Coach gave me a ‘Choice Day’ today.  A ‘Choice Day’, is where I get to chose what workout I want to do.  I can do anything that I want, as long as it is not crazy hard and that I have fun.  I can even take a rest day, if I want.

After yesterday’s long trail run, I decided I would do an easy paced run along the Kalamazoo River Trail.  It was a really nice morning, with the sun shining and very little wind.  The route I chose, took me through downtown Kalamazoo to the river trail, where I did an out and back run of a few miles.

As soon as I started running, I realized that my ankles and feet were sore.  Nothing that would stop me from running, or that would impact my running gait, but they were definitely sore. 

What I was actually feeling, was a result of that long trail run.  I had clearly worked muscles and tendons in my feet and ankles, that don’t normally get worked hard.  It’s not surprising when you think about it.  I normally run on very flat asphalt or concrete.  Yesterday I was running on sandy soil, rocks, gravel and over lots of tree roots.  My feet and ankles were getting twisted in directions that they don’t normally experience during a run.

It also probably didn’t help that I was running the trails in road shoes, and not shoes designed for trails.  I had ordered a pair of trail shoes, that I hoped to run in this weekend, but when I tried them on, they were just a little too small.  I have a larger size in route to me, as I write.

In the end, this morning’s run turned out to be just fine.  Once my feet and ankles got warmed up, the soreness went away.  My run along the river was peaceful and I did keep the pace easy, so I also had fun.  I think I made a good choice of workout for my ‘Choice Day’…