I’ve had cramping issues in the past and thought they were over, but with all the running I’ve been doing lately, they’ve come back. Not bad, but I had a charley horse for a week and couldn’t roll it out with my foam roller. So I talked to my coaches about it and they said I should see our masseuse at the next track session. He was able to work the knot out, but gave me a big bruise, so I couldn’t continue the treatment on my own. But coach Kris watched me run and told me I needed to shorten my stride. I knew this, as well as needing to increase my cadence, but it’s a completely different way of running that takes a lot of practice. It’s more like shuffling your feet. Seriously, I’m supposed to be taking 180 steps per minute! I understand why — the principle is the same on a bike — it’s just hard to get used to doing it.
At yesterday’s buddy run, I really focused on that and am not sore today. Maybe I’m starting to get it. Here’s yesterday’s run.
I also am using the run/walk method. I tried to do our time trial running the whole way and did 3 miles in 36 minute. Not bad. It puts me in wave two, which is the second-slowest, so at least I’m not THE slowest. But my run/walk pace is only about 13:30, so I’m not losing a bunch of time, and if it keeps me fresher throughout the whole half-marathon, it’ll be worth it.