Remember that widdle bitty race I did? The one where I ran 38 miles? Yeah, one would think that I would need or should take some drastic rest after that. And I did. I mean 4 days is a LONG time. Ok, not really. But I didn't want to come to a dead stop. I certainly was sore, but aside from that I actually felt really great after Howl at the Moon. I have my eye set on a fall marathon. Now is not the time to stop. I was hoping to use my big surge of miles to keep my miles & long runs up. I have not registered for this marathon. Considering there is only a $5 penalty for registering right before the race, I'm willing to hold off & know that I am for sure going to race. That whole topic of paying/registering for a race could easily be a whole different post. So I'll stop there.
In my opinion, when you are sore, the best thing you can do is move. I know it's earth shattering pain to simply stand up or walk up & down stairs. Keeping still doesn't help though. You gotta move. Get that lactic acid build up in your muscles to break up & get it out of your system. I am the mom, that when my babies got their shots, I gave them a big dose of Tylenol then sat there & massaged the heck out of their painfully knotted muscles. Sure they screamed & cried, but I could see a big difference in their recovery & soreness from when I did vs. didn't do this. Break it up! While I'd certainly opt for a huge deep tissue massage myself, my checkbook does not so I have to do it on my own. I massage the heck out of my muscles and move, move, move. Yes, I scream bloody murder, but it does miracles in your recovery time.
All this helped & made it very possible for me to head out on a 5 mile run 4 days after that race. I felt much better than expected. I ran a few more times, but then began to feel a twinge in my knee. I tried to shake it off. After a run with my good friend Angela, I began to see that yes, I might have an overuse injury knocking at my back door. Being injured and not run at all is like a death sentence to me. Fall marathon or not, I still want to run. Angela helped me see that I needed to take a break. She might have also threatened me with a big swift kick in the rear if she caught me out running. That is what a good running friend does. I love her for it.
My knee was actually beginning to bother me when I wasn't running. So I took this week off. I have only lifted weights. A whole other topic of keeping myself injury free. And I have done some casual biking with the kids to and from school and about town. Regular doses of ibuprofen and icing it every night. I think it's helping a lot. My true test will be when I go out for a run on Monday or Tuesday. In theory I want to go out on Monday, but it's a holiday and I will easily hit the snooze button & sleep in because I will more than likely stay up really late on Sunday. So if Monday fails I will definitely hit the road for a few miles on Tuesday. Sort of like dipping my toe in the water to see how it feels. Hopefully I will feel so great I will be able to cannon ball right into the pool of running. But we'll see, I'm trying to be smart with my body & my training.
Thought I would share this picture of my cutie patootie baby girl who likes to be a runner girl, just like mommy.
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