Back in the swing of things.

After that nasty Nor'Easter cut a swath through the entire eastern seaboard and my running schedule, last night it was once again clear enough (and frrrrrrrreezing!!!) to run. After a double-long day of work and class, I got home at around 7:40pm. I contented The Beast with a walk, some food and a rawhide bone and went on a run up to 85th, over to the Park and down to 70th and back. It ended up being a 2.56 mile loop at a ~9:30 pace (24:30 minutes in total). The dinner I had afterwards was amazing... just so you know. Adam brought home some food from this place called Akdeniz, a Turkish restaurant, and it was exactly what I wanted. Lamb, rice pilaf, red cabbage, grilled chicken with fresh lemon juice and salad with olives. Perfection!

On Wednesday I had done a bunch of stability ball exercises, sit-ups and push-ups and squats, and I didn't start feeling it until around 6pm yesterday. My gluts, inner thighs and the general region of the lower back - like behind the ribs - were the problem spots. By bedtime, I was achy to the max... but in that good way, when you know you've been active and your body kinda hates you for it, but at the same time is thankful because next time it won't be that bad. As per the knees: the exercise actually helped! There was a decent amount of water-on-the-knee beforehand, and I went carefully at first to check out how it was going to feel, but by the end it was fine. No pain, minimal swelling. I think the activity did something to clear it away. It sounded a little crunchy as I was going up the stairs, but that's been happening for a long time now and I don't think it was any different than before. I'm relatively certain that it was Monday's run that did it, as there had been no problems before then and Monday was the day of The Great Central Park Frollick: When Christine Runs Downhill in Slush, aka The Knee is Tweaky Because the Footing Is Not Firm. Fret not, I'll keep a close eye on it. I got an Ace bandage just in case.

Adam, on the other hand, was achy in that I-can't-move-my-neck kind of way. He started working out at his job's gym and wasn't sure how many times he was going to be there this week, and so didn't alternate at the beginning - which means that *everything* hurt instead of just half. But he's been treadmill running, doing about the same as me (I think last night he said a 2.28 mile run at 9:20 pace?), and getting some upper body strength back. Which you wouldn't think does very much for a runner, because you run with your legs, right? Well, next time you are going to go out for an exercise walk or a jog, do 20 push-ups first. See how it easy it is then! It's amazing how much momentum you get from swinging your arms.

In conclusion, this week, while first appearing to be a dud, actually ended up working out pretty well. I was forced to work on some strength training, focused on different muscle areas, and only missed one running session which was probably good anyway to rest the knees. The plan is to do another "short" run (like yesterday, ~2.5 miles) tonight, then hit the long one tomorrow.

Sidenote: It's amazing how many people are running in the evening. I had no idea. They're everywhere!

"Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it's hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time." -Monte Davis