The Runner and the Hurricane

Two hours and fifty-six minutes and 18 miles later, just before 9 am, I heroically returned to the front stoop of my apartment building, having just braved torrential rains and 60 mph winds. I triumphantly threw my fist in the air and shouted "Eff you Irene!"

What a story that would be!...If it had actually happened. Let's back up shall we?

I spent most of Friday freaking out about my right calf. It felt like someone took a baseball bat to it and I was starting to accept the fact that I may not be running this weekend at all. After way too much internet research (the amount of research that leads you to inevitably become over-paranoid) I was sure I had actually sprained it, or at least strained it badly. I kept coming across sentences like, "a minimum of 4 weeks and up to 6 months of no running." Yeah, you could say I wasn't exactly in a good mood.

Some of the remedies I read about included compression, which I've already had great experiences with since I usually wear compression socks on long runs. I didn't want to walk around in a full knee sock all weekend, however, so after work I ran over to City Sports to pick up a pair of Zensah Compression Sleeves. I'm basically the biggest hypocrite ever because I always used to say I would never get a pair because I thought they were aesthetically unpleasing. And wouldn't you know that they are officially my new favorite running accessory! Combined with some icing, an anti-inflammatory, some Bengay, and massage, my calves were feeling a ton better! The possibility of running this weekend was beginning to look up.

After City Sports I made a bee-line to Trader Joe's to stock up on some hurricane essentials. Turns out I wasn't the only one who thought that they would beat the crowds by going right after work. In the mass chaos I did manage to grab some goodies:

The loot

Mike and I were absolutely starving by the time we got out of there. We dropped off the food and immediately went in search of dinner. Friday night dinners with Mike are my absolute favorite. It's our time to relax after a busy week, grab a drink, try new restaurants, and get ready for whatever the weekend brings. We haven't had a real Friday dinner in about a month because of trips out of town and other things. We decided to try a new Italian place the just opened recently called Serafina. It was super delicious!

Bruschetta to start

My "pounded to a flat pulp" grilled chicken

And, of course, no meal is ever complete without dessert. I've been trying to take advantage of the ice cream weather while its still around (its September this week already??).

I'm creepy about my ice cream. Deal with it.

Saturday morning we headed to boxing. I was still worried about my calf so I rocked a compression sleeve. Then I decided to match the rest of my outfit to the sleeve by wearing all black. This is also known as ninja style.

Boxing ninja! Look out!

Boxing was awesome as usual. I don't think I've ever been so sweaty in my life! Joey always keeps the back door open to let in some air, but there was no breeze to be had. Why does that always happen right before a hurricane? Though I was hesitant to do the jump squats and jump rope because of my calf, those exercises actually made it feel better not worse. I like to think those exercises were strengthening the muscle rather than tearing it more.

Post-boxing we hit up the farmer's market for breakfast:

Mmm donuts

As the rain started Saturday afternoon we headed to two appointments with wedding photographers. I felt like I sat around all summer and didn't do any wedding planning, but with the dress last weekend and the photographers this weekend I feel like things are starting to move again.

A few hours later Mike and I headed out for a run. I made sure to wear my compression socks and go very slow. After my research I realized that my injury was probably more speed related rather than overuse related. I have been extremely good about not increasing more than 10% mileage every week, a mistake I made (twice) when I trained for my half in the spring. My speed, however, has been blowing up lately, and it would appear that my whole body may not be on board with it yet. So, for now, I will take it slow.

Even though Mike had 5 miles on his plan and I only had 4, I decided to join him for his full distance. I wasn't sure, with all of the hurricane hysteria going on, how many miles I'd be able to log Sunday. I figured it wouldn't be a bad thing to get an extra mile in while I still could. The torrential rain started coming down when were about a half mile in. Unlike two weeks ago, when the downpour was kind of pissing me off, I really enjoyed this run! My New Balance Minimus' will be drying out for at least four days.

Thank you Irene, for washing my clothes for me!

After we returned and hung up our clothes to dry, we headed out again into the madness to our friend's house for game night! After a tense game of Clue we moved on to what I like to call "Asshole Jenga," in which you try to stack your Jenga block in the most asshole fashion as possible. This kind of game does not bode well for me and my shaky hands.

The moment before everything fell over. Thanks a lot assholes.

And so that brings us to Sunday, long run day. I've already admitted that I didn't wake up at 6 am and crush out 18 miles in the middle of a hurricane. Sorry to disappoint you all! What exactly did I do then? Slept in for one (if 7:30 am is sleeping in after going to bed at 1 am). Between the windy weather forecast predicted for Sunday morning, the fact that my gym wimped out Saturday afternoon and preemptively closed for Sunday, and the fact that I was up until midnight playing board games, I decided that a morning run was not going to happen. Instead I took the time to walk the pups with Mike and seek out bagels in a city of closed-because-of-the-hurricane stores (what hurricane I say).

I make compression sleeves look cool even when I'm not running

Other than that I haven't really done much today. I was planning on doing the 11-mile river loop to get in a sort of longish run (on Saturday I made the official decision not to attempt 18 miles all things considered), but I'm feeling a bit too tired and I figure my calf could use another rest day. I'm also pretty sure much of the river loop is flooded anyway. I DO plan on making up my long run tomorrow right after work. Mondays are usually a rest day, but I am going to push out a 12-miler right from work. As disappointed as I am to not be running today I'm looking forward to the run tomorrow! I always enjoy a challenge and busting out 12 miles after a full day of work sounds right up my alley! Talk about a productive Monday!