See Emily Run

I didn't run today, but I did walk for about 3 hours (sightseeing around the city) and I'm so. Wiped. Out. I also pulled my left hamstring yesterday while doing some lunges (I thought that I was properly warmed up ...) and it's kind of bugging me today but hopefully it will keep fading. I plan to run through it because it's very minimal and I'm just getting easy miles in for a good few weeks so I can get my base mileage up.

Another easy day for me ... the first day it's been rather hot during a run. I might need to start getting up earlier.

Big news, five miles today! The ball of my foot just under my right big toe was hurting for the first few minutes but I stopped and massaged it for a minute and it felt fine afterwards. Maybe a reminder that I should still be taking it easy?

As I was finishing my run I was still moving quicker because I'd just finished a long, gradual downhill and was feeling pretty confident. Right before I get home I have to run on a narrow sidewalk next to a wide, busy road, so often if there is someone else on the sidewalk I have to step down onto the road again so it doesn't get too crowded. (Since there are few runners, let alone foreign ones here, I want leave a good impression.) As I ran along that stretch today I tried to jump down to avoid a man in a blue jacket. My foot clipped the edge of the sidewalk (gasp!) and I fell down into the road instead.

This was the first time I've fallen while running in forever so I'm pretty proud that (1) it was a rolling fall - fun! and (2) that I got back up and started running again right away. Considering how busy the road is at that time of day it was probably a survival instinct, but I like to think I'm just so hardcore that a little fall can't stop me from running. Also I was very thirsty. And just a little bit embarrassed. I only have a couple of scraped up knees to show for it, so altogether the fall just added a little variety to my run.

Today's lesson: only stupid people go running immediately after eating a generous amount of fried bread. And today I was a stupid person.

I was originally hoping to be running a half marathon this coming Saturday (tomorrow) but I decided to not do it because I was pushing my training too quickly and starting to get injuries. Now I'm REALLY glad I didn't sign up for it because I sprained my ankle today. GAH.

 I was trying to avoid someone on the sidewalk just before my one mile mark (sound familiar?) and I stepped over a raised edge of the sidewalk and rolled my ankle really badly. It hurt enough that I stopped right away, but after I sat down and massaged it felt somewhat better so I decided to do two more miles on it - so smart, I know. I ran on it, walked on it for a few more hours at home and then it started to hurt really badly so I couldn't put any weight on it.

Okay, enough of the excessive detail... it's feeling somewhat better now so I can put some weight on it. I'm pretty sure it's a minor sprain that will heal pretty quickly, but I'm still sad that it happened. I guess I'm just injury prone lately. Sigh.

Feeling better! Took it very easy, avoiding uneven ground and only jumping up and down from curbs onto my right, uninjured foot.

My ankle is still feeling great so I'm hoping to get back to building my mileage now. My left knee felt a little funky after my run so I think it is still a little funky from rolling my ankle last week. It hurt along with my ankle, but it didn't last long and was much less painful. So I will do my best to treat all my joints like glass for the next while ...

Funny story today. I decided to run at the nearby track since (a) my run wasn't going to be very long, (b) it was getting a little late in the evening and I prefer to stay off the streets then, and (c) I was too lazy to face any hills today. I end up being one of the only people there running, but there were over a hundred people playing soccer, badminton, or walking around. So I plugged into my tunes so I could ignore everyone and try not to feel self-conscious as I zipped around (my speed was relatively fast compared to the hordes of walkers). After a couple laps a guy passes me on the inside lane and then slows down so we're running at the same pace, but maybe four feet ahead. Is it a male pride thing, having to show up the running girl? Is it that he got tired right then and decided to slow down right after he passed me? Does he want a running buddy? I've no idea.

However, since I was guessing that the male pride thing was factoring in here, I didn't want to run behind him continuously so I caught up with him. We ran next to each other for a lap or two, not talking or looking at each other, so I gave in to the awkwardness when I got to the line, "You treat me just like another stranger" in the song I was listening to. I asked him how far he was going, but he said he didn't speak English. I don't speak Chinese myself so I was stuck. I figured I gave it a shot, and just maintained the pace after that. I did my 2.5 miles on the track, and we ended up running the whole time together, weaving through walkers as needed. It was kind of weird, but by the end I felt like it was a friendly dynamic. Maybe he did just want a running buddy for motivation. Or maybe his friends bet him to go run with the crazy foreign person. I don't know. But when I finished my distance I just said goodbye (I can manage that much in Chinese, at least) and headed home. 

Any ideas on possible motives? Was I being too harsh in assuming male pride was the main factor? Anyone else picked up a random running buddy recently?

Alas, I couldn't even run 3 miles today. The injury that I was staving off just before I started blogging here returned during this run. The metatarsals in my right foot started hurting badly within a few minutes of running. I wanted to run through it but I figured it was best to just head home so it didn't get worse. It feels like it could turn into a stress fracture if I keep running on it.

I'm feeling quite frustrated (and I'm only now feeling well enough to blog about it, on May 24) because I've never had so many running-related injuries even when I was running 40+ miles a week. Now I can't even hit 20 miles a week and I'm sitting on the couch again. I don't have a bike, and we leave China in just a few weeks so it's not worth it to get a gym membership for crosstraining.  I'm pretty sure the injuries (the sprained ankle aside) come from running on old shoes for too long (but I've replaced them) and from not getting enough calcium over the last several months, so I know I could have done some things better.

Sorry if this all sounds like whining. At least let it be a cautionary tale: don't stop drinking milk and don't run on shoes that have too high of mileage. :)

After a very long break of one whole week, I ran 3 miles on the track today. It feels better just to get out there again. At first my legs felt really tight and my breathing was all off, so I guess drowning my running sorrows in Snickers and other junk food for the past seven or so days didn't really do much for me.

Ah, well. I plan on taking it easy for a few more weeks, only running on the track (for lack of any other soft ground around here), icing my foot a lot, and eating lots of yogurt. The milk around here is pretty gross, but the yogurt is delightful.

Another short one on the track, but feeling much better than I did on Saturday.

Ran at the track again. I forget how nice it is to get a run in early instead of worrying about fitting it in all day long.