The Stampede: keep moving. stay flexible. don't push too hard.

my daughter's empty bedroom

although life in general has been "ok" lately, i just sent my daughter back to college. :( (trust me! i'm way better at letting her go than i was freshman year!)

and remember my saturday workout? i hurried out the door in the morning to knock it out before we took our little lunch trip to france. turns out i did a number on myself.

my previous injuries? - blackening my big toe nail by running in shoes that were too short. i dealt with my sore toes issue by getting new shoes. that has easy to deal with once my best friend (thanks ctclady) gave me a CLUE. (duh)

and the pain i've been experiencing at the back of my right heel for the past year is probably achilles tendonitis. it started before i was learning to run, probably agravated by the amount of walking i did last year. so..it hurts. if i keep that tendon stretched out, and only run about 20-30 minutes, then it doesn't flare up. but, i get competitive with myself, and during a run when i'm feeling great, i go too far.

slow down. don't push.

on my workout last saturday - when i did the first workout of the 4th week of the couch-5k program i'm following - i ran along neighborhood asphalt sidewalks, through our little town, then along the road that leads into bern. i knew it was about a 2 mile route, and i wanted to see how far the program run was taking me. the last half of the route is an easy elevation, but elevation none the less. the workout went fine. i had no trouble cardio-vascularly, but my lower calves felt tight. i kept lightly stretching, and figured that when i warmed up, it would subside....so i kept going.

by the end of the workout, i had indeed passed the two mile point i had envisioned, so miz nina and i turned about to walk the 2 miles back home. i was warmed up, feeling great...and tempted to jog back at intervals. but i didn't. no need to push, right?

so...how come the last 1.5 miles home, my lower left calf started to HURT! dammit! what was THAT about? was it a muscle spasm? did i rip something to pieces and not know? what the hell WAS that? ow. ow. i kept stretching lightly, but couldn't seem to move my leg into a position so i could stretch out a cramp (if that's what it was!). crap. i was not happy. and then! i had to pee!

(i had 2 cups of coffee earlier that morning and i know caffeine does this to me, but i neeeeeed my coffee, right? ugh!) so i had to peeeeeee and my leg hurt...and i had a long walk ahead of me. then Mr. McKickerson (yeah the hubby) drives by me and gaily waves. he was going to gas up the car. i was thinking, how great it would be if he gave me a lift home. ha! but i was almost home by then - only 0.5 mile to go to the house. i listened to the red hot chili peppers and tried to keep my mind off my dilemna.

the rest of the day, that pain in my leg remained. it really hurt. the ride in the car, and sitting still probably wasn't the best for it. when i was sitting, it felt ok. when i went to stand up from sitting, it would start screaming again..and of course, walking around colmar was painful. after about one hour of gentle strolling the pain began to subside, so i think i must have given myself some mother of a muscle spasm....probably in the accesory soleus.

so, what have i learned?
(1) don't drink coffee before a workout
(2) i'm not a morning runner (tendons and ligaments are
naturally longer later in the day!)
(3) with my issues, i need more than a 5 minute warm up. i need a 15 minute warm up.
(4) if something hurts, stop.
(5) it's best to run a loop and end up where i started. :)

yesterday was supposed to be a running day for me. my goal: monday, wednesday, friday, and then either saturday or sunday (schedule permitting). i didn't get my run in. yesterday my lovely college senior daughter went back to the US for spring semester. i'm always really bummed when she leaves. i accompanied her to the airport to see her off - which meant we left at 0530 after not sleeping all night. we had time for café and gipfellis (swiss croissants) before she boarded. i've already heard from her - she's back safe & sound on campus. but i miss that girlie! but i always go into withdrawal symptoms everytime she leaves. i'm going to keep moving. stayed warmed up. stay flexible. when i sit around, everything tightens up and hurts worse, right?

after i saw the daughter off, i took myself on a nice gentle walk around the old town of zurich. took lots of pics with my new digital camera she got me for christmas. this walk was all i did for exercise yesterday. i adore zurich. i kept myself entertained and didn't feel too sad until later in the afternoon. although living overseas has many advantages, one of the biggest disadvantages is that i miss my daughter, my sister, my parents, my best friend, etc. . i don't get to see them often. wow. pity party for me! ok. all done.

today is a new day! it's cold out. i still have a son at home - a high school senior.

no snow yet although some may be forecast? i want to get outside and do my 2nd workout. i'll go out there and see how it all works and feels today.