This weekend was a typical one: driving all over the area for kid sports (watching Mikaela score a couple of goals on Saturday was sweet, though!), a bit of work on Sunday morning after the 25-year traditional breakfast with a friend, shopping, catching a bit of American Football on television on both days.
When I got home after working on Sunday, the weather was summer-like and a trail beckoned to me. I thought I would give it a go for a short distance, despite the debacle that occurred on Friday afternoon's run. What happened Friday you ask? I decided to do a short out and back on the west side fire road. It went well enough, and afterward, I ate a nice meal and had a quiet night. Until around 10 pm. That's when the aliens in my legs arrived. Twitches, spasms and all-out cramps in my baby cows. I started eating Endurolytes with ibuprofen chasers like they were Good-N-Plenty. Which, they actually look like. Round after round until around 2 am, things finally settled to the point I could fall asleep. Final tally: 800 mg ibuprofen and 12 Endurolytes.
Sunday, I thought I would try it again. The run was within single digit percentages of being the same: distance, elevation and time spent. But the aliens never arrived. WTF? I ate and drank prior to running pretty close to the same things and amounts as well. I guess I'll never know what makes my body (dis)function.
A few highlights of the run:
- I saw a disembodied bunny head on the trail. Given the number of coyotes, foxes, eagles and hawks in the area(and the occasional mountain lion), that probably shouldn't be a surprise. However, I saw it on the return trip not more than 15 minutes after the out. That, was, um, unusual? I popped over it, scanned the area for large predators and went on my way.
- I'm stinking slow. Like 50% slower than I used to be. But that's OK. Today.
- My hammies have been an issue for me for years. They never loosen, and after a few miles running, even leaning 15 degrees from the vertical can be challenging. I figured that stretching (ha!) every few miles was my "cure." However I stumbled onto something that seems to work for me.
I had an itch on my lower leg, and instead of stopping, I skipped, brought the leg high to drag my fingernails along the itchy part to give it a scratch. Wow, that felt, pretty good. Not just the itch, which was handled. What was surprising was that my hammy got a bit of a break and felt - briefly - wonderful! The next flat stretch, I skipped for several steps, and both legs thanked me. I may have found something that works for me. Yay! I look stupid(er), sure, but it works, and that's what I'm gunning for.
So, with all that, my weekly mileage hit, drum roll please, 8 miles. Whee. I am on the road to recovery.
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