Week 11: Indian summer

The weather is glorious for November.  Chilly mornings, but without frost for the moment.  Then, when the sun climbs over the mountain and burns off any mist, the afternoons are balmy.  I am tempted to run outside every day, but I want to stick to my training plan.  Every other day I try to go to the gym as a rest day for my poor feet, knees and hips.  I am worried that running every day will put too much strain on my inexperienced body.  So despite the sunshine I head for the gym and cross my fingers that tomorrow the weather will be the same for my scheduled outdoor session.  My fitness exercises of lunges, squats, press ups and sit ups are done outside to take advantage of the autumn sun, and stock up on Vitamin D.
My daughter was with me for my speed runs this week so I took advantage of her to time me.  My first tour took 1minute 40 for 400 metres, alternating sprints and jogging.  On the second tour  I slowed to 1 minute 53, and finally 1 minute 56.  I did ten circuits with jogging, sprinting and walking.  At this pace I could potentially do 1km in three and a half minutes, in theory anyway!
The next day I attacked my second real trail.  I chose a route I know well, that can be found on the "Trail Station" site, Le Barioz.  It is a small ski station behind my house.  The weather was magnificent, blue skies and temperatures of 14°C.  The trail starts from the cross country skiing base and rises rapidly on forest tracks.  I managed to run for the first kilometre, and was happy to catch two Mountain bikers who had started before me.  Out of breath, I alternated running and fast walking for the next 2km to the plateau.  There were a lot of families walking, and I was asked for directions which slowed my pace.  The route then drops steeply back to the cross country station.  I really enjoyed being outside and the 7 kilometres felt very easy.  I was disappointed when it was over.  Comparing my times to others who have run the route, I was pleased to see that my one hour five minutes was perfectly respectable, taking into account the stops to give directions.
After my rest day this week I had planned to do some hill repetitions but when I woke up my achilles tendon was sore.  After a quick Google search for "sore heel after running", I decided to go to the gym and do some static bike and fitness training to avoid putting any more pressure on the tendon.  Apparently an injured achilles tendon can take a long time to heel.  So "better safe than sorry" is still my motto.
A weekend seminar meant that I didn't run at the end of the week, and ate and drank too much.