Week 11: Kobe Marathon 2013

In general, running was good this week, if a bit adventurous.

First for the adventure.  I've made a change from all road to two trail runs and two road runs a week.  I'm loving the trails on Mount Rokko and below are a few reasons why.

But the trails come with some new friends.  Among the snakes and spiders, wild boar are also common.  Now, boar are totally new to me, and I've been inching closer to them with each encounter.  Well, there's no getting any closer after my latest encounter.

pic from www.itsnature.org

Coming down a hill, I spotted a boar.  All I hear are crazy stories of bitten hands and lost fingers, so naturally, I stopped.  Coming down the hill behind me was a couple who also stopped.  The man decided there was no threat and kept walking.  So, soon his wife/ girlfriend and I followed.

Only two steps in, the boar spots the lady and I, and starts heading closer.  I froze and the lady freaked out.  By the time she was done flailing, the boar had touched us both with his snout and (I'm assuming) figuring out we had no food, continued on his way.

I can't say I wasn't scared, but this was definitely a lesson that not all wild boars are out for fingers.  Doesn't mean I won't run the opposite way next time!

Other than this, a fairly standard week.

In health news, two things.  One, week 11 will be my last week of open diet.  From now, I'll be cutting sweets and alcohol in order to lean out for eight weeks time.

Second is my calf.  I've been pounding my calves a lot with hills in the mountain and calf jumps in strength sessions.  It seems to be catching up.  My right calf has a slight pain at the top on the outside which tends to go when I'm running and come after I've stretched and rested.

No diagnosis, but I'm planning to ice and do extra stretching/ self-massage everyday for a week and see how it goes.  If it's not getting better by next week, I may take some time from my running shoes to recover.

Finally, I haven't been posting my training program because I'm trying to take this a little easier than previous races.   But, to give everyone an idea of what I've been doing and what's to come, here's a peak.