Tuesday/Wednesday runs and a shiny new look

TUESDAY RUN
We ran one mile barefoot in karate class (upper belts have strict running requirements, so we start early). I must have landed too far forward on my toes, because I finished class with super sore calves. I'm definitely adding a foam roller to my Wish List, because this is not an isolated incident. Normally I really enjoy barefoot running and manage to avoid any injuries. It's likely I just didn't stretch well enough.

TECHNICAL UPDATE
You may have noticed that I've changed some things around lately, including the layout, color scheme, and domain name. I just recently fixed the internal hyperlinks (from one blogpost to another), so I'm sorry if anyone had problems with that. I hope you enjoy the new look.

WEDNESDAY RUN
We ran for 30 minutes in the Azalea District on Wednesday. I forgot where we stopped exactly, so I put down last street I remembered. I believe we might have run farther, although it doesn't really matter. The course we made up was basically one giant hill after another.

We almost skipped the run entirely. My calves were so sore from Tuesday's 1 mile barefoot run that I didn't know if they'd cooperate for my scheduled run. On top of that, Wednesday was one of the top three worst work days ever (the top two belong to the Tyler branch of Home Depot, but that's a story for another time). After a long conversation with my husband (and a nap), I still hadn't managed to shake it.

The good that came out of all this, however, is that I managed to channel all my frustration, disappointment, and hurt feelings into motivation to get out the door. I knew the run would make me feel better even if my calves yipped a little... and I was right. The fact that I made this decision so easily shows me that I've experienced a major attitude realignment. Exercise to feel better? Who DOES that? Apparently, I do.

About half way through the run, Matt pointed out another change. I have never been one to run through pain or discomfort, but here I was running through the pain in my calves (note: it's "sore" pain, not "injury" pain. I'm very conscious of giving potential injuries a chance to rest).

I managed to keep up a pretty good attitude throughout the run, although I got a little less-than-perky after Matt volunteered to demonstrate proper "fartlek" technique while we were climbing a long evil hill... I'll leave the implications up to your imagination. Needless to say, it gave ME motivation to run faster.