4x4

this morning i woke up and couldn't walk because my calves were so tight. the right one is still worse than the left, but i think the left doesn't want to be 'left out' in the heat-pad pampering so it's acting up too. once i walked around a bit and slowly stretched them out they were ok/manageable.

j was not available to bike along with me today so i ran one of my loops instead and stopped quickly after each loop (4mi) for water/propel. i made a point to keep the breaks as short as possible, taking a couple sips of water and propel and heading back out. today was my longest solo run ever and i am feeling good about being able to push myself through it alone.

16 miles total this morning in 4 loops of 4 miles. took it easy for the first 2 laps and then picked it up just a little for a negative split. each lap was about 30 seconds faster than the previous.


miles 1 and 2 were rolling (decent-sized) hills, and miles 3 and 4 were relatively flat with the occasional gentle hill.

my right foot hurt a good bit in mile 7 so i stopped and loosened the shoe a lot. it wasn't perfect for the rest of the run but it didn't bother me enough to be concerned. i will ice it today, pop some ibuprofen, and consider taking tomorrow off to rest my foot and my calves.

did a stability ball workout post-run and am going to go stretch my calves. i need to get off my foot but if i sit down too long my calves get too tight and i can't stand up again. oh the dilemma...

am run: 16 miles, 2:21:24 (8:50 avg pace), avg/max hr (152/178)