Tart Cherry Juice and Chocolate Milk are my new best friends

Yuck! That is my feeling of today's long run.

I had found out about a Greenway a couple miles from my place and thought it looked like a lovely place for a long run considering that it spans 10 miles with little traffic interaction. I looked up the website. It said that it was hard packed dirt, which I could handle. Well, about 3 miles in it goes all rocky, gravel-like. It killed my knees and ankles. I thought about going back and finishing the rest of the run somewhere else but that kind of felt like cheating to me so I kept on truckin'. I ran the first mile of this run at HMP (just to see). It felt good. I can definitely do that pace IF nothing else affects me, such as side-cramps or other unmentionable problems runners can incur.

The last 2.5 miles out were killer. My ankles definitely got a workout. I can feel it all over though. I will not be visiting this trail again until after the half.

I need to start carrying water with me or making my runs pass by water fountains. I had my Gu at 5.5 miles and water was nowhere in site. The Gu was nice and warm because I had stored it in between my ipod armband and my arm. Eww. But, it went down smooth and was a pretty tasty one. I still needed water though.

Anyway, I turned around there to finish the run of 11 miles. I slowed it down a lot because I was feeling all the working the trail and rocks were doing on my body. I have no doubt that had I ran last week's course all would have been well but as C.S. Lewis says, "Experience is a brutal teacher, but you learn." These are words to live by and one of my favorite quotes.

After my run, I stopped by Earthfare to pick up some 100% Tart Cherry Juice. Jamie Mains, whom I have bugged to death I'm sure over this entire process of asking her a bajillion questions about running and training, recommended it to me for joint pain. It is supposed to reduce inflammation. So when I got home I drank a glass of this along with my norm of drinking chocolate milk. (A perk to training is that you get to drink chocolate milk without any guilt. The combo of the chocolate and the milk replenish the protien and carbohydrates you lost during your run and is popular recovery drink for serious athletes.) So, this is why tart cherry juice and chocolate milk are my new best friends.

For now, I will be resting my legs at home and praying a lot. As I write I have just switched the ice packs from my knees to my ankles. Hopefully, I will be recovered enough tomorrow for my 5 miles at HMP. If not, I will use tomorrow as my Monday rest day and run this on Monday.

As a side note, Mom, don't worry about me...I am fine. Just a little sore. Remember the broken nose? That was much worse.