Walking Like John Wayne

AKA… The Day After Hood to Coast

After sleeping for 14 hours, Sunday was spent working on my photos from Hood to Coast and trying to write blog posts about it while it was still fresh in my mind. I could barely walk on Sunday. It felt like every time I tried to walk my right knee locked up. It took about 2 minutes of maneuvering to try and lower myself down on the toilet or a chair. Michael was sweet and did my laundry, cooked meals for me and helped me with the computer stuff.

Even though I was tired and sore, I was feeling pretty good!

Before dinner time, Michael and I went for a walk. I was starting to loosen up and was feeling a lot better. We walked up and down our street and then walked down to the track I run on. We did two laps around the track and headed back to the house. I was feeling okay. I think the walk helped.

Michael grilled up a steak for dinner. It turned out really tender and delicious. I definitely needed the protein, too. He also grilled up the zucchini I got from a coworker.

It was nice that Michael took care of everything on Sunday. I was feeling scattered and emotional. I hadn’t fully realized how emotional I’d be during and after Hood to Coast.

I also did not realize how HUNGRY I’d be after Hood to Coast. As I write this post it’s now Monday and I’ve been starving since Saturday night. Literally. It feels like my stomach wants to eat itself. The steak dinner was really good but it barely made a dent in my hunger. After dinner Michael and I watched Mad Men, ate ice cream and I iced my ankle.

I was still hungry after eating all of that stuff! God! I ate a Fiber One bar and a glass of milk to see if that helped. Still hungry. I decided to just go to bed and hope it went away. Sunday night I used my Foam Roller for the first time since Hood to Coast. Parts of my body were fine: shins, calves and hamstrings. It felt good to use the Foam Roller. Then I did my quads and IT Bands. OH.MY.GOD. AGONY. I was practically crying and screaming as I did it and Michael yelled at me to stop doing it. I knew it would help my muscles so I had to just suck it up. What can I say? I’m really stubborn.

Monday

Monday and I was able to get out of bed, sit down on the toilet, walk around and get up and down from the chair with no pain. I think the Foam Roller worked!

I went swimming at the gym to loosen up my legs. First, the pool was broken so it was freaking freezing! That was not good. Second, swimming helped immensely.

Doing my laps I had zero pain or discomfort. It was almost as if I hadn’t run 17 miles! 😉 After swimming I sat in the hot tub for about 20 minutes. It felt heavenly and I didn’t want to get out of the hot tub.

I met my friend for lunch at Thai Lahnna in Sellwood. I was craving Thai food and I was STARVING. I could not eat enough food to satisfy my hunger. It must be because of Hood to Coast.

I got the spicy Thai soup to start. It came with mushrooms (yuck) but I didn’t eat them. The soup was hot and spicy and tasted great. It really made me feel better, too. I ate about half of it and decided to save room for the Pad Thai.

The Pad Thai was great and exactly what I wanted! It filled me up–finally!

Dinner was more steak. We had left over from the night before. I didn’t mind having steak two nights in a row. I know the protein is good for healing muscles–exactly what I needed.

I opened up a bottle of Pinot Noir we got on our anniversary trip to Hood River. It went great with dinner.

Steak, peas, garlic bread and wine! YUM!

Monday night we got 90 minute massages. It felt so fantastic. My masseuse really helped work out the kinks in my legs. I was able to walk just fine on Monday, too, so I know the healing is going well.

Tuesday

I’d been having chest pains when I breath since Sunday. Tuesday morning I went for another swim. The pool heater was STILL broken and the pool was just too dang cold. 🙁

I went to the doctor and she said I have costochondritis. It’s an inflammation of a rib or the cartilage connecting a rib. It is a common cause of chest pain. She said that it’s from running almost 17 miles and swinging my arms as I run. She said it should go away soon–just take Advil and use a heating pad on my chest. 🙁

All in all, if that’s the worst side effect from running Hood to Coast, I’m good with that!