Trouble in Paradise

Let's not get bent out of shape - SJ and I are perfectly fine. My left soleus, however, has some complaining to do. After my half marathon on Sunday, I went out for an easy run on Monday evening to get the legs flushed and make sure all the parts were working well. Unfortunately, all the parts were not working well. After three miles (three miles!!), I had to ease up and walk back to the house because my left soleus (without getting too Gray's Anatomy on you, that's one of the muscles that make up what is collectively called the "calf muscle") was on fire.

So, with it being less than two weeks before M-Day, this could be a problem. I got on the BatPhone to my awesome PT, Liz, and got an appointment to see her ASAP the next day. I wanted to nip whatever it was that was going on in the bud, before it could turn into something worse. I took Tuesday off, and then popped up for my evening appointment. After some seriously intense work on my left leg - no, really, I don't know what hurt more, the actual muscle or the work she did on it. It was quite possibly the best and worst thing all at the same time - I was told I need to stretch more and was sent on my way to see how I felt in the next couple days.

I went ahead and gave myself off from running on Wednesday and swam (I think I'm on a roll now with this swimming thing) and actually had a great workout. One of the guys I used to swim with (back when I actually swam) was there so we picked a workout and went for it. Lucky for both of us, neither of us had kept up our end of the training bargain so we were both sucking some serious wind at the end. But this was the first time in a couple weeks that I actually feel like I "worked out" after the pool, so I'm slowly weaning myself back into it. Baby steps, friends, baby steps.

This morning I went out for an easy four, and I can safely say that I felt no residual pain from Monday's run and Tuesday's torture massage. While my muscle is most definitely sore to the touch, it's more like a sore that you would get from a hard workout or lifting and not a sore like you're muscle is about to shred itself from your body. So that's a plus.

With only ten more days until M-Day, I don't have very many hard workouts left. I opted to switch my track work from today to tomorrow so that I could do a test run (ha! pun intended!) on the old wheel. Depending on how I recover/feel will decide how much of the track workout I do. I am set-up for 4x800s/4x400s, but if I have to forgo the 400s then I will. At this point, those four 400s won't be what make or break me come Marathon Sunday. In reality, neither will the 800s, but the mental benefits of getting a solid track workout in this week will be worth it.

And on that note, I will leave you with this photo of the "Stretching Do's and Don'ts", just in case you were all wondering how to get your daily stretch in:

My favorite part about this poster is the outfit the female is wearing - I generally wear a sports bra and high-waisted briefs in the gym. I checked the date on this bad-boy - 1991. Oh yes, my friends, we at the Y are totally hip with the ideas of today. According to this poster, I'm sure this stretch would not be recommended: