« Mimicking the Marathon | Main | No Complaints »
April 17, 2006
Gimping Along
If anyone saw me running today, and I know at least a few did, they probably wondered what was wrong with me. And they probably thought to themselves, that girl should not be running. Today I was running for the exclusive purpose of working some of the lactic acid out of my muscles and of loosening things up just a bit. That is to say that I'm properly gimped today.
Yesterday, when I awoke early to get ready to hike, I was amazed at how my legs felt after racing on Saturday. They were fatigued, yes, but sore no. I was feeling good about them as we started the hike. By yesterday evening, my legs were pretty tired. As in, things didn't want to work well anymore. During the night, I woke up several times and immediately noticed leg stiffness. I felt fairly Frankenstein-esque when I tried to get out of bed this morning.
I took it very easy during the day today, with my hardest activity being cleaning my house. But I was pretty sore trying to bend over and do things like washing the tub! I was moderately ambivalent as to whether I would run at all, and I decided to go out, finally.
I ran for 30 minutes, which I will ambitiously call 3.5 questionable miles, judging from the asymetrical stumble that was something akin to jogging. I felt better muscle-wise by the end. But other various body pieces took their turns niggling their way through the run. My right IT band momentarily seized, my right achilles made a resounding crank, and my calf muscles bordered on cramping every time I tried to go up the tiniest hill. When was the last time I was this sore? Ok, when have I ever raced a 5k and hiked 26 miles on back-to-back days? Still, I make all these complaints with a smile on my face. It's a good hurt, like I've worked hard and I have something to show for it.
However, I'm in an especially injury-prone moment right now, so I'm going to continue to listen close to my body, and only do what it wants me to do until I feel good again.
And now, with my own personal disgressions about fatigue and soreness aside, I'm going to go and read others' accounts of vastly more acute pain, suffering, and joy associated with running the Boston Marathon. Congratulations to all runners, and I hope you recover well!
Posted by Meghan at April 17, 2006 6:43 PM