On The Run - 2/11/9

3.75 mi(ish) / 45 min / 12 mpm(ish)

I know - I forgot my cell phone camera this morning . . .

I have one sweatshirt that I use for running. It is an old, thin college sweatshirt coming apart at the seams and permanently covered in the detritus of dozens of home improvement projects - paint and primer and the like. I like it because it is thinner than your average sweatshirt and it is a pullover - no zipper or hood to hassle with. It was also in the laundry from my last run in the downpour so I had to go with plan "B". I pulled down an old zip-up hoodie that I haven't worn in ages.

It is funny how a piece of clothing can effect the way you think and feel. I almost never wear hooded sweatshirts so this was sort of unfamiliar to me and as I started my pre-dawn run all I could think of was that scene in Rocky . . . .



Which made me think of that Newbie Chronicle Article . . . .

So anyway . . . that invincible feeling began to fade as I reached the half-way point and turned around . . . I was sort of nervous about this run because the base of my left calf had really been sore since my last run. I figured it was the tendon that connects the bottom of my calf to my leg bone or whatever and that it was probably just tender or something . . . it felt pretty good this morning but with about 15 minutes of running to go, I really started to lose steam.

As luck would have it, the Ipod kicked up my favorite Elvis running song which I (of course) had to listen to 2 or 3 times in a row and that helped carry me through . . . but after that, things really started to go downhill . . .

"She can't take much more, Captain!"

First my calves seemed to just not want to work anymore - then my thighs - then everything from the waist down seem to rise up in revolution against the benevolent dictator of my brain.

"What do we want?"
"To lie down!"
"When do we want it?"
"NOW!"

I willed a little extra spring in my step and tried to ward off the dreaded survival shuffle . . . but by the end EVERYTHING HURT.

I stretched at the car and headed home. I hurt all day at the office.

As I am writing this (Thursday morning) it still hurts. My quads, calves, ankles - but especially the outside of my left knee. And I don't mean a "wow that was a hard workout hurt". I mean an "Uh-oh, Houston we have a problem" sort of hurt. I am still limping . . .

I have no idea what went wrong but this is how things seem to go with me and running - one day the body just has enough and I wind up on the injured list. So - what do I do now?

I most certainly will not be doing a full run tomorrow - maybe I will cut the running part in half and walk the rest of the way - who knows - we will just have to see how it all feels tomorrow morning.

Bummer.