Day 4

My legs are maaaaaad.

Apparently, it's difficult to go from not running regularly to running regularly. Who knew?

Since my 15-minute pre-class nap became a 60-minute nap (yup, I slept through a NOON class), I was able to get my run in a little earlier than planned.

Today's run was a repeat of Day 2. A nice 3-miler to the lake. Around 27 and partly cloudy (I like this running in the day thing).

Map: 3-Mile Run Map

After coming to the conclusion that I was probably pushing myself to hard (with a little help from fellow Halfer Kathy), I decided to take it a bit slower today.

Despite the fact that I turned it down a notch, my left calf started to tighten up a little after the mile mark. This has been a recurring issue in both calfs for some time now. In fact, similar, longer-lasting pain in my right calf is what sent me back to therapy for a month in August/September. For the next mile, it got slowly tighter and more sore. I took full advantage of every red light to stretch it out.

After I crossed the Milwaukee River Bridge on Kilbourne, the pain started to fade a bit, and I finished in 29:10. How I only added about 45 seconds to my time, despite trying to take it easy, is beyond me.

In addition to the 3-mile run, Wednesdays include a strength session. I headed over to the Plex to remind myself how little upper body strength I have. And I was successful.

Actual photo of my arm muscles

Since I hadn't been to the gym in a while, today was more or less a "find my baseline" session.

• Pec Fly: 90lbs x10x3
• Biceps Curl: 50lbs x10x3
• Triceps Pulldown: 70 x10x3
• Lat Pulldown: 90 x10x3

Impressive, no?

So here I am. Ace wrap on my left calf, neoprene wrap on my right ankle, and significant stiffness in my legs and upper body.

Thank God tomorrow is a rest day.

Total Miles Run to date: 8

Ibuprofen taken (not including the 2 from Sunday, since that was soccer-related): 2

Oh, before I forget: I have a fitness assessment scheduled for 10am on Friday, so I can get a sense of what kind of shape I am actually in. This should be interesting.