4 more - rackin' up the miles

Go, Carrie! I'm proud of ya!

I had a day last week where I thought I'd never run again. In the evening, I was limping around and I thought my right femur had permanently removed itself from the hip socket. The next morning, I had an amazing run. A little ice and some rest can do wonders. I'll be interested to hear about how the wool sock experiment goes for Carrie. ;)

I ran 4.07 miles today at a pace ranging from 5.5 mph to 5.8 mph. Near the end, I thought my life was ending, but I suddenly realized that my legs felt great. I said to myself, "Just relax and ride your legs." That sounds odd, I know, but I used that image to make the last 10 minutes fly by.

I still can't believe that 3 weeks ago, I wasn't running at all.

Here's my progress up to this week. X1 - X3 were my base training weeks. This week is week 14, and next week will be week 13, etc., as I count down to the week of the actual event.

Well I'll be ...

Who knew?
I ran 5 miles today. Very comfortably. I could have kept going for at least another mile, I'm sure, and that's almost halfway there! I warmed up briefly with a walk of about 2 minutes, maybe less, then ran for 5 miles, then jog/walked a cool down of maybe a quarter mile. All I know is that all told, I was on that treadmill for 5.43 miles, ran a full five miles, and I wasn't in pain. Who knows? Maybe my leg will fall off tomorrow. Right now, it's not too bad.

I'm going to ice it tonight (I iced it this morning while at work at the gym) when I get home, and perhaps try something my friend Peter, a naturopathic doctor, recommended. He recommended wetting a pair of cotton socks, wringing them out so they're not drippy, putting them on, putting on a pair of wool socks over the cotton pair, and going to sleep. He said that the heat produced by my body from bottom up while I sleep will increase the circulation in my legs and might help. We'll see. I'm game. Just gotta find a pair of wool socks. I know I have a pair here somewhere, especially since I never bothered switching out my winter clothes for my summer ones.
Yeah. Don't ask.

I'm also going to try and decrease my outdoor runs until my shin is more consistently better. I really want to do this half marathon and I can't do it with my shin the way it is, so this is the way it has to be for now.

I have to say, it is so fantastic to work at a gym where everyone there is encouraging you and cheering you on and eager to give helpful tips and advice. I feel fully supported by everyone and I'm so grateful. Warm fuzzies all around.