Not running so much lately

We went for a very short run on Thursday. Not sure what was wrong with it, but it felt off. Maybe it was the fact it was suddenly pretty hot, maybe it was the fact we ran in the middle of the day when we usually run in the evenings, who knows. But we only went about 3 times around the block, and only ran 3 straightaways.

Wednesday night's dance class aggravated my shin splints, so that definitely slows things down a bit.


For whatever reason, my hip is hurting, right along the groin line. We're not sure what happened, or what caused it, but it hurts when I do various things. We're not even sure exactly what is hurting. It seems better today, but Wednesday through Saturday, it hurt just about anytime I did a few different things that are hard to explain.

We danced at our local Greek Food Festival yesterday, and while the temperature wasn't bad in normal clothes, while dancing and wearing velvet (like I was) it was hot, and I was dripping sweat. I also tried out something new: KT Tape. I went to Sports Authority looking for normal athletic tape, and this was all I found. I was hoping to be able to tape my shins for Saturday, so I could still walk today. Wandering around on concrete in completely unpadded dance shoes plus dancing on a metal stage usually does my shins in. Not sure if it was the tape, or just good luck, but my shins are not in the 'omg, don't touch them' state that they can be in after such performances or feiseanna. I got all kinds of comments on my purple stripes on my legs (I bought purple tape because it's my favorite color, and the color for my dance school). But hey if it works. I'll likely be trying it again. We used 2 strips and the box comes with 20.

And today, it has been raining all day. I don't know that we have more coming, but my goodness, it is humid outside.

Ran Today

It was pretty warm earlier today, but as sunset came about, it dropped into the 60s. I didn't get home until 8 pm or so, so I went running in the dark. My mom went walking with me (and ran a bit), and I ran for a little bit. After about 30 minutes, my stomach started hurting (I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, so it likes to periodically just freak out), so I had to quit and go inside. I ran solidly for nearly 4 minutes before I had to stop, which was just short (like 30 feet short) of .4 miles, or my entire block. :) I'm so proud. And excited. Hoping to go running again tomorrow, and to actually make it.

Where was my usual running partner, you may ask? Well, Joseph's knee has been hurting since Wednesday. He had basically everything torn or injured a few years ago, and so it frequently gives him issues to some degree (pops often and painfully), and after it happened, he was told he would never run again. Well, he proved them wrong, and he now runs and does Irish dance. But anyway, it randomly decided to be painful on Wednesday, and he decided to dance at practice anyway. So, he could barely walk on it Wednesday night and Thursday, and today, he's walking normally, but it's not up to running par yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Shins are still hurting some, but tolerably, and not usually during normal daily activities. I take ibuprofen about 30 minutes-1 hour before I go running and ice them afterwards. It seems to be helping. So we'll see. :)

Oh, and I found those Clif Bloks at Wal-Mart today. Only $1.76, so my mom bought 4. :)

Ran again today

I ran again this evening with Joseph. We went around the block 4 times, which totals out to about 1.6 miles. At one point, we ran about .2 miles. I ran it in about 2:11. :) We also ran from one corner to the other, which totaled to about .1 miles. It was a very nice day to run, sunny and about 63* F. The rain is mostly gone, but the ground is still very damp. Of course, we had something like 12" of rain since like last Monday. That's a lot of rain on already drenched dirt.

We ran doing walk/run a lot. We'd run for 54: 1,2,3,2,2,3,3,2,3, etc. and then walk for about the same. Wash, rinse, repeat. It's fun. I enjoy it. Which is the important part, I suppose. :)

I'm still incredibly winded at the end of that ~1/4 mile, but I'm doing it, after I've been run/walking for a while, so I feel pretty good about it. My shins are trying to hurt some, so I'm taking ibuprofen, and I decided to start icing them today. Which I hate. Despise. I do not like cold ice packs on my legs. But, between dance, and now running, I guess that's what I have to do to not stop. Because I definitely can't stop dancing at all until July when summer break comes around, and with school ending in about 2 weeks, I fully intend to go practice more at the studio. So these legs aren't getting any kind of a break unless it is absolutely necessary. I've continued dancing for good periods of time on shin splints before, they're not going to stop me now when it's just a twinge of pain. Stupid? Possibly, we'll see.

We ran really hard for a little bit on one of our .1 mile stretches. And go figure, my legs were fine, my lungs were struggling (completely expected), but then my arms (which I pump as I run) started feeling kind of cold and jello-y. Anyone else ever experienced something like that? Joseph says it's a prime example of how disproportionate my upper body to lower body strength is. I can leg press a minimum of 330 lbs. When I did that, I had a sprained ankle and didn't want to keep trying. So there's no telling if that's really my top range. My upper arms are sillily weak in comparison. Well, Irish dance doesn't really use your upper arms much. :) lol