Sunday, August 8, 2010

Beach blood blisters

I was at the beach all last week, which is great for relaxation, not so great for running. The temperature was high and the humidity was too. So, I either had to run first thing in the morning or late, late, late in the evening. And then I had two choices: run on the flat, hot, BORING street, or run on the slanty, sandy, windy, difficult beach. Tough choices. The first day of the trip (214) I decided to run early in the morning (since we hadn't been partying too hard...yet) and run on the beach. The tide was out and the beach wasn't too crowded. I got to run on the flatest part of the beach since the tide was so low. I used an ipod, which is the first time that I have had music thus far this year, and it helped keep me paced well. I ran to the end of the inlet and then up toward the pier. I ran for 40 minutes and I'm guessing it was about 4.5 miles. Pretty nice run.

So the second day of the trip, Jacob wanted to run with me... in the evening. I was game since the first night we got a brief afternoon rain and the prevailing winds made for a cool, beautiful evening. Not so on the second night. It remained hot and muggy most all of the day. We set out at 7:00, which is about as late as we could go not to miss dinner. We decided to start on the street and then move to the beach. We ran 2.5 miles on the street and my left foot started feeling numb. (this was a great time for Jacob to start criticizing my running form!) So, when we got to the beach, I decided to run without shoes... ya know... just to give it a try. My feet felt great and the numbness subsided, but the tide was up and the beach was crowded, so we had to run where the beach was slanting to the left a bit. We ran 2.5 miles back on the beach....barefoot. It was pretty nice... but.... my left toe had a blood blister the entire back side. It was filling up with blood and sore. There were many Hill family theories on what I should do (pop it, cover it with neosporin and a band-aid, or do nothing), I chose to do nothing. (215)

The next day, Jacob convinced me to do an evening run again. (I thought it might give my toe a chance to recover a little). I didn't want to do five miles, so we tried 3.5. We ran about 1.75 miles on the street and 1.75 on the beach. My left foot was not feeling so great about 1/4 of the way down the beach, so I took off my shoes and ran, slightly leaning on the edge of my left foot. It was not the easiest run, but I did not pop or puncture my blood blister. In fact, I just added to it! It looked like it was spreading like a growth around the base of my big toe. Really pretty! (216)

My fourth day at the beach, I decided to run in the morning, on the road. I did barely 3.5 miles because my ankles were soooooo sore from running on the beach that I was in tears for a portion of my run and even had to stop a few times to stretch and loosen my ankles and take a little time to walk. It sucked and I was miserable! But then it was over and I could totally relax on the beach and keep my walking to a minimum. Oh, and drink beer for most of the day... lush that I am! (217)

My fifth (and final running day at the beach, thank god!) I decided not to run in the morning when my body felt stiff and tired, but wait until the evening. And that choice really paid off! It rained most of the day (which was a bummer since it was my last day to laze around on the beach). When I finally decided to go run (around 6:30) it was still overcast and cool. There was limited activity on the street and I had a really great run! I ran four miles, and waiting until the afternoon made it so my ankles were already less sore and my legs were more alive. It was a nice run and didn't feel boring. It was a good way to end my running time at the beach. But I must say I am VERY glad to be running again in my beautiful, hilly, cool town! (218)

So, back at home and loving to run in non-flat,non hot, non sandy conditions. We drove back, leaving very early in the morning, and unfortunately, my sister got sick. That slowed our drive time down a little. Then we got home and I had all this B.S. to do and needed to help take car of my niece while my sister worked on feeling better, so I didn't get out on my run until 8:00. I was already pretty tired from the early morning and the full day and was feeling slightly unmotivated... but my dad did happen to mention that I look like I've gained weight... so, I at least wanted to burn some calories... and decided to run wind sprints. It was pretty fun and a departure from what I normally do. I did only run for 1/2 hour but I definitely got my heart rate going and sweat a good bit. And I was very happy to see my pillow at the end of that day! (219)

and then Sunday came along (220). Being on vacation for 6 days means coming back home to utter and complete mayhem. I worked from the time I woke up, until I took a run, and wrote my blog. I went out at 7:30. Again, the weather was nice and cool. The end of the day light is so calming and lovely. I decided to run my old standard route, with a few sprints thrown in at key locations, and had another fun run. I did have to prod myself not to turn at a side street, thereby making my run shorter, but then I remembered that I have a few pounds to shed, and kept on course. My blood blister is not bothering me any more and now all I have to do is get myself back into running long distances... which may be a bit of a challenge... but while I should not take it so hard that my dad noticed my weight gain, I will definitely help use it as motivational tool. Lemons to lemonade... thanks dad!

1 comment:

  1. You give him far too much credit. He would not notice if you had lost/gained weight anymore than he would notice if you had colored your hair bright purple (he wouldn't). But alas, we believe what we want to believe....

    ReplyDelete