10 K Barefoot Hill Jog

Oct. 9, 2018: 10 K/Barefoot/1:01:04

The older you get, the more rest you need in order to feel sufficiently recovered from your previous training. What used to take only a day for recovery now takes two. I felt so when I came home from work last night. I had a good 25 K barefoot run on Sunday, and gave myself a full rest on Monday. That should be enough, but I didn't feel entirely refreshed. Should I skip training, or should I do it? I still hadn't completely shaken off my coughs, and increased acidity in my body resulting from hard training might make it vulnerable to germs and viruses, which in turn might prolong the recovery process...After some pondering, I decided to run, but without giving myself too much stress.

I had a choice between going barefoot or sock-clad or shoe-clad. I picked the first choice: barefoot. Not just because it feels the best, but also because with a race within two weeks I didn't want my soles to lose their durability built up up to this point through constant effort.

I ran the usual 6 K shuttle course, ran two 1 K hill repeats near halfway, went back where I came from, and added three laps around a 650 M quarter-pie-shaped loop, to make it a solid 10 K jog. While I was doing the hill repeats, I thought of doing two more repeats, but didn't, because I was hungry and tired, and just couldn't keep my motivation. But while running back home, the pendulum swung right and left between settling for 8 K or going extra miles to make it 10 K. I chose the latter by going around the loop near my house. Somehow, the nearer I am, the less lonely I feel, and the less lonely I feel, the easier for me to keep motivation. Funny. I didn't run fast at all. The main purpose of the training that night was sole maintenance and minor cardio conditioning. But the last 2 K presented to me a different kind of challenge: a rough road surface. It was a good practice because there are so many unpredictable elements in the race on 21st. One of them is the road condition. I am going to run it for the first time. The venue is a bit far, so I don't think I can make time to go there and test run the course. The road condition is unknown until I run it. So I need to be mentally prepared to adjust my running form according to the road surface condition in order to minimize damage to the soles. 

I think I was able to do good training both physically and mentally.