Injuries: Past and Present

Monday I took Tim and his buddy, Kevin, to Water Country USA.  If you don't know what it is, it's a huge water park in Williamsburg that is part of the Busch Gardens Park.  Our whole family has passes and we usually go to both parks a few times a yea.  We love it.  Before we left, I ran 2.5 miles.  Felt great, especially since I ran the 8k the Saturday before.  I was in much better shape this time for the race not like the Shamrock 8k.  Anyways, if you don't know anything about Busch Gardens or Water Country, they are both enormous.  A lot of walking is involved.  I earned 29 Weight Watchers Activity Points that day, which to some women is actually their total daily amount.  It was my best day yet.  But I woke up the next morning with a slight pain in my front lower leg.  I have been fighting tight calves since the Shamrock.  I actually took a month off after the Color Me Rad to recover but I found out I just needed to stretch more.  I supernate and it causes my calves to be much more tight than the average person.

Both injuries have occurred on my left leg.  Coincidence, I think not.  In January 2009 I was hit by a Lincoln Town car in Downtown Detroit while Bartending.  I was blindsided by the car and was hit broadside on my left side.  I bounced off the car hood and rolled off.  I was instantly sent to the ER.  Everything checked out fine but I was in a lot of pain.  They ran a bunch of tests and I was very fortunate.  But the doctor said I did have a chip in my hip bone and he said it wouldn't be expected to have major injuries in the future from the impact of the accident.  I walked around with a cane for a month until I recovered. Since then, my leg hasn't been the same.  In the winter I can feel the tightness of my leg and hip, my knee is much weaker than my right, and for some reason all my lg injuries happen on that leg.

Clearly my accident has affected my whole leg.  I think the muscular distribution in m left leg has been a little off and it does effect from top to bottom.  My shins or lower legs do hurt a bit but nothing major.  I have been icing the anterior muscle the last two nights and I bought some compression socks to help.  I ran 3 miles on Wednesday and I felt great.  I am more bothered by this when I am sitting.  I clearly shouldn't of ran the day I went to water country.  I probably walked and ran a combined 8-10 miles.  NOTE TO SELF: JUST TAKE A DAY OFF NEXT TIME.

So my goal is to keep paying attention to my leg, keep stretching and keep researching issues to make sure I am on top of it.  I don't want to have to take another month off to train.  I am going to Running, Etc., the local running store tomorrow.  I think I will be getting a different style of running shoes.  I have been running in Brooks Beast for years but I don't think it is the right shoe for me after doing research about Supernators.  Back in the early 2000s when I decided on Beasts, the internet wasn't what it is today.  Hopefully the store specialists can help me.  I have been on a good schedule the past 6 weeks and I want to keep on it.I really do want to run a half this fall.

Here are pictures of my leg after the crash in 2009.  It sucked.  It really changed my outlook on life and it reminds me when it's sore how fragile life really is and how important it is to enjoy life.  I know I was lucky that day because not even a car can take me down.