Substitution

Friday's routine called for a 7 mile small hill run. However, my left ankle woke up angry at me and barked with some minor pain on every step. It wasn't bad and probably something I could have run through but that seemed like a mistake. I suspected it was some minor muscle inflammation brought on by the amp up of my training. Turns out that was probably exactly it. I've avoided any running injuries for several years now by not over-training or adding too many miles too quickly. Despite having a nice 20 mile/week run base, I'm worried I may have tried to pour on too much new activity too soon.

Instead of the run, I grabbed the road bike and headed out for and hour+ ride as an aerobic substitution. I threw in a good long hill up Kilkare Canyon , a local training favorite, along with a few smaller ones just to make sure that I got some equivalency. And all without stressing out the left ankle.

The ride was excellent. I felt very strong and was able to keep a 17+mile pace despite a long ascent up Kilkare.

Later that night I spent some time rubbing muscles along the calf, chin, and ankle. What really surprised me was how tight the muscle was along my foot when I stretched my big toe! Wow. There was a lot of tension down there.

It's still a little tight, but I'll do some more massaging tonight and hopefully it will be ready for tomorrow's 7 mile Big Hill + 10 mile Bike ride.

Total time: 1:14
Miles: 21.1 @17.1 mph avg