Day 236, 129 To Go

August 24, 2013

 Something ain't right with my left leg.  It hurts quite a bit more today.  I know I felt a little something last night, but I kind of forgot about it today and I ran without any issue.  I ran without any hitch in my step or any kind of limp.  I ran pretty well today too. 

What the hell!  After my run, I started to feel a slight throbbing, then it progressed into something more.  It was sort of like, well, pain!  What did I do wrong?  Let's see if I can figure it out...

Last Sunday, I ran 9 miles.  I ran easy for the first 7 and then killed myself for the last 2.  Was that it?  Did I push too hard?  I know I did, but the next day and the day after that..in fact, most of the week, I felt fine with no ill affects from the run.  I think I am fit enough that even though I pushed a little, I was ok.

Was it the increase in volume?  I don't think so.  I ran easy almost every day this week and I didn't do more miles than I have done in previous weeks.  At most, if you add in my long run, it was only about 2 miles more than usual.  That is nothing.

Was it the change in terrain?  I ran on the golf course a lot this week and last.  It is a changing terrain with some road, grass and sand surfaces.  The terrain goes up and down and there are a lot of turns and the surface is quite uneven.  This could have caused me to use muscles that I haven't really developed and I may have stepped wrong here or there.

Was it all three?  I don't know, but I am going to treat it aggressively with R.I.C.E.  Well, perhaps I'll have to leave out the R which stands for Rest.  Obviously, I can't do that.  But I can do the other three (Ice, Compression, Elevation).  Add to that some high doses of ibuprofen, and hopefully that will work things out. 

Here are my numbers for today:

Time: 25:00

Distance: 2.94 miles

Pace: 8:30/m

Max Pace: 7:39/m

Calories: 301
Avg HR: 133

Max HR: 145

See, I ran well today.  Maybe it is one of those injuries that will just go away.  I will make sure I run easy tomorrow.  I should probably run much less than 68 minutes too...will have to see how I feel.

Run for Life!