8km

I was excited to do 8km this morning. I had an ART treatment yesterday, and it really loosened up my hip a lot; it felt great when the chiropractor was done. He also worked a lot on my calves (mostly gastrocs and soleus) and they were SO very very sore last night and even this morning when I woke up. I worried that would slow me down, and I think it did a little bit. My legs felt pretty heavy and tired today, and I had to concentrate really hard during my workout.

Since my injury and during my rehab, it's been very challenging to racewalk, because I have to focus so much on my technique. There is a LOT to think about to keep my glutes engaged, make sure I am bringing my hips through low but not dropping them excessively, keeping my motion forward and not sideways (the PT noticed this a bit in the video he took), and making sure my feet are not crossing the midline too much. Never mind engaging my core, being aware of my arm position, etc. Racewalking is mental work too, which is one of the reasons I like it, as a detail-obsessed scientific type.

Back to this morning. It was quite warm and windy when I started, as a cold front was going to come through. So even though it was 57F (14C) I wore capris and a long-sleeved shirt, and I definitely remembered to wear my baseball cap in case it started raining. It's still dark at 6 am (when I left), so I also had my headlamp, my reflective vest with rear blinky, and pepper spray. About 4km into my walk these preparations paid off, as it started to rain and the temperature dropped quickly. It was only 50F (10C) when I finished my walk.

The walk itself went fine. I did stop twice at a stop light and stretched while I was there, and did some leg swings. I also stopped a couple other times to do my step-downs with the band to make sure my glutes were engaged. My legs were a bit tired to start, and by 6km they were a lot more tired, though not so tired I couldn't finish; I just slowed down a bit.

When I got home I rolled out my hip on the medicine ball...and Calvin complained to me that I smelled bad and that I should take a shower! Haha! Have got to love the honesty of an 8-yr-old :).

Total time: 49:05 for 6:08/km with ave HR 148.

Garmin data here.