Week 16 - Pain in my leg is a pain in the butt!

I am late writing my report. It was a fairly decent week but I have been down since my 20 mile run. My legs are sore and I have some pain and discomfort behind my left knee that makes it difficult to fully extend my leg while I run. I have stretched, used Ibuprofen and have decided to try and take a few days off to see if it helps. I am fearful of starting a marathon feeling like this.

In the past week, I walked/ran on Monday for a total of 25 minutes. That was after I hobbled around all day at work. My leg feels like a constant charley horse. I took off Tuesday and Wednesday and jogged for about 30 minutes on Thursday with some pain but not as much as Monday. On Friday I walked again and stretched trying to loosen this knot up in my leg.

Saturday morning, Kyrsti, Taylor and I went to Mill Creek to run in the rain. Taylor chose to run on his own and Kyrsti decided graciously to run with her “old man”. I was happy because I wasn’t feeling it and left to my own devices I may have called it an early day. The goal was to do two loops from the Lily Pond up to the Mill and back on the roads and add Bear’s Den loop onto the end. It was a 7.5 mile loop with a stop at the car half way.

Kyrsti and I started out slowly. The first 30 steps for me were the hardest. By the time we started climbing up to the East Cohasset Trail my leg was stiff but feeling somewhat better. Climbing hills is easier than running down hills or running flats. I can’t explain it but I am sure it has to do with angles and technical stuff. I just know when it hurts and when it sucks!

The rain was steady and never let up the whole morning. In fact, there were times when it rained harder. I loved every wet minute of it. I love watching the water drip from the brim of my hat. I would shake my head occasionally just to see the drops fall off. Kyrsti and I moved along nicely and with some good conversation I hardly noticed my leg. We got to the Mill and I remembered that on the Google Maps it was about 4 miles to this point. I looked at my watch and we were at 31:00. Not bad I thought…… 7:45 miles at what felt like a very leisurely pace climbing almost the entire way.

When we got almost all the way around Kyrsti told me she was only doing one lap. I kind of knew that before we started. She also opted out of Bear’s Den so at the three-way split we said goodbye and up I went. I pushed this section somewhat hard to see if the uphill climb/leg theory still held true. It did. I went all the way to the top and around the road by the cabin. It was pouring now but I was feeling pretty good. I gingerly made my way back down the long hills and headed towards the car.

I got to the car, changed into a dry top, put on my iPod for the second loop, refilled the water bottle, and ate 3 Oreo cookies. Off I went, but this time the other way around. I was running okay but realized the stop was not good for my leg. I slowed a bit and waited until I got to Big Bear.

At the bottom of Big Bear I started to press again. I wasn’t going fast but I was determined to run this hill with some determination. Before I knew it I was at the top and thinking that wasn’t so bad. I remembered about 15 weeks ago I would have walked up that hill.

My leg again started to feel okay. I made my way to the Mill and got an encouraging beep and a thumbs up from guy passing by in a car. I don’t know if I knew him or he knew me but I waved anyway. Maybe he was another nut out running in this rain and thought I needed a little pick me up.

Before I knew it I was heading toward Lake Glacier and was about done with my run. I was feeling pretty good and I was looking at the split of my first loop, which was 1:01.00 from where I left Kyrsti at the three-way split. I had taken another split there on my second loop just to check my pace. As I was crossing the bridge at the end of Glacier I was at 57:00. I knew I could get in a negative split easily so I thought about maintaining my pace all the way to the car. As I crested the hill and rounded the bend I could see Taylor sitting in “Elle” waiting for me. I smiled and finished the run. I was soaked and finished the second loop in 59:30.

On Sunday I ran easily in the morning but was extremely stiff and sore. I stretched after my run and will start stretching and taking Ibuprofen more regularly. I have to shake this before May 18.

Here are the numbers:

Minutes Run/Walk – 280 minutes
Long Run = 15 miles
Pain in my leg is a pain in the butt!
Weight = 197.

Next week will be easier than originally planned. I got to rehab!