Sleep Well!

First off, a small whinge. Or maybe it's a moment to pay respect. West Australian tick nymphs are no more than 1 mm in size, but I think they rank very highly in terms of size-to-power ratio. Two weeks after my Baby Bib fastpack and my huge red welts still inch, particularly when they get hot. At least they've stopped making those weird little yellow crystals. Here are two of the bites on my medial calf.

Alright, now that I've got mass sympathy, I can move on :)

This week was all about speedwork (with 15kms of hills thrown in) in the lead up to the Bunbury 50k. Thank goodness I was back to see my sports chiro on Friday morning. My mid back and shoulders get so tight when I do speed work, especially when I get out to the track races.

Rolf happened to take some video of me during a 4k race. I didn't realise he was doing it at the time, but it proved very useful. I caught lots of images of heel striking. So when I got home, I got out the Chi Running book for bedtime reading. Today, for my easy run, I decided I'd do well to get out the Vibram 5 fingers. They're excellent at promoting proper form. It took a few kms, but then I was running well, knees slightly bent to better absorb shock, body leaning slightly forward from the ankles, peeling my heels. It turned into one of those very relaxing runs. Then I popped into yoga and today's focus was mostly back stretching and core work, which suited me well.

I also had a confidence-inspiring Thursday night run. I ran 17k at Bunbury race pace. Every time I do those runs, I get into the mental battles. You know the ones.... This is too hard, there's no way I can sustain this for 50 kms, I'm too hot, my heart rate is too high.... But I had company for a change, which helped distract me from that annoying voice in my head. And then I realised, "Hey, I'm talking. I'm conversational!" That's a good sign. I mean, it wasn't that I was conversational like a normal person. There were still a bunch of those two-breath sentences, but that really inspired confidence against my nay-sayer.

I got very little sleep Thursday night and noticed a very interesting thing on Friday. I became a snacking/sugar addict. All day I wanted to eat. Especially sugar, but I'd settle for anything. It was fascinating. It must be chemical. And it really made me wonder about so many people out there working long hours, up with kids at night and the like...and being overweight. I bet there's already science on this, but I've just never realised this connection before. Even more reason to sleep late now - we'll save on the grocery bills :)