Days Off -again

Typical of my running routine, my press for 80+ mile weeks is starting to catch up with me in the form of minor injuries. The kind where the muscle hurts, but only when you run and miraculously heals if one *rests*. This month I was able to put in two 80+ mile weeks, backed off to a 32 mile week then put in 80 during Christmas week. However, during the last three runs, my left quad really started to hurt. Sunday, during the long with Marc, I had to call it quits at 10 miles. I was running like I had a wooden left leg. Further, the right calf started to hurt in an acute manner (localized pain) but I believe it is a symptom of compensating for the other leg. I knew the long run was going to be iffy from the beginning. It wasn't long into the run that the quad started to talk. And instead of being a steady ache, it got progressively worse almost in a linear fashion. Finally, it would send the pain signals in force every once & while causing my gait to wobble and slowing the pace further. Good 'ol Marc, he must have thought he was jogging with an invalid. At one point he said "we can walk you know". Good of him, but I reminded him of my foolish pride and asked him to bear with me. We finish out the loop (we do 4 x 5.2 mile loops for our long runs) and decided to take some time off. Short of having a team of sports medicine professionals on staff I don't know of any quicker way to recovery. Marc made a good point that with high miles, a day off still results in relatively high miles for the week. On the other hand, a day off can mean 20 miles short of the schedule. So Monday I rested and Tuesday as well since the leg was feeling quite ready.

So this morning, I have just returned from a 10k jog in 55:38. Roads are snowy, temp around 30F with a slight westerly breeze. Beautiful weather considering. It started to snow but just a few flakes. I decided that the 10k mark would be the end since my right calf started to get tight during the last mile. I so want to keep the miles high that I need to be cautious to what degree I allow these "pains" to continue. So here I am next to my woodstove, leg on ice,sipping a cup of tea. Happily blogging.

I hope all had a good Christmas. I got some great running gear - a jacket to keep me dry, a shirt to keep me warm. I have to start thinking about some new shoes as I have 600 miles on my trainers now. Oh, and for my birthday (which was yesterday) I got a watch that records laps/splits. With all the technology out there, I guess I've been running in the dark ages! Which is fitting since I haven't seen the sun on a run in weeks.