Time: 5:45pm, approx. 25 minutes
Food: Mexican buffet for lunch @ 12:30, a Vitamin Water right before the run
This is my rest week since I've been working so hard to catch up with the rest of the team, so Lucas (run of the run coaches) advised me to take it easy this week. I was supposed to do some cross training yesterday but it just didn't happen...my only excuse is that I just didn't feel like getting out of my pajamas :-).
So, what would have been a 40-minute run today was cut to about 25 minutes. Even still, it was 25-minutes of what I have affectionately been calling "flu legs". As soon as I started to lightly jog my muscles tightened, and I could feel the same pain in my legs as I did during the long run this past weekend. I'm really trying to just suck it up, but to be honest I'm getting frustrated by the pain.
As for my knees, the pain started on the outside of my left kneecap. When I tried adjusting my posture and concentrating on the heel-toe land again, this pain moved to the front of my kneecap, just below the patella. No matter how hard I tried I could not achieve heel-toe with my left foot - my left shin was just too stiff, I couldn't extend my heel. I'm sure I got a little obsessive-compulsive about the whole thing, and the more I thought about it the more I tried to correct my movements and the more I hurt. The pain in my left knee eventually moved to the inside of my kneecap. Overall, I could feel the most discomfort in my knees, my shins, and my quads. Contrary to my conclusions the other day, it didn't even feel like I was engaging my hamstrings.
At some point I realized I was thinking too hard so I tried to stop thinking and just let my strides fall naturally. I am practically limping on my left side, as the most comfortable land is on the ball of my foot. All in all, I feel really good about my heightened sense of awareness in my body. When I've experience muscle pain in the past I could usually just point you in the general direction but not really pinpoint exactly what was happening. There's a little of that going on, but I am much more aware of exactly which muscles are causing me problems, which makes me confident that, with the help of Dr. Nicole, I will be able to work on these muscles - loosen the ones that are tightening up and strengthen the ones that are weak - to reach my optimal performance. Like any practice or exercise, this is merely a plateau and a challenge that I'll need to overcome in my training.
I had an appointment immediately after my run. Afterwards (about an hour and 15 minutes later) I ran from the office to my truck (less than 1/2 a block) and noticed that my muscles were much looser - and I could easily land heel-toe on my left side. It proved to me the importance of (1) warming up and (2) stretching. It's critical that I pay special attention to these preventative practices as I continue my training.
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