Remember the other day when I told you all how much I hated rest days? Yeah, well today my body basically told me whether I liked them or not, I was going to take one.
It all started yesterday when I ran the GOTR 5K for fun. I figured it was some good hills...a good cause...and a good 3 miles to get in on a Saturday morning. The morning was awesome and the turn out was quite large. The route was the same as the Turkey Trot from Thanksgiving, which meant a few really good hills to practice on at Keeneland...which is good since the 1/2 marathon in March is there. I would say there was well over 100 girls there of various elementary school ages. The atmosphere was really exciting, and the mini concert before got everyone ready to run.
Things would have been all good if I had just went to have fun. It would have been great if I had not been so worried about the hills and working on my stride. Oy Vey! Why do I always do this to myself?!
Anyway, have you ever seen a pack of young girls run? If not, I will sum it up by saying this: stopping at any time to hold hands and skip along is not "frowned upon in this establishment". Now, don't get me wrong...the run was a blast. The girls were having so much fun and the run was probably the most enjoyable one I have done yet. I figure if we all held hands and just skipped along for about a 1/2 mile of our daily runs...we would be a nation of very happy people. These girls have it figured out. Pink and green hair....sparkles....friggin awesome. It was wonderful to see so many girls so confident...Lord knows I could use it sometimes...
Moving on....So during this run I ended up (understandably) running at a slower pace and tried to tweak my stride a little bit. Not a good idea. I felt a little sore after the run but figured it was nothing a hot shower and nap could not fix. Bullshit. Last night I was pretty sure my friggin calf was going to fall off. Not even an hour in a calf compression sleeve could fix it. I tried yoga but Downward Dog almost had me face down on the mat. After a few beers and a re-run of True Blood I decided that a good night sleep would have me bouncing around come morning.
Again, I call bullshit. I almost hit the ground when I got out of bed this morning. Bending my legs was a challenge and the stairs were the most evil thing I have encountered in quite a while.
Now, in true Andrea fashion, I did the only thing I knew to do. I had my breakfast, which consisted of a cup of coffee and three Tylenol and hit the grass trails for a good run before the rain came. I mean...why not? Surely after about a mile the muscles would warm up and I would be doing airplanes in a field....loving every minute of my run....letting the wind blow me around like a sail boat on the ocean! Me and my Salomons are unstoppable after all.
Wrong! Fast forward to the tree below. See the wind blowing it? Now what you don't see is me laying under the tree crying while taking the picture.
My body had nothing. I can't say my legs hurt because I took off pretty fast and had no trouble. It was my body. My mind wanted to run....I saw the fields and the trees blowing in the wind and wanted to run around it for as long as I could. They were calling to me. I could not get there. I had nothing to give. As much as I tried to push my body....it was not there. My body was literally demanding that I stop. So I did. I stopped and I cried. I was not crying because I was injured or anything. I cried because I could not get to the middle of the park and run. I cried because for the first time, I was not having fun. I could not understand why my body would just not work. Why was I sitting under a tree looking at the trail? Then it hit me...my body needed rest.
As I walked I began to think about how much I had been running the past few weeks. I had become obsessed with doing it....morning....night....sun...rain....I had to be out there. I didn't listen to my body when it asked for a break because that is not how I am programed and as we all know, when left to my own devices...things get a little chaotic. I also thought about my nutrition. Coffee and Tylenol. Really? THAT was going to fuel an awesome morning run? I finished my run with a slow jog. I cried when I got home...and then ate a banana ;)
Fast forward to right now. Here I am...laying in bed....hating the fact that I only ran probably 2 miles today and will take tomorrow off. It may kill me. I will probably be twitching all day. I will probably try to incorporate yoga poses into every moment of my day tomorrow. It will suck, but unless I am farting rainbows, I will not run tomorrow. We will see how it goes. Dramatic? Why thank you, I think so.
At least I have Tuesday to look forward to. Running with the brewery gang. Then yoga at the brewery on Wed. I guess one day off isn't so bad but we will see.....I figure it is better to listen to my body and take a day off instead of running thru it and ending up injured...forced to take multiple days off....
And yes....I said farting rainbows. Just picture it. It would almost be as awesome as owning a jet pack....which would be the most amazing thing ever!
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