A Really Annoying Mystery

I've been happily living in denial for about the last week. Turns out that's not the best method when it comes to injury prevention.

It's weird though, there is no swelling, no hot spots when I foam roll, nothing that hurts when I'm walking around. But when I run, the first 20-30 steps turn into a ridiculous hobble-run where I have pain from the back of my right heel all the way up to the back of my thigh. If I push through those awkward first steps (because distance runners are like that), I have been able to run a decent amount without pain.

I have been stretching and rolling (foam roller and stick roller) and it mostly feels better...sometimes. I had a perfectly decent 4 miler on Monday and then barely finished a miserable 2 miles today.

The problem is that I don't know what this is. It's not a problem I've had before, and anytime you mention heel pain online all that comes up is plantar fasciitis (which this is not). I'm starting to think that it's something to do with my achilles, but it isn't swollen, tight or painful to the touch.

Mystery.

Really annoying mystery.

I don't have a race until the middle of June, and after that I will be switching over to marathon training, so I would rather take some time off to sort this out now.

In house news: we got the hardwood flooring that is going to be in the master bedroom and the new hallway in the addition. It's currently acclimating to the house so it behaves itself (no buckling!) when it's installed.

We have also been looking at tile for the new bathrooms, but we haven't found anything yet.

Buddy is no help at all, but he sure is cute. I swear he doesn't sleep all day.

Sometimes he stares sadly out the window because Tom is outside without him.

Any idea what my mystery injury might be?

Apparently, I'm Awesome

Speed work seems to be paying off!

I had a tempo run on the schedule for Tuesday, and I was not feeling it until over a mile in. Once I got going, I started to feel better, and ended up having a strong run.

Look what a warm up mile can do for you:

As a side note: my brief moment of tank top weather is over. It was snowing in my face on Tuesday and absolutely pouring this afternoon.

I had 3 easy miles on the plan for today, and it seemed like the rain was letting up, so I hit the road.

The rain did not let up. There were a couple of good downpours while I was running, but you can really only get soaking wet once, and then it doesn't matter so much.

You would think that drivers would use a bit of common sense (pouring rain = water on the road = maybe slow down as you drive by a runner), but only one car actually slowed down as they passed me.

Thanks neighbors.

We do have one nice neighbor who informed me that I'm awesome as I ran by her in the rain. I'll take it.

I hit up my yoga mat and reintroduced my legs to the foam roller after I got home.

I did not miss the foam roller, in case you were wondering. 

On a happier (than foam rolling) note: I have definitely noticed an increase in flexibility since I started doing yoga consistently at the beginning of the year. It's pretty cool. 

It was Beautiful

I didn't run with the group on Saturday, partially because I didn't think I would be able to do it, and partially because of this:

I'm not a fan of negative wind chills.

Saturday became a rest day, and we spent a decent amount of time shopping in the afternoon.  Tom was looking for a new coat, and I am on the hunt for some new yoga (pajama) pants. Turns out we're both pretty particular about both of those things. He was successful, I'm still looking.

This morning I geared up for my long run. I stretched. I foam rolled. I used the stick.

I found a knot in my calf (somehow related to the ankle pain?), and it hurt to roll it. I brought the stick down to the treadmill with me and stopped to roll my calf every couple of miles. Other than a bit of tightness (and the pain while I was rolling it out), my 11 miles was pain free.

It was beautiful.

Fingers crossed that I'm past this random injury - I missed running without pain!

We had a snack-a-thon (with beer) for dinner while we watched the Super Bowl. The first course was chips, salsa and guacamole. Round two was a veggie tray, and we finished up with some devil's food doughnut holes.

We planned on having burgers for dinner, but started snacking and quickly realized that we weren't going to be hungry enough for a full meal. Guess we know what's for dinner tomorrow!

Buddy did not care about the outcome of the Super Bowl.

We mostly were torn between which team we disliked more. It was a good game though!

Did you watch the Super Bowl?

An awesome run, mud and beer

I had an awesome run today. I felt great and my ankle didn't hurt at all...while I was running. It tightened up after I was done, but I didn't feel even the slightest pain while I was running.

6 miles at 8:09 pace thankyouverymuch. I'm still a little baffled by how much faster I am than earlier this year.

I realized that I didn't show you the mud yesterday, so here you go. This is what it looks like all wrapped up.

I iced a bit after my run and then got mudded up. My ankle is feeling better, but who knows what combination of stretching, foam rolling, ice and mud is doing the trick. All I care about is that it's starting to feel a little better.

This afternoon we headed to the Captain Lawrence Brewery to check out some of their new beers, because we like beer.

They have teeny tiny tasting glasses, but they're really cute. Plus we took a growler home.

Now I've got a heating pad on my ankle while we catch up on shows that we've dvr-ed. It's a wild night over here, though I guess that's ok, since it's only Wednesday.

New goals, new shoes and snow?

Happy Monday!

You may have noticed that I have been running more lately (or you might have more important things to think about) - there's a reason for that.

Earlier this month I realized that if I put my mind to it, I could break 1,000 miles for the year, which would be pretty cool. Since I'm mentally busy (houses and jobs and cars, but with plenty of free time right now, I can get more runs in than I would normally be able to.

I'm just shy of 860 miles for the year right now. That means I have 37 days to run 140 miles. It sounds like a lot when I write it like that, but really it averages out to 3.78 miles per day. See how manageable that seems? :)

Also: I've been pretty consistently foam rolling lately, and it doesn't hurt nearly as much as when I only do it once in a while. Go figure.

My shoes came today.

They fit and everything!

In the spirit of my personal mileage challenge, I hit the treadmill for 5 miles this afternoon.

Buddy was confused by the room change, and wouldn't lay down until I dragged his bed into the unfinished part of the basement where the treadmill is.

He was definitely ready to leave the basement when I was done.

I listened to an episode of Serial while I did some dishes and finally put away the laundry that I started yesterday. More than half of my laundry doesn't go in the dryer (running clothes) so I had things hanging all over the basement.

We have a winter storm watch starting on Wednesday - they're talking 6-10 inches of snow. That might put a damper on my plans to run a 5 mile Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. And by might, I mean - if there's that much snow, I'm not going. I'll Turkey Trot myself right down to the treadmill.

Tom assembled an amazing salad for dinner.

You should definitely be jealous.

Post Race Recovery

Happy Wednesday!

My mom and I spent most of yesterday playing with a 12 month old. There are worse ways to spend your day.

Buddy was pouting because Tom was hanging out with a friend in the city.

I haven't even attempted a run yet. On Monday, Mom and I took Buddy for a long walk, but otherwise I have been taking it easy.

How long do you take off after a race? It really varies for me, mostly depending on how sore I am, and how long the race is. I have seen recommendations to rest anywhere from 5-13 days after a half. Generally, I take a few days completely off, and then hold off on any tough workouts for close to two weeks. I've even been trying to stretch and foam roll this time around.

I definitely pushed myself on Sunday, so I still have some pretty sore muscles. Plus, having my mom here is a good excuse to take it easy for a few extra days. :)