Powering Through the Pain

Today was rough.

Maybe I'm overdoing it a bit, especially after yesterday. I failed to mention that I did 100 ab crunches and 10 10-second squats, then ran, then spent half the day hauling boxes here and there, trying to navigate myself up and over this flat file case that's in the middle of a small storage unit. Oh, I was also hauling lumber around, including a full-sized door (which was hollow, but still). I was all sore and hobbly before the end of the day.

Needless to say, this morning was a bit rough. On top of the fact that I went to bed around 1 and woke up around 6, I just stayed in bed and listened to the radio until I got up sometime after 7 to get ready to leave by 8 (and at the very least I had the motivation to get out of here; I parked my car on the street sweeping side). It didn't seem as cold, but my muscles were definitely hurting. The time it took me to get about definitely showed, too:

LAP 1: 20.45.47
LAP 2: 18.16.49
LAP 3: 18.20.17
TOTAL: 57.21.93

Yikes. At least, I didn't have to be anywhere this morning. It wasn't that it really hurt a lot, but I'm just all stiff-feeling. What did hurt was when I was doing my first walk lap, I walked through this bit of shade that was FREEZING cold. It was pretty brisk as it was, but going where the sun don't shine was definitely very cold, and I could feel it in my bones. At least it seems that my lungs can keep up; I didn't really feel like I was winded until towards the end of the third lap, but then again that could have been a mental thing for me.

What is difficult is that I'm starting to feel same pains that I've felt before. As soon as I put on my left shoe, I instantly feel that damned tongue digging into my foot, and I think that spot where it digs in is getting more and more tender. It's hard to adjust it, and the only way to keep it from hurting, I have to loosen that shoe. That proves to be a challenge in its own, for now I have a semi-loose shoe, so it doesn't fit perfectly. That may be the reason why my right foot is hurting. It smarts at the outside bottom of my right foot, and I do have something of a limp when I'm walking. As great as I feel after each run interval and after the workout in general, my body is tired. It's definitely not used to all this pain. I'm considering skipping out tomorrow, but I know it will get better soon, and maybe I can just go out there tomorrow just to walk the three laps.

I would like to think that I know my limits. That I know when the pain is negligible and not dangerous in ways to injure me, or when it's a pain that's telling me that I must stop or suffer the consequences now or sometime very soon. Even a nice, hot soak in an epsom salt solution didn't seem to be that helpful (though it did feel nice and was a bit more limber a bit after the bath).

It's hell week, and it's not even half as bad as it could be. I can get through this. I just have to power through the pain. After that, it won't hurt anymore and I'll be stronger for it.