A hot date.

With my boyfriend.

I ran a fast three on the treadmill today before my HIIT training. I knew I shouldn't be doing it, I knew that running three days in a row on the treadmill is not great for me, I knew my legs felt heavy.......and I did it anyway. Asshole. During my class I noticed my right quad seizing up and thought maybe I was just a little dehydrated....but alas, it is now sore and rigid.

That means a date with the roller, and no running tomorrow for me.

I have been very lucky and have never suffered a serious injury in my running or sports history. I had a tight IT band after my first half, and that is when a friend clued me in to the wonders that are foam rollers. A ridiculously simple device, it can be used as a wonderful tool for working out tight or sore muscles. Off to roll I go, limpingly. Idiot.

Update: after about an hour on the roller this afternoon, then 30 minutes of ice while I read to the kids followed by 30 minutes in a hot hot jacuzzi, it is already on the mend. Overuse is as bad as underuse, and I got greedy this week. Jeannie and Henry came over for a pasta and meatball dinner ~ just what I needed before my long training day tomorrow. No running. I have a boxing class followed by a class called "lean conditioning" which specializes in small, precise movements using simple body weight. It is the one time I take it/week, and it is a perfect elongating workout after the rigors of punching and hitting. I think that boxing, and all of its lateral movements and active footwork has vastly helped strengthen my knees, the one thing that I am most afraid of injuring as a runner. The body is a machine. Everyones is. The body works best with good food, plenty of water, plenty of sleep, plenty of love (given and received) and plenty of exercise. I feel a little guilty of abusing mine these past three days, I had no business pushing it on a treadmill, and my body reminded me of that. In stressful weeks (like when Nate is away) I tend to turn to running to just get my head straight. Mistake, in excess.

My biggest fear in committing to this marathon (and the whole spring and fall line up) is injury. I am not a person who is necessarily good at pacing myself. I'm more the "Oh, a Marathon, I will run 100 miles this week......." idiot who then gets hurt. I'm recognizing the need for some goals and strategy in this winter chill and darkness. My first long race is the Tough Mudder in April. It's a 10-12 mile trail run with crazy military style obstacles. I'm running it as part of a team. Next in line is Broad St in May. Right now I am fine for both of those runs, so what I really need to do is temporarily put the marathon thoughts on the shelf and focus on getting faster and staying healthy for the spring races. As soon as the weather warms up just a smidge, I'm joining the local running club for track/speedwork workouts at 5:30 AM one day a week. I would like to do track/hills/speedwork, a short quick run (3 miles) one moderate race pace run (6-9) and one long (9-14) slow/tempo run per week. That is 4 runs a week. I need to see what this looks like on paper, and start to formulate some sort of plan ~ I'm not willing to jump in with both feet just to break a leg. I need to be smart about this.