Weekly News Number 39
Last week, I had to decide whether to go to Port Mac or not. As always when I have to make decisions like this, there's a little voice in my head trying to make everything sound better and asking the same question over and over again: Yeah, but what if it actually works out?
At the same time, I know that things rarely go well when you're not properly prepared. So I decided not to spend seven hours in the car just to get to a race. For me, it was the right decision. At least that's what my gut tells me. Looking at the coming months, I think it's better to give my foot the time it needs.
And to be fair, running is actually going really well at the moment. When I think back to just a few weeks ago, when I was still doing runs with walking breaks in between, I've already come quite a long way. Last Saturday, I managed to run 8 × 1 km, with the final kilometre in 4:10. The main goal wasn't to do a particularly hard session, though. It was more about gradually putting some more load through my plantar fascia.
Not only did the run go well, but I also had no problems afterwards. Something that still surprises me a little is that my plantar fascia sometimes feels better after a run and a proper warm-up than it does when I first get out of bed. That's actually when I notice it the most. Once I've stretched it out properly and walked around a little, it gets much better.
Another thing that helps is when Mel gives my foot and calves a really good massage. And of course, I'm still keeping up with my strength training. As I've mentioned before, I either do my exercises at the pool after swimming or at home on the days when I don't swim. A lot of it is pretty simple and can be done with my resistance band and some bodyweight exercises.
A Run and a Magic Coffee
When I think back to the highlights of this week, the run was probably one of the biggest ones. And of course, the coffee afterwards.
After the run, Emma and I headed to Sunshine Social for a coffee. A few weeks ago, Emma came home and told me she'd had a Magic Coffee. I'd never heard of it before, and I'm pretty sure there aren't many cafés in Switzerland that have a Magic on their menu. Although I'm sure a few baristas would know exactly how to make one.
The Magic Coffee originally comes from Melbourne. But what actually is it? Basically, it's a double ristretto with steamed milk. Whenever I have milk in my coffee, I always go for oat milk. I started drinking it at some point and now I really like it.
We also had two reasons to celebrate that day. It was my sister's birthday as well as Emma's brother's birthday. Funny enough, they were both born on exactly the same day. So we raised our coffees to the two of them.
Catching Up With Kurt
Another nice part of the week was finally having a proper phone call with Kurt on Sunday afternoon. It had been a while since we'd last had the chance to catch up.
Even though Kurt is among the best in the world at what he does, I can still give him a tip or two every now and then. And of course, he gives me plenty of advice as well.
I'm really grateful for all the knowledge he shares with me. At the same time, one thing I really like about working together is that we can sometimes bring different perspectives to the table and actually learn from each other.
With the time difference and all the training, it's not always easy to find time for a phone call every single week. But as I mentioned last week, we've managed to communicate pretty well throughout this whole period and keep moving forward together.
Getting Back Into a Proper Routine
Now I'm looking forward to the coming weeks and getting back into a more consistent training routine. Since we can finally plan my running a bit more regularly again, the whole training schedule is becoming easier to manage.
For me, it's always nice when I know what I'm doing each day, week after week. I'll also have another three days of work, which is a welcome change. It gives me the chance to put my energy into something other than training and meet different people along the way.
Anyway, that's it for this week. I'll keep looking after my foot so that hopefully I'll have more positive things to share with you next week. And make sure you look after yourselves too.
See you next week.
Cyrill
