Running Week Two

One little pill. One little, 200 mg ibuprofin caplet made a huge difference in my morning.

Running went really well at the beginning of last week. Temperatures were quite a bit cooler, and I had to do some fiddling each day to figure out what was comfortable. Too many layers at the beginning was too sweaty at the end. But bare ears were out of the question. Friday night was the coldest. I ran directly into a brisk wind for half the run, and the temps were in the low forties F (~6C) with a wind chill in the mid- to upper-thirties (~3C). The cold air chewed at the inside of my lungs and made it very hard to run at a relaxed and easy pace. I knew I would pay for the tense muscles at the end, and tried to concentrate on relaxing, running easier. But I was only warm during the running intervals, and so tended to run a smidge more than I’m used to. Then on the way home, I felt comfortable, relaxed, warm enough and with an easy stride.

Then it started to rain on me. Cold prickly drops of rain. So, I ran the last running interval, and ran much of the last walking interval as well. Tensely.

When I got home, my left hip, knee, and ankle were sore. I stretched, relaxed, took a warm bath at bedtime. Decided on Saturday to skip the run, and let the joints rest.

Sunday is usually a yoga day, but I woke feeling good and ran on Sunday morning to make up for the breather on Saturday. The run was good, and warmer, but when I cooled down at home, both ankles and the left knee were sore again. I stretched.

I woke this morning (Monday) with my knee still feeling a bit wobbly, and it occurred to me for the first time to take something. Duh. I took that one caplet of ibuprofin and the pain melted away. I took forty-five minutes this afternoon to slowly and carefully stretch out both legs and my back. I’m feeling pretty good, but I’m waffling about tonight’s scheduled run.

I may let the rain forecast decide for me.