Running Chick

We finally took the camper out for it’s maiden voyage last weekend.  Thank goodness because I was really itching to go.

We headed down to Marquette on Friday and set up camp at Tourist Park.  We did a little shopping then headed to dinner at a restaurant called L’Attitude.  The restaurant was relatively new (about 2 years) had good reviews, so we were excited to give it a try.

Epic fail. 

We’ve had bad experiences at restaurants before, but never so bad that it inspired us to write a scathing review on tripadvisor.com, but that’s just what we did.  About the only good thing our review said was that our bottle of wine was good.  If they hadn’t comped our meal, except for the wine, I don’t think we would have even said that.  Get your shit together L’Attitude, and thank you UpFront & Company for serving great food after 10pm.

James was racing in the Ore to Shore MTB race as well as mooching on our campsite, so after he took off for the start, I took off for my 8 mile run around Presque Isle Park.  The humidity kept my pace about 30 seconds/mile slower, but I was okay with that.  Also, my legs were feeling so much better then they had on Wednesday so running was good that day.  Here’s a few shots from my run, and the rest of the weekend.  There’s more in the gallery.

Presque Isle

Presque Isle

Presque Isle

Presque Isle

Josh and me after about a billion attempts at a couple photo

On Sunday, we participated in the Gordon Lyon Memorial Cruiser ride.  This was a cruisers-only ride, no fancy road or MTB bikes allowed.

My bike was the cutest one there, no question

Cruisertini ?

Or at least that’s what I thought around the two mile mark of my five mile run tonight.

Then, I felt a twinge in my left leg. 

Now, being a runner, I’m pretty accustomed to random twinges during my runs.  Sometimes I’ll get one during a stride and it’ll disappear in the next.  Sometimes it’ll stick around for several strides before fading away.  So, I’m not usually too bothered by them.

This was a different twinge.  It was accompanied by a burning, aching feeling that spread from my ankle to my lower calf.  It was a twinge with attitude.  Then, my hamstrings decided to tighten up and every step became a battle between me and my legs.  Immediately my hey-i-think-i’m-getting-better-because-there’s-no-pain run turned into a i-hate-my-legs, i-hate-running, why-does-this-always-happen-to-me, screw-this-I’m-just-going-to-sit-on-the-couch-and-get-fat self-loathing pity fest.

Somehow, through sheer will or sheer stupidity (with me, they seem to be interchangeable), I made it through the last three miles and I felt like crap afterward.  Not just physically but mentally.  My legs were throbbing and I was just disgusted with myself and running.

I think my big mistake in all this was running two days in a row.  But, I’ve been feeling pretty good the last few runs.  I’ve had minimal pain and my speed is starting to come back.  I’ve slowly started to incorporate uphills, downhills and pavement back into my routine and everything’s been okay.  However, I was only running three times a week with a day or two between runs.  So, I think running two days in a row was just too much for my disgruntled tendons and they let met know it in no uncertain terms.

I’ll take the next two days off then have an eight miler on the schedule for Saturday.  We’re going to be camping in Marquette, so I need to find some soft trails to run on because I don’t think my legs can handle any more pavement.

Last week’s totals:  13.04 miles @ 10:55

Unimpressive, to say the least.