Post-Run Report: June 19, 2017

It wasn’t my fastest run by far, but neither was it my slowest. Considering it was nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside today, I am happy with this pace. I also ran a new course for the first time, and it was really nice seeing new sights. I enjoyed today’s run quite a bit!

I started with 80 push ups: I don’t know if it was the heat, my being tired, or stress that made 80 my max today. Either way, still a respectable number. I hit the ground with every intention of running my normal “Track,” which is around the lake in front of our house, but for some reason, when I approached the turn off, I decided to go straight. At the end of the road where I usually turn around, I decided to keep going straight some more. And before I knew it, I was running in an area I’ve never run before; next to the golf course which is adjacent to our subdivision. It turned out to be pretty nice, and I am pretty sure I’ll do that run again.

As for today’s run, the knee pain I was worried about didn’t show up at all. I did have a strange pain in my right calf, but it only showed up after about half a mile of running and was gone by the end of the first mile. I kind of laugh at these little phantom pains. I think of them as little signals my muscles are using to try to trick me into stopping. I never give in, though. I know the difference between good pain and bad pain.

After the run, I jumped into the pool for about 20 minutes. It felt amazing! I think if I keep running in the heat of the afternoons, I’ll be adding a post-run dip to cool me down. It felt so nice. Besides, I prefer afternoon to waking up in the early mornings to run. I don’t know why; I just like afternoon runs better.

Let’s add knee pain to the mix.

So, beside the (still persistent) minor pain in my left glute and some pain I picked up last week in the middle of my back, I now picked up a pain in my left knee. Yesterday, I twisted wrong on it twice, and now I have a nagging pain in what feels like a ligament or tendon (I can never tell the difference between the two). Now, it’s not really bad pain; just a minor one if I step wrong or forget it’s there and do something stupid. Will that stop me from running today? Probably not. I’m still going to try to get out there. I may not run very fast, or set any distance records, but I will get out there and I will run. I find that often, when I have little nagging pains like that in my knees, the pain subsides or completely disappears after the first quarter of a mile.

I’m hoping for that today. I can’t stand the way I feel when I don’t run (and I actually like how I feel after a run). What’s wrong with me?