Monday, July 6, 2009

Know when to fold 'em

Today was a bust. Seriously, I was completely unproductive, wasted half a vacation day, and felt like a big lazy waste of space.... How's that for motivating you to strive for your wellness goals!!??

The story is that I ran 9 miles yesterday morning. It was absolutely beautiful and peaceful on the canal path at 6:30am...and no geese chasing me this time (but that's another story...). The air quality was the best I've experienced since I began running this year. No humidity, crisp. For some reason, this must have made me work harder than I normally do. I felt great---my pace was almost 20 seconds faster than normal for the last 4.5 miles... then at mile 6 or 7, my right calf muscle seized up...and (mistake #1) I kept running. It didn't make me stop, and I was sort of confused about it, so I assumed it was an annoying cramp (which doesn't make sense because of all the coconut water I've been drinking...another story). I nearly sprinted (mistake #2) the last .5 mile because I felt so awesome. Then (mistake #3) I walked a quick lap around the parking lot at Lock 32 before getting in the car. My calf was killing me, to the point of me not being able to walk quite right...and a strange spot in the middle of the outside of my foot hurt too.

Short story----I'm crippled and frustrated. I iced it, but I knew today would be a loss at work. Walking around all day just wasn't going to happen. Went in for the morning to do weigh-ins, and then left. I'm supposed to run tomorrow, Wed, and Thurs to prepare for the Boilermaker 15K next Sun. I'm trying to determine if I should hold off a day (I might have to, actually). This may be a lesson for me---I often help people try and make right decisions about when to rest and when to jump back into a plan. Gotta find that balance, feed the overachiever in me, and also be smart so I can get back to where I need to be.

I certainly could have made better choices today about what to eat as I wasted the day, but I didn't! Tomorrow is a new day----recovering, making good choices, and not wasting the day. What was your Monday-after-the-long-weekend like?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Fitness requires exercise -- sooner or later though there will be an injury that prohibits the exercise routine. And healing often takes so long that I lose the ground I had made from all of that exercise - or I re-start too soon and re-injure myself. It's no wonder we get frustrated!!