Three Thing Thursday

1.      4 miles done, and I didn't die...

Or at least I haven't yet. My shins and calf held up pretty well for this run on Tuesday. I have found that a water bottle with frozen water in it is the best massager/icer for my shins and calves. This Propel Fitness water bottle was the perfect shape.

Me icing my giant calves

2.    Yesterday was our first day of school.  

It's like having a newborn all over again. You feel like you haven't had any sleep (even though I have) and your body does weird things...I've had some crazy stomach issues, I guess getting used to eating early in the morning again, instead of after 9 am when I rolled out of bed this summer. I am SO sleepy between 2pm and 8pm, then I get this weird second wind around 8 and can't sleep when it's actually bedtime. I hope by September, all this has ironed itself out...

3.   I Got Up Early This Morning to Run!!!   

Anyone who knows me, knows I am not a morning person. This was the first time EVER that I have gotten up before work to run. My legs hurt ALL DAY. It became worse as the day went on. I only ran a freaking mile!!! What's up with that???

I have been so used to running at night or late afternoon when I can lounge around afterwards or sleep while my legs recover. This was a shock to my system. The run felt great, it was cool with a good breeze. Problem was, when I got back I went straight to the shower instead of icing or taking a lot of time to stretch. Since I only did a mile, I thought I'd be fine. WRONG!

I didn't allow enough time to run and do all the necessary after-care. For me, I have realized, icing and stretching are necessary for every run because of my shin splints and calf strain.  And warming up before I run outside on the harder surface is SO important. That's another reason I'm in pain. I rushed out thinking it would be quick and easy. For me, no run is quick and easy. At least not yet! I hope to get there one day.              

Rest days suck!

I never in a million bajillion years thought I would ever feel that way. I took two rest days, Friday and Saturday because my knee was hurting. I was afraid running or any other activity would jack my knee up to the point where I would have to take weeks off my half training. Or maybe not be able to do the half at all.

Those two days were hard.

Friday, I was busy at work, cleaning out and organizing with a teacher friend, getting ready for the upcoming school year (school starts on the 15th). I was exhausted that night, but still wanted to 'get my sweat on'. I just don't feel good about myself if I don't have sore or tired muscles. You know, that good tired.

Then Saturday, I went out to lunch with my mom and did some shopping. We ended up at Dairy Queen with blizzards. I got the Nutter Butter blizzard, which by the way, is fabulous if you love peanut butter the way I do! As we sat outside eating our blizzards and enjoying the abnormally mild 85 degree weather, I saw, not one, but two people run by. An omen? A sign that I shouldn't be eating that blizzard? Whatever it was, I knew I had to try to run again, soon. I was not going to give up.

Aren't those DQ commercials annoying?? Especially the chest hair?

Finally, last night I did it. I had 4 miles on the schedule for Saturday, but like the week before, I pushed the long run to Sunday. It wasn't easy. This was the longest distance I have done in over a year. There was a lot of stopping to stretch out my right calf and knee. There was some tightness, and some weird feeling like my hip, knee and foot were somehow out of line with each other. There were times when I really just wanted to stop. But I did it. I finished 4 miles without any of the horrible pain that I expected. My hip and knee are a little sore today, but nothing unbearable.

This week brings a 5 mile run for the weekend. That in addition to going back to work should be interesting.

I worked all last week and found it hard to workout without having a decent amount of caffeine before hand. I think Coke Zero and I are going to become great friends. Except for the fact that it makes me burp the whole time I'm running or working out.

God only knows what Phenylalanine does to my body. But hey, at least there's no calories, right?!? I'm probably better off drinking sweet tea...

Ooops, I Did It Again!

Well, I may have injured myself.

I'm thinking it's an overuse injury. For a few months, since I've been back into running, I have had a nagging knot in my right calf near my shin. Then it started to spread to the inner part of the calf. When I do cross-training activities like Ripped in 30, or walking on the treadmill at an incline, I feel it. Not bad enough to make me stop, but enough to notice and keep me from pushing harder.

So about a month ago, in addition to this weird calf knot and pain, my right knee also started getting stiff, and then one night I woke up and couldn't bend it at all for a few minutes. Felt like something was going to pop if I did, so I slowly tried to bend it. Eventually it did, but it was uncomfortable for a minute. It didn't bother me the next day. However, since then I have had a nagging pressure/pain in the back of my knee.

Now, I must tell you that I have a HUGE family history of arthritis and bursitis, but I have never been diagnosed. I've always had those stiff, popping and creaky joints in my hips and knees. So knee pain is not uncommon for me. But this is different. It feels like a tissue problem, not a joint problem, I think.

Sometimes it just randomly starts hurting. But tonight it hurt from the beginning of my run and didn't go away once I warmed up. I had to stop at 1.26 miles of a 2 mile run. I've iced it. It still hurts. I'm going to take an anti-inflammitory that I was prescribed for shin splints and call it a night.

We'll see how it feels tomorrow. The thing that really sucks is that other than this pain, I felt like I could have ran forever. It was one of those runs that are few and far between lately, where I have energy, my breathing is easy and not forced, and I'm enjoying every song on my iPod. What a bummer...second training for a half marathon, second injury. Ooops, I did it again...

Have you ever had problems like this? Know what it might be or what I should do?