.

We talked about what it could be. I told him that I had a great 20k long run last Saturday.  I confirmed that, as instructed by our coach, I slowed my pace by about 20-30 seconds per kilometre.  He smiled.  Ah ha!  That's probably the problem.

What?!?

In my world - the one full of rainbows, faeries and wizards - it makes complete sense that when you take it easy on a run, it's easier on your body.

It's a no brainer.

So I thought.

Geoff said that the slower a person runs, the longer their feet are in contact with the ground.  Therefore the more pressure on the body with each step.  In my case, it may have caused a flare up.

Seriously?

So my fall back plan of running more slowly when I'm hurting could actually be hurting me?

My world is shattered.

What else have I been doing ass backwards?

*sigh*

Moving on to cycling for a moment - has anyone been watching the Tour de France?

It has become an evening ritual and Doug and I sit glued to the television every night watching the race.

When it comes to running - I have been amazed, impressed, humbled and any other word you can think of when watching elite runners keep a pace for two hours that I couldn't sustain for 2 minutes.

But I know that, given the right motivation, I could hit their pace - even for a minute or two.

Cycling is different beast entirely.  These guys sustain a pace for hours that I can't even hit.  The other day they were cycling at 55km/hour.  For hours.  I don't even know how a human does that.  I've exerted myself to what feels like my max and can't hit 35km/hour - even for a second.  I barely hit 50k/hour on a downhill.

It's incomprehensible to me how they do it.  

And don't even get me started about how horrifying it is to watch them ride down a mountain at 80+km/hour.  Going around hairpin turns.  With no barricade to separate them from a horrible death.  It's normally at that point when they nonchalantly reach into their back pocket, grab a power bar, rip it open and start snacking.

I would be curled up in the fetal position by the side of the road crying - please don't make me ride down that mountain.  I'll die!

Lesson for today?  I need to run faster.  I need to cycle faster.

Someday I'm going to find myself a sport where going slowly is the objective.

Wouldn't that be a nice change of pace?