Today I went to Griggs Reservoir to do speed workouts. I like to do speed at this park because there are 1/4 mile marks and it has relatively flat areas. (Ironically, I also go there to do hills.)

I did a 1 mile warm up in 14:55 then started the 1/4 mile sprints. The sprints were harder than I had expected. My shins were sore and I felt extremely stiff! I tried to work on form, but it was very difficult to walk fast with form. I felt as if I was walking with Frankenstein legs. Obviously, I need more practice.

Because of the stiffness and pain in my shins, I did just four 1/4 mile sprints with 2 min breaks in between. My sprints were 3:08, 3:14, 3:20 and 3:09. Then I did a 1 mile somewhat cool down — actually, I tried to keep my heart rate around 140 for the entire mile. It was pretty hard to keep the heart rate up and I wasn’t nearly as fast as the other day.

Today was definitely a good workout! If I could walk a mile as fast as I can walk a 1/4 mile, I’d be flying!
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OK, now the bad news. I have been experimenting with wearing insoles to keep my right ankle less floppy. Unfortunately, I do NOT need the insole for the left foot — it actually causes pain in that foot. I assumed I would just have to get used to it, but apparently, that is not the case. After Monday’s walk, there was a little pain in my left foot. Yesterday I wore a different pair of shoes and still had a little pain. Today my foot was still a little sore all day, but now after doing the speed workout, the bone on the outside edge of my foot aches! I’ve been icing, took ibuprofen and plan to wear really comfy shoes tomorrow. I probably will not be doing any serious walking, either.

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