What to do?

I was a little sore from yesterday's landscaping job, especially in the hands.  I should have trained today, but I'm worried about my ankle. My old bike broke yesterday, and I don't have regular access to a pool.  I'm trying to take it easy, so not to injure myself right before the race.  I'm so used to being very active, that I am not liking all this sitting around.

Ice Cold, While Overheating

I did four miles tonight.  It was 80°F while I was running, and that was not fun.  I can't imagine how people run in the heat.  I guess it must be something you have to get used to, like running at altitude.  I'm much more accustomed to running in cool and often windy weather.

During the first mile, my Achilles tendon on my right foot was killing me.  I stuck to a very slow jog, out of fear that I was injured and may make it worse.  After the first mile, it started to feel a little better, so I pressed on carefully.  I barely picked up my pace, because it would kill me to have to miss out on the race from injury.  I also noticed the pain in my left foot coming back, but not in a sharp way.  It was more of an aching of the tendons in the top of my foot, between the second and fourth toes.  Because of these pains, and how my feet have felt since last Thursday's big run, I decided I should soak my feet in ice water for 10 minutes.  When I found that I didn't have enough ice, I through some frozen cold packs into the bucket.  Not only did that help the water line come up, it also made the water almost unbearable.  My feet did feel better afterwards, so I think I'm going to start doing this every time I run.  My biggest fear is that consistent running will lead to shot knees and ankles by the time I'm 40.
According to Achilles Tendon, footwear with extra cushioning under the heal can help an injured Achilles tendon, by decreasing the amount the tendon stretches and limiting the calf muscles' range of motion during strides.  This is a temporary fix, and should not be continued after the tendon is healed.  I do have some shoes with a high heel, and I plan to wear them throughout the day, instead of my VFFs, for the next few days.
I also took some glucosamine today.  I'm hoping it will help my joints, although supplements have recently come under fire.  First they were good for you, now they are said to be ineffective.  What if they are wrong in them being ineffective? They are cheap, so I'm going to keep taking them.  If they don't actually do anything for me, I will just urinate them out with no harm done.  Also, I'm going to take a dose ibuprofen to help with any swelling in my joints, and potassium, eaten as bananas, for the soreness.

Joint Issues

My ankles are worse after the short run yesterday, so today is a day off.  I loaded up on potassium for any soreness and bought joint supplements.  I know supplements have come into fire in recent days, but there's no harm done if I just urinate them out of me.  If future evidence show that the recent findings on absorption are incorrect, then I'm helping my joints.  If they hold to be true, and I am not really absorbing the glucosamine and my daily Centrum multivitamin that I take, then I have only pissed away a total of $36.50 a year.

Two Really Hot Miles

After what I thought was sufficient time off, after the big run last Thursday, I did two miles in the heat.  I don't know if it was from being tired, the heat, or a combination of the two, but it was hard today.  I had set out to do four, but had to call it quits after only two miles.  My feet are still sore from the big run, and now I'm getting a little worried.  It's not just that they are sore, there is pain in between my ankles.  I loaded up on ibuprofen, and took it easy the rest of the night.

Twelve Hours on My Feet.....Again

Today was another occasional double shift at work today.  Out of the twelve hours I was at work, about half was spent on my feet.  I'm going to count today as my scheduled day off, which would normally be on Sunday.  That means tomorrow, I will have to train as if it were Saturday.

I feel pretty good as far as recovery from the big run last Thursday, so I'm right on track to do the race in a couple weeks.  I was hurting a bit yesterday, but now I'm not feeling anything more than just some sore feet from being worked so hard.  I'm glad my feet will be strengthened for the race, so I think I will preform slightly better as a result of doing the practice race.  As always, I'm eating tons of bananas, because potassium aids sore muscle recovery.

Well Deserved Day Off

Yesterday's big run killed my feet.  The rest of my body feels okay, so my training is paying off.  My feet are pretty sore, to the point where walking is difficult.  Instead of wearing my Vibram Five Finger shoes all day to help work out the lactic acid, like I usually do, I opted for some very stiff soled indoor soccer shoes.  The idea was to immobilize my feet, so I could actually move around throughout the day.
I ate some bananas and cooked up some sweet potatoes, so the potassium would help with the soreness.  I also took ibuprofen all day, to reduce any inflammation in my ankles and feet.
Aside from that, there was no training today, just pure recovery.  

Three Miles, Beating the Pavement

I really wish I was back on the trails in the woods, but I can't make that happen everyday.  I did three miles today in my neighborhood; however, I had set out to do four.  I also had to walk for 0.2 miles and take a couple breaks.  I don't know if this is from being tired from the big run on Sunday, or possibly from the chiropractor appointment yesterday.  I noticed my left big toe knuckle on the ball of my foot and right calf were a little sore after my adjustment.  This is normal, as my muscles and joints are going to work a little differently with my pelvis being properly aligned.  It feels like my left toe knuckle is getting better, with only residual pain.  The right calf is probably just muscles being used differently or stretched out after the adjustment and should calm down in a few days. I also noticed that I was running 10 min miles, which doesn't sound too good to me.  I think I'm still beat from the run on the mountain, and hopefully, I will improve with the next run.

Deserved Day Off

Well the work out on Tuesday, and the two mile run yesterday ruined me for today.  I'm forced to take a day off because I can hardly move.  My form would just be sloppy and I could hurt myself, at least that's what I'm telling myself.  I feel guilty because I have already taken days off that I shouldn't have, but this time I am in bad shape.  I did a lot of long deep stretching twice today, and that helped quite a bit.  I also walked around a lot, to get some kind of activity.  For breakfast and lunch I had mashed sweet potatoes, as well as a banana at dinner for potassium.  Lastly, plenty of water and green tea was consumed throughout the day.

Koolaid Man

Even though I was incredibly sore today, I went for a run.  I was scheduled for one, and didn't want to take another day off.  I was hoping that the run would aid in my recovery from my workout yesterday.  Turns out, it did help, so i kept going after my planned mile.  I finally broke through the wall I feel.....Koolaid Man style.  I did two miles, but more importantly, fatigue wasn't a limiter anymore.  I could have gone another mile too, but I didn't want to over do it.....especially after the previous day's workout.  Between the run and plenty of stretching, I felt much better for how sore I was earlier.

Another Day Off

Last nights dancing really helped prevent me from getting sore again; however, it may also be that my shorter aided in this.  Today I took it slow again, as I'm looking for a new job.  Most of the day was spent on the couch, staring at a laptop.  In light of this, I made sure to do a full session of stretching. 

I have decided that I need to put together a weight training or yoga routine for my non-running days.  If I don't ramp up this fitness training, I'm never going to be able to do the race in October.

Sore Again!

Yesterday's workout made my calves sore again; however, it wasn't as bad as before.  I did some deep and long stretching and ate some bananas.  Hopefully, recovery won't take as long as before.

Twelve Hours on My Feet

My calves are still killing me today.  I have been drinking water every hour, and eating like a horse too.  Stretching does help temporarily, and I'm popping two ibuprofen every four hours too.  The main stretch that seems to help was one my chiropractor showed me.  I put my foot up on a curb or step with the ball of my foot on the edge and foot bent, then lean in with the knee slightly bent.  This stretches the muscle deeper inside your calf.  For the outer muscle, I've been doing the standard stretch against a wall or door jam.  I even tried doing the downward dog yoga stretch behind the counter at work, but chose to stop when customers were giving me funny looks.  I decided not to go for a run today for two reasons, I had a 12-hour work day with half spent on my feet, and I can barely walk still.

Pain

What I thought to be a simple run, turned out to be over doing it. I now wish I had properly warmed up and cooled down. My calves are so sore that I can hardly walk, and each step seems to hurt worse. The clerk who sold me the shoes did tell me that they made your calves work overtime, but I can't attribute all this agony to just the shoes. I should have done the run properly or started off easier.