Written yesterday so please excuse the use of the present tense for something that happened in the past:
I woke up with my mind set. Today I was going to run 30km do or die. The weather was crap once again, raining and dismal, but I didn't care. I put on plenty of layers, thermal top and long sleeved top and tracksuit top and waterproof jacket over that. I wore tracksuit bottoms on my lower half and covered my delicate swanlike neck with my sexy Buff tubular. I was now ready to hit the road, armed only with myself and my trusty Garmin GPS.
The first few kilometres I had a four legged friend with me, Negrita the mini Schnauzer, but she soon showed her disappointment with the weather, and after a little less than 4 kilometres it was time to take her home again. After a quick covert operation to get her back into the apartment without having to go up the stairs myself and break up the rhythm of my run, which involved the use of the house speakerphone to give Anny the secret codeword for the operation to commence, I was off again by myself.
I hadn't planned my route and it was all pretty much off the cuff and free will and all that. My free will took me down to Central and then made me follow a tram up to the zoo. I begged my free will not to make me do so many hills but it just wouldn't listen. Once up at the zoo I wondered where it would take me next. It was taking me towards Dubendorf and out of the forest and back onto the roads. Enough was enough I told myself - my free will should not have its wicked way anymore. The woods is much softer on my joints than the tarmac roads. From then on I stuck to the forests as much as possible. I was heading towards Pffanenstiel at one point and then I diverted my course to head back towards the Dolder, through some horse country. There is a nice looking restaurant near the Dolder that I have passed several times now, and each time I think it seems like a good place to go for dinner. The name of the restaurant is Adlisberg and maybe I should give it a try one of these days, although money is tight at the moment what with being a full time athlete and not winning anything.
After gingerly taking the downhill from the Dolder to the lakeside, trying to minimise the slap slap of my running sneakers on the ground as much as possible, I headed back towards home. But alas the distance was only going to be 22km. That simply was not acceptable - I had promised myself to do 30km. So despite being pretty tired and feeling like putting my feet up on the sofa, I diverted my course to avoid home and headed instead along the Limmat in the direction of Baden. I was no longer the only runner in sight - along the river seemed to be the place to be. My pace was slow and steady, but even at this pace the small uphills were hurting me bad. Not the kind of pain that comes from injury, but the kind that comes from pushing your boundaries. The battle was on - mind over matter, and there could only be one winner - my mind. When I reached the turning point (near the island where people sunbathe naked in the summer) I was as happy as a pig in poop to be heading back towards home. The 4km distance became 3 and then 2. Now it was time to up the pace a bit, to make those tired muscles fire on all four, to teach them to work despite the fatigue. The last few kilometres I was cruising. I had found my cruise control.
Arriving back at home, I reached immediately for the protein shake. Getting some food and protein into your body after such effort is paramount to the speed of your recovery. After the protein shake I woofed down my dinner, had a hot bath and did my stretches. I had done as much as I could do to limit the DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) the following day. Only time would tell how I would feel the day after.
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