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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Slow and Steady...and Torturous

I have a love/hate relationship with running, especially in the summer.  I continued to do my long runs outside through June, taking advantage of any cooler weekend day.  And by cooler, I mean like in the 80s and not in the 90s or 100s.  I'm so ready for fall!  

On my last outdoor run of the mid-summer, I enjoyed the scenery.
And was surprised to see some baby deer along the path!  They were super cute.  Where's their mother??
So once August rolled around, I moved my runs mostly to indoors.  I have a love/hate relationship with the treadmill too.  On the one hand, I love running in an air-conditioned room and having control over my pace.  On the other hand, it can be super boring.
Unfortunately, on my last outdoor run I also suffered from a severe leg cramp/spasm that seized up my entire calf and caused me to stumble to the side, sitting and massaging my calf that looked like it was transforming through a variety of geometrical shapes.  That was so not fun.  Since I already have calf and Achilles issues, I got some more compression gear.  I am loving the compression sleeves because I hate wearing socks and having my feet covered.
Aren't my large calves and flip flop tan lines so sexy?  I'm just glad to have flip flop tan lines instead of sneaker tan lines.  

Sunny wasn't so impressed.  She thinks the color is too bright so she promptly started shedding all over them. And oh man pug hairs worm their way in through the fabric, making them really hard to get off.  Sigh.
Elevating my feet after my runs also helps.  I also like to enjoy the view.
Luckily, I feel much better now and am happy to see the temperatures dipping a bit.  I did my first long run outside with my sister in DC and was disappointed to find how much conditioning I lost by moving my run indoors!  Running outside is a lot rougher and it didn't help that that day was pretty warm and extremely humid.  The view was beautiful, especially with the pool filled in.
But I ended up having my first running fall that day.  Luckily I was going so slowly (like seriously slow and shuffling) that I just fell flat on the ground and didn't skid anything.  My water bottle also protected one of my hands so I just ended up with one scratched up hand and one bruised knee.  That knee has been bothering me a bit lately, feeling a little tight, but it could've been a lot worse.  My mom and my sister have had a few really really bad and scary falls when running, so I'm just grateful it wasn't any worse!

I'm getting a bit nervous because I have a few races coming up (my first since the one 5k I did as a teenager) and my long runs have been really rough!  But last Sunday I had a surprisingly decent long run where I increased my speed and distance and didn't feel busted afterwards!  It also helped that the weather was much cooler and drier.  I actually kinda enjoyed the run, instead of just feeling agony.

So I'll keep on shuffling outside and hope for the best!

2 comments:

  1. I love running and am so sad that I can no longer to it (smashed my foot/ankle). There is nothing that compares. I still walk a lot but that is not the same and to me feels more traumatic to my joints.
    Love Noodles' Mommy #2

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  2. I'm planning to start getting into running and this encourages but also scares me! LOL! Glad you're ok from your fall and hope you enjoy the outside running from now on!

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