I almost would've been doing a triathlon right now

...and it is 39 degrees. Holy crap. I can run in this, no prob - matter of fact, I'd love to be running in this. Swimming in it would be COLD, even with a wetsuit. Biking in this would be cold, and biking and running in this with wet hair?? Brrr. I'm sure it can be done - I used to have the same fear of running in snow, and now I love it - but I'm ok with not trying today. I'm not a fan of cold weather anyway, and I feel like I haven't had time yet to get used to the cold now upon us. Not that I have to - yet - I hear it's supposed to make its way back up into the 70's this week.

I'm being a wee bit lazy this weekend. Well, not lazy, just re-prioritizing. We have/had so much to get done around the house and I'm making that, and QT with the husband, top priority. Plus, this injury is really bugging me mentally and it helps to have my mind elsewhere. I did go to the gym yesterday, out of obligation, but it kind of sucked. I hate the eliptical. It doesn't feel as effective as running, it's repetitive, and the bouncing gives me a headache. My calf started to tighten up on it and I thought, hell no, I am NOT re-aggravating this injury for an elliptical workout. Made it through 10 minutes on the stationary bike before that drove me crazy. Ran one lap on the track (little over .1 mile) and it still hurt. Did some strength training and that was a bit more fun.

I may go for a bike ride today, but I'm doing it as I feel like it and if I get other stuff done. I'm just not really motivated to work out, and I know that will pass because I'm not like most people. That's not my natural state, or if it used to be, it hasn't been for the past few years. I have too much nervous energy that builds up.

I know I'm allowed to run, and I think that's the worst of it. *I* have to be the one to sideline myself, and I am, because I know that the more I run, the longer it will take before I'm running without pain. Obviously I can, and have, run through a lot, but this time it's enough of the ouch that it completely distracts me from the enjoyment I get out of running.

I guess it's a good thing, though. I'm making plans for what workouts I will do in order to NOT run this week, and then I'm going to attempt the 5k next Saturday. The good thing is that I'm still allowed to do such a thing. I'm not going to attempt to blow my PR out of the water, as was the original plan; I'm going to attempt to run a 5k for a good cause, enjoy it, and do the best I can under the circumstances.

Trying to focus on the positives here...and the other is that I am getting better. I've learned that intense calf stretching is NOT the way to handle this injury, and moving around, massaging it, keeping it loose is better. A lot of the gastroc tightness is gone. When I ran, it was different than before - before, I was dragging a stiff leg, now, I'm running on an ouchie one. The PTT stuff is intermittent, but much better. The soleus muscle pain is what wants to stick around, but I'm having some pretty good, pain-free moments with that. I'm hoping that I can manage to get this thing gone with minimal trouble if I just keep being nice to it. Hopefully, now that I have shoes that don't overstress it, it will stay gone.

I keep reminding myself that the happy thing is that I ran a marathon. That was my ultimate, forsaking-all-others goal for the year. If I had to sacrifice some running/PRing in the aftermath, so be it. Doesn't make it fun, but so be it.

I'm still madly jealous of all my peers who are back to running and planning their next races while I take it one day at a time over here. So this is the point where, again, I have to get very focused on myself and do what's right for me. I generally tend to know that when I don't get distracted.

And I will stay cautiously optimistic about the Cincinnati half marathon, even though that will have to be a last-minute signup and another just for fun race.

Next year will be the year of the PR!!