Training Log Archive: Bash

An extensive tour of Palgrave West with 'Bent, BulletDog and my Active Ankle brace. My injured ankle didn't hurt, but it felt a bit weak. There were a couple of times when I felt an ankle twist get stopped by the brace.

Ignoring all that, it was a beautiful day - even though we prefer our December days to begin by shovelling the snow away from our front door! 'Bent said I was running more quickly than usual. That's because I have a ton of Christmas preparation work left, and can't afford the time to do long, slow distance runs! Sometimes 'Bent has a huge advantage, being Jewish.

The joys of living with dogs... When we got back, ThunderDog had managed to topple a huge, wrapped panettone (Italian Christmas cake) off the top of the breadbox, then she tore off the wrapping and consumed every crumb. She's drinking lots of water now, and I'll bet she's going to have one heck of a stomach ache. After we finished cleaning up that mess, we noticed that BulletDog had apparently rolled in something disgusting along the trail, so she was rushed straight to the bathtub to be scrubbed and disinfected. Sigh...

Power Yoga for Endurance Athletes - DVD, with 'Bent. The balance exercises are getting more controlled with practice. It's interesting to see how "right-legged" I am. It's much easier to keep my balance when only my right foot is on the ground than when only my left foot is on the ground.

Only two more Christmas parties, then I'll have a few days to try to lose weight before our turkey dinner. Woo hoo!

Two full days of resting my ankle in hopes that it will heal quickly and be ready to bend 'n' flex when the snow flies. (In spite of the pathetic weather forecast, I live in hope.) Unlike my ankle crunches in the spring, this one caused very little swelling or discolouration. The pain on both sides of my foot, just above the sole, was intense at first. I think it's a different type of ankle twist from the ones I've had before - more of a foot twist than a leg twist. Maybe that's a function of the healed ankle joint being less flexible, which is something I've been warned about.

This was one of those rare days when I practically had to boot myself in the rear end with my own running shoe to get out the door. I had planned a busy, efficient day, with a meeting in Orangeville, several long work-related phone calls, a couple of writing projects, a few Christmas tasks, an evening party - and a lunchtime run and leg strength session to fend off the sluggishness.

But a construction crew arrived first thing in the morning with 3 men and a bulldozer, ready to dig trenches for a project that I'd expected to happen in the spring. This meant a day with lots of noise and knocks on the door, and people working outside the curtainless windows of the room where I would have done my strength exercises if I weren't so shy. Argggh! At least I managed to hide in the bedroom for awhile and make some of the phone calls. This may be the first time in recorded history that a home owner has been disappointed when a contractor showed up *earlier* than expected.

The machines fell silent around noon, and I dragged myself out for a trail run in Palgrave West, even though my brain wouldn't stop stressing and making "to do" lists. I wasn't structured enough about it to call it interval training, but I accelerated to top speed about a dozen times for very short distances. I was thinking that I never run fast, and it would probably be good for my body to experience the feeling of a faster pace, and maybe start to feel more comfortable there eventually.

So this sounds like a Story With Happy Ending, where I didn't want to go running, but triumphed over slugdom by going out nonetheless, and then I felt awesome for the rest of the day. Well, it was going to be a story like that until late in the run when I stepped in some mud and crunched my bad ankle - arggghhh! I've been trying to wean myself off the Active Ankle brace on relatively smooth trails, and obviously my healed foot isn't as resilient as my uninjured foot used to be. I spent a couple of minutes swearing at no one and cringing at the pain, then I started to get cold, so had to start walking on the foot. I limped for a minute, then it wasn't so bad. I was still cold, so I managed to jog/run home. One hour and two ice applications later, the swelling isn't nearly as serious as I've seen it, so my fingers are crossed. It was a big crunch, and there is pain on the inside and outside of the foot, so it seems like a lot of soft tissue was involved.

CRAP.

Hard Core Monday with 'Bent. Because I'd done Caron's class on Thursday evening, HCM felt like it arrived too soon this week. On the bright side, it made me feel oh so virtuous! But not until it was over, and I finally stopped whining and swearing at the TV.