Long Run Recap

Hello blog friends!

After my post on Thursday about my piriformis injury and physical therapy, I figured I'd give you an update. I'm still doing most of the stretches at least twice a day to keep things limber. Friday morning I had a nice, slow run on my treadmill to keep things easy.

Saturday morning I woke up with some really bizarre pain in my knee. That's a sure sign of growing old, hey? Of course, it immediately put me in freak out mode because really, haven't I had enough issues lately? So Saturday I kept my leg up a lot, took a warm bath during Emily's nap, and used a lot of ibuprofen and Blue Emu Oil. By Saturday evening it was feeling almost 100% and by Sunday morning, the pain was gone.

Have you heard of this stuff? Blue Emu Oil is supposed to be a pain relieving cream that you rub onto affected muscles and body parts. It doesn't smell, and doesn't leave you feeling greasy. I don't specifically know what makes this product work so well, but it really does. It doesn't actually feel like it's doing anything; no tingly feeling or minty smell, but it is really working! Bonus: you can buy it at Walmart, Walgreens, etc.

Anyway, since I woke up Sunday morning pain free, I figured I would just run and see how I felt. My plan was to do 12 miles, so I was hoping I could get all the way through that. It was very windy out all weekend, plus cold. I figured I'd just go slow, try not to worry about my pace, and see how things went.

I ended up doing all 12 miles! I ran a simple out and back route that looks hilly on an elevation map, but really isn't at all. It's along a fairly busy road too, which is a positive right now. A woman in my running group was attacked last weekend on a trail that I sometimes frequent, so I've been on high alert!

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the run. Because I am a clutz, I side stepped off the road right in between mile 5 and 6 somewhere. That foot wasn't feeling too hot around miles 8 and 9 but eventually wore off. My quad muscle started getting tight towards the end, as well as my left glute. But with only short runs on the horizon until race day, I think I can manage to work that out with more stretching. I'm pain free today, which is the important thing! Also, I'm impressed with my time! Average pace of 8:58, which was faster than I had intended! 

Side note: I really hate the new way that Garmin shows splits. Way more information that I need to know. Dear Garmin, if you are reading this, can you please go back to the old way? Thanks!

I completed my weekend by eating enough food to feed an elephant. It was heavenly! 

Did you have a great weekend? Get any good runs in?