This week is full of exciting surprises, and I’m thrilled to finally be able to share the first with you: my feature story on Shape Magazine Online!
Go give it a read and let me know what you think!
fitness
How to Beat Training Burnout
This is the first time since before my injury that I’m really sticking to a solid training plan, and I can totally feel a difference in everything I do. My endurance is better, 4 miles is pretty much nothing, and even though I lost two total weeks of training due to illness, I’m feeling confident and strong!
For a hot minute there though, I did feel a little bit of the training burnout I’ve experienced while prepping for previous races. You know it well, I’m sure: the existential dread you get when you’re staring down another 4 mile tempo run on the treadmill after 3 straight 10+ hour work days and the sun has already been down for 2 hours and the temperature hasn’t cracked over 20 degrees in a week? Yeah, that feeling.
BUT – this time around I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve to help me battle the burnout beast:
1. New Music
That little ditty right there is pretty much single-handedly responsible for getting me through my 8 miler this past Sunday, thank you very much.
I don’t know about you, but there’s just something about some new tunes that puts some pep in my step and makes me look forward to yet another day of running when I feel like that’s all I’ve been doing for years.
2. Switching it Up
While my training plan calls for three days of workouts from Tuesday-Thursday, it created a fun new thing that I like to call “Anything Can Happen Wednesday”. Because it’s cross-training day, I’ve used these non-running breaks as a perfect opportunity to go all out and feel the burn in other ways. To break up the monotony I’ve biked, done hot yoga, and even started a personal challenge to get to the pool more often too. Did someone say Sprint Triathlon this May? đ
Mermaid in Training
3. Setting Personal Goals
While it’s nice to do other things, the downside of seriously training for a race means that the majority of my workouts involve running, running, and more running. So to keep things interesting, I set little challenges for myself – sometimes even in the middle of a run! For example: last week, when I finally returned to running after being sick for more than a week, I told myself to take it easy with 2-3 miles of light jogging at the most. Well I ended up feeling much better than planned, and cranked out 4 miles at my pre-illness pace basically without even breaking a sweat.
…or breaking a “sparkle”, I guess.
So what did I decide to do the following run two days later? Beat that time, of course! I picked up my pace at mile 3, pushed harder than I would have normally, and kicked the previous me’s ass!
Tuesday Jess says, “Take that, smug Sunday Jess.”
4. Treat Yo Self (and then Eat Clean the other 80% of the time)
Listen: I’m all about eating to run, and running to eat. Imma be real, there ain’t NOTHING like a slice of peanut butter silk pie after a week of hard training. But while I do like to indulge every now and then, I know that those treats are special because they’re so few and far between. And to balance things out, I experiment in the kitchen with things that make my tummy happy and keep my training on track. Case in point: roasted Brussels sprouts:
::pauses to lick the screen::
Yes, these were pre-roasting, but damn were they tasty when they came out of the oven 30 minutes later. Finding new ways to make healthy choices makes it a whole lot easier when I do decide to indulge – because let me tell you, those sprouts were definitely healthy, but they were DEEE-licious!
Those are just a few ways I like to shake things up and break out of the training monotony, but how about you? Any go-to’s to keep the crazies at bay? Favorite new running tunes? Share in the comments!
Sick of Winter
I don’t know about you guys but this winter thing sucks.
I’m now on day 8 of not running due to a wracking cough that started last week, and I am literally pacing the floors like a border collie that needs to get outside. Add this miserable snow we’ve gotten into the mix, and I am squarely in the middle of the winter blues. So to fight the existential anger that hits when the snow piles up and the phlegm just keeps on coming, I’ve stuck with a plan.
From the beginning, I stuck as best I could to a healthy eating plan. That’s one of my biggest downfalls in the winter: falling into bad eating habits and pigging out on junk in the name of hibernating (or whatever). To keep that from happening, we stocked up on healthy essentials the day before the big storm hit last week and I batch cooked that Sunday. It made a huge difference to have super healthy meals at the ready, like home made chili, beef stew, and kale-and-berry packed green smoothies every morning.
I also had to get creative with my home workouts. Regular cardio sends me into coughing fits. It’s too snowy, icy and cold to run outside anyway. And putting me in a crowded gym sounding like I’ve got the consumption basically ensures that they’ll send in the CDC to escort me out.
“Ma’am, step away from the leg press machine.”
So instead of starting a nationwide panic with my incessant coughing, I started off my zero mileage week with some yoga and focused on my core and handstands. I won’t lie – I’ve been discouraged by my lack of handstand progress. Even though I know it’ll take time, I’m an impatient girl. And while I’ve been working on my upper body strength on and off this training cycle, it was mostly the fear of falling out of the handstand and hurting my knees that’s kept me from just doing it. So I tried something a little less dangerous and attempted a headstand – and wouldn’t you know, I got it on the first try!!
I was so thrilled – This was one of those things that I always told myself I couldn’t do, but I finally swallowed that fear and turned it into fuel to just DO it. Needless to say, now that I know I can, I’ve been going upside down basically every chance I get!
Every day I try to move a little further away from the wall and work on my balance, and I’m loving it so far. So score one for just sucking it up and going for it!
Once the snow really started piling up, I was stuck inside with my Biggest Loser workout DVD’s. To keep it low impact, I stuck with the leg and arm portions of the Last Chance Workout a few times just to maintain and feel like I was doing something, and it worked pretty well.
After 4 days of being sick, I finally bit the bullet and went to the doctor – and it turns out whatever I had back in early January lingered around to give me a wicked sinus infection. The doc took one look at my throat and backed away with an “Eww..” – which was oddly very satisfying. It was nice to know I wasn’t just feeling sorry for myself!
She sent me home with some good meds and after a day or two of real solid rest, I finally started feeling better yesterday. So today I celebrated by picking up something I’ve been eyeing for a few weeks now:
Yes. It’s a hula hoop.
Four years ago, to help me get in shape for my wedding, I borrowed a weighted hula hoop from a friend and literally hooped my waist down to the smallest its ever been. Just 15-20 minutes a day, over the course of one winter, and I saw a very noticeable difference. So when I spotted this bad boy in Kohl’s a few weeks ago, I knew I had to have it.
Let me just say: I’ve had it for like 5 hours, and already feel my abs screaming from the 10 minutes I’ve done so far today!
I am the hooping queen!
Now that I’m finally feeling well enough to try the gym tomorrow, I’m going in with no expectations at all: treadmill walking and maybe some light jogging just to get my body back into the groove. Either way, I’m hoping to fall right back into half marathon training! I’ve missed one long run last week and this week’s 8-miler will most likely be a 5 miler later this week as I ease back into things, but I’m determined not to let this little speedbump turn into a roadblock.
How about you? How are you faring in this miserable winter? Or, if you’re one of the lucky people that don’t have to deal with this frozen ridiculousness, do you know how much I envy you? đ Tell me how you’re getting through this winter!
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
It’s been a quiet month for me as far as running goes – but I’m happy about that! After my excellent 5K at the NYRR Dash to the Finish Line, I thought I’d be itching to get back on the pavement to see how much better I could get! But the day after the race I took off on a rocky cruise vacation where running was all but impossible without Dramamine (damn my inner ear imbalance!), so I focused on strength training instead.
Roses are red, poems are hard, go to the gym and squat.
When we returned I was happy to hit the bricks again, and maintained that 11-15 mile a week average that I stick to in the non-training months. But I also really liked the feeling I had after my strength training workouts! So in addition to running, I added a few more strength sessions into the rotation each week, working up to 3-4x.
I know I’m stating the obvious when I say this, but all of that strength training has got me feeling super strong! I’m so pleased at how easy it’s become to open the heavy-ass door of my office building every morning, and how little energy it takes to haul multiple grocery bags anymore. But the best part is how great it’s got my knees feeling! That pinchy twinge I get when I try to squat or bend has all but disappeared! Stairs in heels don’t need to be taken one at a time, because my quads are finally (FINALLY!) starting to get that old strength back.
ACL surgery was an eye opening experience, and I’m amazed to see that it’s still teaching me things almost 2 years later. Yes: recovery was hard work – going from 20-ish miles a week to *nothing* for 3 months will seriously kill your strength. But it’s just the bare minimum. Once they get you back up on two legs and release you into the wild, you need to do some serious pushing on your own!
In the 2 years since my surgery, without that doctor telling me to do my clamshells every day or the therapist urging me to try one more flight of stairs, I got – for lack of a better word – lazy! I thought “OK, I’m out of therapy, I’m ready to go!” and I jumped right back into running. Sure, I was vaguely aware of the need to incorporate strength training into my routine, but dammit, self-motivation is hard! Especially when my knees were killing me all the time from the rapidly increased mileage.
YES, hindsight is 20/20, and I realize NOW that my knees were achy because I let the weights collect dust, but you live and you learn.
The moral of the story is I’m happy to report that I’m finally feeling more balanced in my fitness routine – without something to train for, I’ve been able to take a break from the stressful “must get the miles in!” anxiety and really focus on strength, and I’m loving every minute of it. How about you? How many days do you strength train when you’re training vs. off-schedule? Let’s compare notes!
I Don’t Wanna and You Can’t Make Me (AKA The Tantrum Workout)
It is a cold, miserable, rainy Monday here in NJ, and I’m running on about 5 hours of sleep and a lot of emotions. Last night the hubs and I saw Interstellar and well, they may as well have just named it Sob Uncontrollably Along With Matthew McConaughey for Three Straight Hours, because holy wow. Without spoiling it, I’ll just say that relativity is a heartless BITCH. I’m so drained from going on that emotional roller coaster ride (even though it was *just* a movie, I still get into those things!), crying, and lack of sleep that I’m having a hard time working up the Ooof to work out. And frankly, I’m about to throw a tantrum.
Am I the only one who has to suppress the urge to throw a full-on, punch-the-ground, wailing fit in moments like these? Seriously. I just want to lay down on the ground and kick because I have no desire to get up out of this desk chair, strip out of my comfy clothes and put on cold workout gear, go out into the rain, drive an hour to get to the gym, and then move my body for another hour, only to go home and have to change out of those clothes, shower off, make dinner, finish some laundry, and do it all over again tomorrow.
When I think too much about the monotony of it all, I get kind of existential. Every day is exactly the same.
Or is it?
Maybe I’ll try something different today. I’m going to go get changed, and I’m going to the office gym instead, which is just one flight of stairs below me. It’ll probably be empty, which means that I can do whatever I want. And since what I want to do is lay down and punch the floor, maybe that’s what I’m gonna do.
You heard me right: I’m gonna make the Tantrum a new workout craze.
I mean, look at little mama up there! She’s working it. Every part of her body is in motion there. Legs and arms outstretched and flailing – done for about 10-15 minutes straight, I can see that taking some serious core strength. Add some wailing and you’re getting a cardiovascular workout from the deep breaths you need to take – bada bing, bada boom: you’ve got yourself a full-body workout in 15 minutes!
What say you? Should I copyright The Tantrum (c)? Or like lil mama up there, do you think I really just need a nap? đ
The Girl Who Cried Marathon – Part 2
OK so when we last left off I was fresh off a great 6 mile run and feeling good and pain free. Hooray!
However. You know how they say that running is like 30% physical and 70% mental (or something, I don’t math good)? Well, I started psyching myself out basically as soon as I got out of the shower that night. Even though I had a great 6 miles, the end was rough. How was I going to build up to 26.2 – with confidence – in a little more than a month, with time for a taper too? I wasn’t. Or maybe I could. I don’t know. Where’s my xanax?
Friday I rested and aimed for 12 miles over the weekend. Saturday morning I woke up and got prepped for the long run; fueled up, strapped on my hydration vest, and stood at the door stretching out, but I just wasn’t ready. I wasn’t mentally in the game. In fact, I was paralyzed with fear, indecision, anxiety, and frustration. I couldn’t fail at another long run, it’d break me. After my failed 10 miler the week before, I had built up “the long run” so much in my broken, anxiety-riddled mind.. so much that I worked myself up into a full-on panic attack there with my hand on the doorknob, unable to open the door and run. My husband found me there and talked me down. “Head out there with no expectations. Just run. If you go for 1 mile or 10, call it a win.” It helped – so I walked out the door and into the soupiest, hottest, most humid day New Jersey has experienced since last summer.
It was about 97 degrees with 98% humidity, and there was no relief to be found out on the pavement. I struggled physically for a mile or so, then walked, and realized it was time to face the fear that’s been on the edges of my brain for a while now: I may have to drop down to the half marathon this October.
I had thought it before but was too scared to really explore it. “Failure” was not an option. But “Compromise” had to be considered. What would the real cons be? Honestly, it was the fear of having to become “The Girl Who Cried Marathon.”
My best friend up in Cape Cod said she was going to come all the way down to cheer me on. My local friends always ask how training is going, and say they can’t wait to celebrate. So many of my internet friends here and on Instagram have all said how excited they are to follow my journey to the finish line… What a let down it would be to tell them that I wasn’t going to run it. What a fool I’d look like.
That’s when it finally dawned on me: I was more concerned with what my friends and family (and internet friends!) would think of me than I was with my own health and sanity. I was prepared to just push through and barely make it – and possibly injure myself – just because I didn’t want to look like a fool.
That was my wake-up call: if I’m only running the marathon for other people, I am truly doing it for the wrong reasons. When I signed up, I wanted to prove to myself I could finish happy and healthy, but a slew of injuries this summer (runner’s knee in both knees, calf strains, etc) have seriously derailed my training and turned running into a painful chore. And to be honest? Before that 6 miler, I hadn’t really enjoyed a run in a LONG while.
#sorrynotsorry #truthbomb
So maybe dropping down is the right thing to do. The last thing I need to do is go out there unprepared (mentally or physically) and DNF, or worse, injure myself again. In the end, it comes down to what’s right for me. Not for anyone else. Because honestly? No one else really truly cares if I have to drop down to the half. Why in the hell would it matter to them? In classic overthinker fashion, I convinced myself that everyone else would view me as a failure, when in fact it was ALL ME doing the “you’re a failure” finger pointing, at myself.
(If you haven’t already noticed, I’m a classic overthinker. Whether I’m choosing chicken or fish at a wedding or buying a car: I will obsess over every little detail of a decision until I can’t keep my eyes open, and then I’ll keep obsessing until 3 am in bed, and eventually I’ll worry myself into a state of paralysis. It’s really the one thing I’m actually good at.)
Yay for succeeding at something!
So as I walked back home, I pulled the trigger and messaged the handful of friends that said they were coming down to cheer me on, and their responses were so unbelievably sweet and supportive that I wondered why I had waited this long to say anything in the first place. When I got home I told my husband and it was like a weight had lifted. I cried in relief – even though I hadn’t officially changed my registration, I found such comfort in getting to the bottom of the issues that have been plaguing me for the past month. It really is true: Running is cheaper than therapy!
As of right now, I’m not sure if I’m officially dropping. I’ve got until 10 days before the race to decide, and I’m going to really focus on my training now that I’ve gotten my gait right and my knees are healing. I’ve done a few really good hour + runs, and banged out a great 10 miler today, so we’ll see what the future holds. I could possibly still pull the full out of thin air, but I’m not going to be disappointed if I have to drop when the time comes.
What matters is that I keep running happy – which I plan on doing for a VERY long time đ And PS – We’ll be back to our usual running/training related posts tomorrow. In the meantime, how is your training going? Does anyone else out there struggle with doubt? How about my fellow overthinkers out there? Share your story!
The Girl Who Cried Marathon – Part 1
It’s been a while since my last post, but I’m back! And it has been a week or two, let me tell you. After getting all jazzed up for my long run with my last post, I made the bold choice of going for a 6 miler that Thursday night.
The first three miles were filled with pace-destroying calf pain, a totally new issue. I’d had calf strain issues due to overcompensation on that leg in a few recent runs, but nothing like this. I couldn’t go more than 50 yards without walking because of this intense burning sensation from my ankles to my knees. It subsided around mile 3 and was replaced with major chafing for the last 3 miles. BUT I finished 6 in [relatively] good time, then rested Friday and set out Saturday for my long run. And it was bad.
I was motoring through mile 6 when the wheels fell off the wagon. My knees locked up, my calves coiled into tight springs, and I felt a shooting pain grow from the outside of my right foot straight through my right calf up to the knee. I walked in circles, stretched it, even sat on a curb to rest, but it wasn’t having any of that. When I tried to run one last block, my right knee gave out and I had to call my husband to come pick me up.
Talk about a shame spiral while I waited? In 15 minutes, I went from “You can’t even finish a 13 mile training run” to “You can’t finish anything you start, even your marriage is just you trying to pretend to be an adult.”
My inner voice can be a real douchebag sometimes.
So I punished my body all of the next day working in the yard, rested on Monday, then tried running again on Tuesday and found that I was ok after 2 miles. Not 100%, but OK. Wednesday I took off from running and told myself to focus on really pushing for a full night of cross training. So I surprised the hell out of myself with a double workout at the gym.
And I felt great!
I started with a nice slow stretch, then did 4 miles in 50 minutes on the elliptical. After some more stretching I finished with 25 solid minutes in the pool. Lap after lap, I build my confidence up, stretched out those sore muscles, loosened everything up and generally played mermaid.Then that night I spent some time researching the possible causes of my injuries. I watched videos on common running problems, read up on knee issues, and picked up a few things that I couldn’t wait to try out on Thursday. I was tired by the time my run rolled around after work, so I told myself to go by feel with my new knowledge.
And 6 absolutely pain free miles later I was smiling from ear to ear đ
That is one happy runner.
Throughout the run, I focused on 3 little things that added up for a huge difference:
- Shortening my stride. Overstriding is a common running issue that creates knee/calf issues, and as it turns out, I was doing it. A LOT.
- Paying closer attention to my pace. I stopped doing that a while ago because I just wanted to get faster but I only ended up going too fast and burning myself out early.
- NOT paying attention to my overall time. In my rush to get faster, I was too focused on what my overall time should be, and getting discouraged when the number wasn’t what I expected.
By the end of 6 miles, I felt great! Tired and spent, but good. A few aches in my calf, a tight back… I certainly couldn’t have done it all over again back to back to make 12, though. So while I was thrilled to have figured out what was causing some of my major issues I still had some lingering doubts, mostly about how I was going to build up my endurance to:
- do what I just did 3 more times in a row
- PLUS 2.2 more miles for a full 26.2 miles…
- in just 6 weeks.
In my next post, we’ll look at that list in greater detail… and you’ll finally learn what the title of this post is all about!
Mermaid in Training
After buying my new swimming gear a few weeks ago, I finally made the leap (dive?) and hit the pool at our local YMCA last night after work for some cross training.
So I slipped into my swimsuit and immediately had a small panic attack when I looked down at the rest of my swimming accoutrements and realized I had NO CLUE how to properly use them. I bought the swim cap, wax ear plugs, and goggles because they looked cool, but once I found myself shivering in the freezing cold locker room staring at these foreign objects on the bench before me, I panicked. Did my hair need to be wet to put the cap on? Then what was the cap for if my hair was going to get wet? Does it go over my ears? If it does, do I need the ear plugs too? Should I walk out with the goggles on or put them on in the pool?
Like I’ve said before, sometimes it really is hell inside my mind.
So after a fruitless Google search and some mild cursing for being so totally pathetic, I just decided to wing it and slapped everything on to the best of my ability. After pulling a third of my hair out by the roots trying to get the swim cap on, nearly losing the wax in my ear twice, and pinching myself hardcore with the goggle strap, I was ready to rock.
Or at least I looked like I was ready.
It became clear that I needed to have some confidence if I was going to pull this off, so I grabbed my towel, took a deep breath, opened the door to the pool and flip flopped out to the closest bench.
I slipped into the water and pretended that it wasn’t as cold as it was. Little kids were getting swimming lessons in the far lane, for god’s sake! So I pulled my goggles down, dipped under, and kicked off… and felt myself break into the biggest smile since I crossed the finish line of my last half in April! It was amazing!
For the next half hour I did lap after lap, trying out every swimming stroke my grandma ever taught me in our backyard pool, none of which I know the proper names for. Some I’m pretty sure I even made up as I went along. But I loved it! The rest of the pool cleared out and I found myself alone in my last few laps, in my own little sound-proof world (thanks, wax earplugs), my heart beating out of my chest as I finished one lap and geared up for another.
Finally, as I glanced behind me at the clock to see how long I’d been in, the poor teenaged lifeguard who had been standing there waving at me since I couldn’t hear her finally got my attention: “I’m sorry but we have to close the pool because of the lightning storm!”
I hadn’t even noticed, but it was indeed storming badly outside, so I hopped out of the pool, toweled off, changed into dry clothes and relaxed in the locker room for a minute: I felt ike I’d worked out hard but I wasn’t sweaty and gross like after a run; I was just fresh and dry and blissed out on an endorphin high!
So overall, I’d give swimming an A++. I cannot wait to go back! How about you? Do you swim for cross training? Any triathletes (or tri’s in training) out there? Let me hear it!
Find Your Balance
With marathon training in full swing, I’m starting to notice a pattern: it’s all about balance! If I work too hard one day, I set myself back for 3. Read on!
So Week 3 started off a little slow: my rest day Monday turned into rest day Tuesday too because my knees were dying from the beating they took on the treadmill Sunday. 7 miles on the mill was a nice accomplishment, but DAMN. So Wednesday I hit the speedwork hard (on the treadmill too, will I ever learn?) and found the extra day of rest really paid off: I was coasting through 2 minute intervals that beat my usual 11-12 minute per mile pace by almost 4 full minutes! After a warm up jog I did 2 rounds of 2 minute sprints at 9:30, 8:57, and 8:34 (!!) broken up by 90 seconds of fast walk breaks. And I could have kept on going if it weren’t for that pesky “work” thing!
Feeling good, I opted to plow straight through the weekend with activity every day to make up for that missing day. So I kicked off my 4 day weekend Thursday with a full hour of cross training: HIIT with Jillian and the Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout DVD.
while listening to old school hip hop instead of Jillian’s voice.
After my workout, I was all set to enjoy a “me” day like a real housewife of NJ and I ended up wandering around a mall for 3 hours, touching everything and buying nothing. My legs started to get that post-workout weakness in the afternoon, so I refueled at Panera and ran (walked?) some more errands and made it home by about 5, logging around 4 miles of walking throughout the day. And that’s where the wheels kinda fell off the wagon.
Friday morning, I felt like rusty metal. I was supposed to do 3 miles, but I opted instead for a shakeout mile to get things flowing again and surprised myself with a 10:00 mile, even. The skies opened up for the next 7 hours so after a day of BBQ’ing, I walked the other 2 miles that night at the park after the rain cleared for our local fireworks show and made my 3 miles.
Come 8:30AM Saturday, I was raring to go (hey, it turns out resting really does work!) so I brought the bike down the park with the hubby. It was one of those “let’s see how far I get” days, and when I found I was able to ride on my old waterfront running path now that it was all fixed up post-Hurricane Sandy, I just couldn’t help myself and did a full 10K on the bike in 38 minutes!
I didn’t have enough hands for the .2 so just use your imagination.
But the 20-30mph wind gusts ended up shredding my legs and Sunday’s long run was NOT happening when my alarm went off at 7:30am. I got .12 miles in before the heat and the intense pains coming from my good knee scared the hell out of me, and I opted to try again later that night when it was cooler and my legs had a true rest. So I did nothing for the rest of the day except nap on the couch and visit the farmer’s market for some fresh avocados. After some yummy Amy’s Organic tamales for dinner (with my patent pending homemade guacamole!), I hit the pavement at around 8:30 and truly enjoyed my 5 miler around town! It was cooler and quiet, traffic was calm, and I coasted through all 5 miles! I did end up sprinting through the last mile, partially because my route took me next to my church which is super creepy at night.
like, Scooby-Doo level creepy
After some stretching and foam rolling, I hit the hay and week 3 was complete! It wasn’t very pretty, but it got done. I realize I need to re-integrate that extra day of running in the middle of the week – the cross training is great, but I don’t want my speed and endurance to suffer for it. It’s all about balance though, and I need to make sure that I keep the extra work in there but in smaller doses.
How is your training going? Are you noticing any patterns in your workouts? Any lessons to be learned outside of your usual fitness-based goals? Share with me in the comments!
I’m typing with my mind…
…because my arms are too sore to lift to the keyboard.
No, but seriously.
Thanks to that boot camp class yesterday morning, I am officially in the worst shape of my life, pain-wise.
Literally EVERYWHERE. Even in places I didn’t know had muscles.
The grunts of pain that I let out when trying to sit in the bathroom are most certainly going to get me a bad reputation in the office. And I actually screamed when I shifted my car into park this morning.
I went for a 3 miler this morning because the schedule told me. My body, on the other hand, wanted no part of this nonsense. Especially at 95% humidity outside! But I woke up at 6am, barely got a sports bra on without crying, walked for 1.25 and ran for .75, then tried my best to finish that last mile only walking a bit. I was surprised to find that running temporarily helped the soreness! Starting and stopping both hurt like a bitch and my max speed was somewhere around 5.5mph, but dammit, I did it.
BUT – I’m still sore. I thought flushing that lactic acid out with a shakeout run would do the trick, but now I’m hobbling around my office and people are looking at me funny and it’s not cool.
So tell me – What’s your tried and true anti-muscle-soreness remedy? I know foam rolling is the usual post-run soreness thing, but seriously how am I supposed to foam roll my triceps and my neck? Because pretty much everything from my eyebrows to my ankles are in pain. Do you have a go-to pain reliever or home remedy? Share your wisdom in the comments please – because I don’t know how much longer I can stand this!
Jess Runs Happy 