The Road to Recovery

Distance: 2 miles (roughly)
Time: 21:00

I rested as much as I could yesterday, doing almost nothing physical at all. The previous 6 days or so I had overworked my leg muscles until I could hardly run at all. The worst pain was in my left calf muscle. After a full day's rest I do feel a lot better, though I won't say 100%. My left calf still feels sore, and I probably could have used one more day of rest, but I'm stubborn when it comes to routines. So I embarked tonight on a 2 mile run at Horsemen's Center Park, sore muscles and all.

Fortunately, I no longer felt the stiffness over my whole body that I was feeling earlier in the week. The run felt pretty good, though it was still challenging owing to the difficult nature of the course itself. The one major improvement tonight was that I ran the full 2 miles over the up and down desert terrain without stopping at all. Tonight was the third time I've run this route and it ended up being the fastest. (I ran it in 22:27 on Monday and 21:00 today). There was definite pain in my left calf, but it wasn't overbearing. I was able to tackle the hills confidently and my breathing felt good throughout. I'll probably never get "fast" times at Horsemen's Center simply because the course there makes it difficult to build any momentum. There are almost no flat stretches -- as soon as I build a good, quick pace, I have to run up a hill, or transition from dirt to grass. But I don't run Horsemen's Center for fast times, I run it because it is a fun course. There are no dull moments, no monotony of scenery. Tonight especially was quite nice. The sun was setting and the park was quiet and peaceful. At one point I even saw a group of California Quails scattering across some boulders.

These next few days are going to be busy, so getting my runs in will be a challenge. I may need to find some new routes in some new locales in order to avoid missing a crucial run. I am greatly looking forward to this coming Monday when my wife and I, along with other family members, will be hiking to the summit of Mt. Baldy, 10,064 feet in the air! The timing works out perfectly as these past few weeks of running ought to make the hike a lot more manageable.