I can pretty much attribute the running suckfest to three different things:
1. I’m a sloth.
This was my first (attempt) at a workout since last Monday. The last week in Oahu was super chaotic, and while I did a lot of walking, I never found the time to get a legit workout in. Same thing this past weekend when I came back to Denver: between birthday celebrations and finally getting over my jetlag issues, I simply didn’t do jack. In short, I became a sloth….like this one!
And yes, that really is my picture. I promise, I didn’t steal it! 🙂 I actually found this guy hanging in a try in Colombia when I was there a few years back. Look at his little face!
Moving on…
Anyway, I know rest days are good and all that, but when I take an extended period of time off from any exercise, particularly running, I suck when I go back for the first time. I know this about myself, so at least I know my next run won’t hurt as bad. But it still sucks.
2. Elevation is no bueno
I don’t want to sound all whiny, like 2 weeks away from Colorado ruined my acclimated lungs for life, but it does have an impact. Every time I go to sea level, I feel the ease of breathing, but every time I return, there is definitely an initial sticker shock. My asthmatic little lungs feel it, whether I want them to or not! Again, I know this will go away pretty fast, but it was evident today. Sigh.
3. I have an owie!
I haven’t mentioned it recently on the blog because, until yesterday, it was not a big deal. A few years ago, when training for the Platte River Half Marathon, I ended up getting Planter Fasciitis. I wasn’t feeling pain in my arch as much as my heel, but the heel pain was brutal. I actually ended up going to the doc because I was positive I had a stress fracture or something. (Whatever, I didn’t even know PF existed at the time!) Of course, I had no fracture, and instead, the doc wanted to give me cortisone injections to take away the pain.
I wasn’t a fan: eliminating the pain sounded awesome, but those shots just seemed to mask it instead. I decided to deal with it on my own, and eventually, I did. Happily, I haven’t had any issues since!
Or wait….
A few weeks ago I started noticing a slight soreness in my arches. Nothing major, nothing painful, and nothing that impaired my ability to walk or run. In fact, I only noticed it when I flexed or pointed my toes really, really hard. To be on the safe side, I started using this bad boy:
Looks all unassuming, doesn’t he?! He is actually a vicious crab in disguise!
This is one of Tally’s dog toys, hence all the fur stuck to it. I had read somewhere that a good preventative measure to keep PF at bay (which is what I was assuming was going on with my arches) was to roll your foot along a tennis ball every day. I don’t have a tennis ball, but I do have a crab.
Does that sound wrong?!
Anyway, I’ve been using the crab daily and it’s been helping. However I think I went a little hog wild yesterday and applied too much pressure because now my arches are noticeably sore. Like, 4-5 times more sore than they were prior to my crab application. So yeah, that didn’t help with the run either, I’m sure!