Monday, March 7, 2011

The runs are getting longer, and the aches.... oh, my.

Sometimes I find myself thinking, "you are too old for this!"  Some days, I creak, pop and snap so much, you'd think I was falling apart right then and there.  Then I remind myself that THIS is what is keeping me young!  Physical activity, new challenges, and stretching your limits is exactly what keeps you from keeling over dead.  Well, at least, later rather than sooner.

As we increase mileage on our long runs, my aches and pains let me know it!  Last weekend was a nine mile run on the Springfield/Chatham trail.  Is there an "official" name?  It was nice enough, but there is this pesky pain in the back of my knee that is bugging me.  After several attempts to figure it out online, I have yet to pin-point the cause or any potential remedies beside the usual.  I'm icing and cut back my mileage during the week.  I was on the treadmill on Wednesday, and it was achy!  I don't really feel it at all unless I'm running, then it bothers me.  Not a bad ache, so I guess I'll just push through it, and hope it goes away.

Yesterday, we ran the Lost Bridge trail between Springfield and Rochester, which is 10 miles round-trip.  The only other time we've ran ten miles is for the Frostbite Festival last December.  We beat our overall time by more than ten minutes!  Granted, the Frostbite's hilly course was much more difficult running than this flat, former railroad track, but I still think we've improved greatly over the last three months.

The evening ended with lots of icing, elevation and ibuprofen.  Less than four weeks to go!  Come on knees, don't fail me now!

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