Running Chick

Whelp, my hope that I wouldn’t miss any runs fell flat. I have no idea what, exactly, I did to my ankle but hooboy it’s mad at me.  People keep on asking me if I rolled it. Nope, didn’t roll it.  I also didn’t kick it, run it over with the car or inflict any sort trauma upon it. As far as I can tell, and this is probably grasping, I ran on an uneven surface on worn out shoes.  For the first week I thought it was my peroneal tendon that I’d offended but now it seems like my Achilles also had it’s feelings hurt.

The Achilles thing makes make a bit nervous because way back when when I was an step aerobics going gym-rat, I tore my Achilles and was on crutches and gimped around for a good six weeks. Then it took another six months for it to not ache when I went for short walks and probably a full year for it to completely recover. I’m nowhere near that bad, but every time I get a twang in that area, I get a little apprehensive.

Anyway, it is getting better. I’m only walking with a slight limp now as compared to the zombie shuffle I’d been doing since last Monday.  I’m hoping to get back on the road next week, but ultimately my plan is run on the day in which I walk down the hall and forget that I hurt my ankle in the first place.

Until that time, biking!

My trusty road bike has been attached to my trainer in my living room since, um, April? Don’t worry, it was serving a very important purpose. Collecting dust, clothes, hats and purses is a tough job that not every bike can stand up to. That’s probably why it was so expensive.

Anyway, I uncovered and freed it and off we went on a 22 mile ride on Saturday afternoon. My legs were confused. This was not running! They got used to it.  Back in May when we were in Madison, I bought a tri bag for my bike, which I thought I’d be able to use for quick access to my phone. Currently I store it either in my Camelbak or my seat bag and both require acrobatics and stopping when my phone rings. I figured this little bag would solve all my problems. Wrong! When I mounted it as the picture instructed, it hit my knees. I moved it around to the back of the frame and it hit my thighs. Pretty much wherever I put it, some part of me was getting scraped. I think my bike is too short framed. Or something. I’m not really sure, but I’m bummed.

I rode through Dodgeville and Atlantic Mine, took the Covered Drive (is that capitalized?) to Liminga Road. The Covered Drive, which is usually pretty gravelly, was nice and smooth. I was able to really cruise down it. And take pictures.

Here’s me attempting to look disappointed that I’m not running. Fail.

This shot is mostly to remind myself that I need to re-tape my handlebars. Except that I have no idea how to do it. Do the brakes come off? They must. Maybe I can pay somebody to do it for me. James?

Here’s a glamorous shot of my MTB on the Nara trail.  I rode the trial yesterday, then biked along with Josh when he did his run. Head on over to his site to see another sexy picture of me in my biking garb and for actual running recaps.

This little wet bun was hanging out in the pouring rain when I got home from work the other day. He posed long enough for me to snap a few pics and then took off.

Hopefully back to running will happen before too long. Until then, my posts might be picture light. It’s a serious pain in the ass to take pictures while biking.