Back in the pool

Today was a fun work day with our company luncheon. I ate like I haven't in a while! App's including amazing onion rings, a cup of soup, my salad (which I didn't eat much of), dessert and 2 glasses of wine. By the time I got home around 5, I was exhausted! I set the alarm on my phone and ended up taking a 45 minute nap.

But I got up, made it to the pool to meet Jen and got in a mile of swimming again for my cross training. Felt good and I know I'm getting stronger with it. Sometimes it just seems to be hard to get going in the beginning. I have to rest often, then after 20 or laps, I'm good and I just go! I love that!

Unfortunately, tonight it was my OTHER calf! SHOOTING pain in my right one. I thought my calf muscle split in two. I almost started crying in the pool! I kicked my legs up and out over the edge to use the edge to sort of massage my calfs. It helped a little.

Stubborn me, I had to finish up the stupid mile! By the end, I was only swimming using my core and my arms, letting my legs drag behind me. It helped a bit.

After leaving the pool, hit MANY stored and finished up almost the rest of my Christmas shopping. Can't believe how much I got in under 2 hours! :)

So right now, with my calfs DYING, my training schedule is mess and I'm not exactly sure what to do. Originally and generally with the training I'm following, Friday's are rest days and Saturdays are longer run days. This Saturday was supposed to be 6 miles.

Because the chance of me actually running on Christmas day is less than slim to none, I was going to swap the two days. With snow still on the ground and roads slick, I was going to hit the gym tomorrow to run for 6 miles, then count Christmas as my rest day. Now my calfs are in knots, even as I am laying here across my sofa, I can feel them both... BIG lumpy knots, NOT FUN!

Sort of that Charlie horse knot you can get when you stretch too hard first thing in the morning and you basically just feel it snap and want to scream out in pain. Yeah, that is EXACTLY what happened in the pool tonight. And after you do that, even when you are not moving, you can still feel the dull ache inside the muscle. Yup, feeling it in BOTH legs right now. (I almost bought a foam roller tonight when I was shopping to see if it could work out my calf muscles if I rolled my legs over it. Maybe I should have!)

So with this pain, and my schedule already a mess, I am thinking of changing it around again. I really don't like messing with it, but if I'm hurt, I have to stop and recognize that. I think I might take my normal Friday rest day, then add in a Christmas rest day too. And on SUNDAY, I can hit the gym and get in my 6 mile run. Not sure how that will leave me on Monday since I should be doing either 3.5 or 4, I can't remember. Hmm.... Maybe I'll do 2 on Monday to do something and make it a light day, then Tuesday do 3 before hitting the pool and be back on my normal schedule on Wednesday.

I don't know. I'm all messed up now. But I do know that I need to be aware and listen to my body when I'm hurt. I have LOTS of training to do over the next 4 months and injuries can happen. If I don't listen to them right away, then they could get worse, and that would be worse than me being worried about rearranging a week of my training schedule.

Lots to think about. :)

Merry Christmas!