That Kind of Day

Thursday I intended to get home quickly and run on the treadmill before the realtor arrived. That didn't happen. I wasn't too thrilled with that but life is about being flexible, right?

Today I went 5 miles inside. Again, it involved being flexible. Watched the first episode of House of Cards Season 3. It was the Doug Stamper Show, at least for this one. Made the time go by quickly, anyway. Snow all day long. Still ready to move someplace warmer, and then whatever I watch on Netflix will be on my own time. Which will be totally okay with me.

First Run in Two Weeks

What a pain. In my neck, that is. Two weeks ago, the night after my last run, I woke up at 4 a.m. with excruciating pain running down the right side of the back of my neck. I couldn't get back to sleep. I endured a full day of meetings, mainly because I had to give a presentation. By the time 4:30 p.m. rolled around I couldn't move my head from side to side and one of my co-workers thought it was pretty funny. Which I guess it was. The pain had graciously extended itself down my right shoulder blade. I went home and tried to relax. The pain receded to just my neck. I tried to go to bed about 9 and laid awake for several hours. I got up at midnight and The Wife checked on me. She got on the computer to find out if urgent care was open (they weren't). She wanted me to go to the emergency room, which I declined since going and waiting until dawn for help wasn't what I wanted to do. After that she checked the emergency room and sure enough, they were backed up. Then she called a nurse's line where they told her to take me to my doctor or urgent care in the morning. I sat on a recliner in the living room and finally fell asleep between 2 and 3 a.m.

At urgent care we waited longer than normal since one of the doctors was out sick. The doctor who finally came in quickly determined I had a muscle spasm and diagnosed a wry neck. They gave me a shot for the pain and prescriptions for a muscle relaxer and painkillers. I went home and slept five hours. It took about a week to finally feel close to normal. During that time I determined it was best to take time off from running as well. You don't need your neck to run, but I certainly didn't want to do anything that would make the problem worse. Plus it snowed a couple of times.

Today I was excited to get back to it. The weather warmed up to 44 degrees and the sun was shining. I went 4 easy, slow miles, trying to stretch and not push too hard. That was exactly the right distance for my first run back. Snow is in the forecast again, and it seems my next couple of runs might be inside. Oh well, the new season of House of Cards comes out Friday. I guess that should keep me occupied while I'm on the treadmill.

Change of Plans

Lots of stuff going in life right now, which necessitated a change in plans regarding the March race. In other words I won't be running it this year, which is a pretty big bummer. I just can't afford to spend so much time training and then going to NM for a race when there's other stuff going on (cryptically speaking, obviously, until the plans are confirmed or otherwise). I was going to run Saturday, at a lesser distance, but I was painting downstairs while waiting for the day to warm up to a nice temperature. Then while still waiting I started sanding and painting baseboards in the hallway, and by the time I was done I was tired. I knew at that point a run would not go well. I postponed it until Sunday, but that didn't happen either since we went to the remodeling and garden show. All that to say I ended up not running this past weekend.

Today was one of those times where I went out for 6 miles and it felt like I'd been off for a couple of months. Seriously, I felt fat and slow. My legs felt fine, but the rest of me, not so much. The temperature was in the 40s and a little breezy, but I got by without gloves or a stocking cap. I listened to Kansas' Masque on my iPod - what a great album. Two singers whose voices blended perfectly (Walsh and Steinhardt), and fantastic violin melded in with the guitars and keys. It's one of my favorite Kansas albums, if not the absolute favorite. Those were the days of great and inventive musicians. I tell my kids the best decade of music was the 70s. They agree.

Snow and Truncation

I hate to say this, but I probably should have run inside today. The sun was out, but it snowed yesterday and the temperature was only up to the mid-20s with a lovely breeze from the southwest. The plan called for Yasso 800s, which are challenging enough without dodging icy patches on the sidewalks. Most of the route was ice and snow-free, but on the Shoal Creek leg there were plenty of spots to avoid. I ran four of five intervals and decided to stop at 5 miles. The extra mile didn't seem worth the effort or risk of injury. I don't know if I would have done the full 6 miles on the treadmill, but it might actually have been a little more enjoyable. The temperature goes back up for the weekend, which sounds really good right after today's outing.

Escape to the Outdoors

I was able to sneak outside for this afternoon's run between snowstorms. We had snow on Sunday, some of which still lingers in the grass and sidewalks. Tomorrow we're supposed to get more. It was warm enough today, about 50 degrees, to allow for a 6-mile run. The wind was blowing hard from the southwest, about 20 mph, so my tempo run was slowed a couple of times as I ran uphill against the wind. I finished without walking and kept my feet relatively dry. Any chance to run outside in winter is worth the effort. I attended meetings at the Fed today and could have gone out afterward for happy hour, but running outside was more important. Sorry folks.