Last night after dinner and after Jack went to sleep, Matt, Nick, and I had a nice night watching a movie in our bed. It was nice to snuggle and relax after the work week. Plus, yesterday was on the gloomy side and quite chilly and windy. It was perfect snuggling weather!
Today the sun was out luckily, but it was still a bit cool. We did a bit of errand running in the afternoon and then I went for a run. I was going to do 5 miles, but I wanted some company and it was so nice outside, so I asked Nick if he wanted to come with me and ride his bike. Just recently, he learned how to ride his two-wheel bike (thanks, Mere, for helping him learn to ride!) and he's been itching to go for a ride. He was eager to come with me, so we grabbed his bike and helmet and headed out to the trail.
I wanted to try run/walk intervals tonight to see if that might help me for my half marathon next Sunday. My running base is not at all what it used to be, so I wanted to see how I would do with run/walk intervals. I set my Garmin for 6:1 intervals and Nick and I set off. I thought the 6:1 intervals worked well, although I didn't really notice a difference in my pace. Nick did great on his bike; he would ride ahead of me and then come back or wait for me to catch up. I think he enjoyed seeing the other bikes on the trail, too. He kept commenting on how fast they were going.
At times, I had to remind him to stay to our side of the trail and at one point, he kept weaving back and forth as an older gentleman on a bike was trying to pass us. I apologized when he finally made it past us and he said "no problem." He rode ahead for a bit and then came back around to talk to us. He told me that someday Nick will be riding fast on the bike and he will be walking on the trail. He told Nick to keep up the good work on his bike, too. He was very sweet and I thought it was nice of him to come back and talk to us. It was a nice reminder to me, too. I was a little exasperated with Nick because he was weaving across the trail in the way of the older gentleman and by coming back to us, the man gave me a little perspective. Don't sweat the small stuff! None of the other bikers seemed to mind Nick's haphazard biking and in fact, most of them smiled at him as they went by.
We got past the 2 mile marker on the trail (I think my Garmin read 2.25 miles) and we turned around to head back to the car. As I started another running interval, I felt a strange pain in my right leg. It shot down my thigh all the way to my knee. I felt the pain on both sides of my knee and then I also noticed that it extended back up my leg to my glutes. I'm fairly certain this is IT band pain. I've thought for awhile that I've been having IT band pain (and I guess that's still what it could be), but it was nothing like this. I kept running through the pain, but at some point near mile 3, I stopped in my tracks. I must have said "ow" because Nick turned around and asked if I was ok. I told him I was but that I needed to stop for a minute to stretch. I did a few stretches, some of which hurt, and Nick even joined me to stretch, which I thought was cute. I started to run again and immediately felt the pain again. I still kept running but it was pretty miserable. I looked down at my Garmin and it said 3.14 miles and I decided I was calling it a day.
I told Nick that I was going to walk back to the car and I told him I was sorry to have to go slowly. He said "That's ok, Mom. I'm just worried about your leg pain." One of the things I love most about that little boy is his compassion and empathy. Such a doll! I walked most of the rest of the way back to the car, but it was starting to get pretty dark at this point, so around .60 of the way back to the car, I asked Nick if he wanted to pick up the pace to get to the car sooner. He told me yes, so I ran the rest of the way to the car. He kept checking on me and my leg and it didn't feel too bad. I was trying to be mindful of my footfall and my form and it seemed to help. I feel a little residual pain, so I am going to pull out the foam roller and do some rolling before bed.
I did finally listen to the AMR podcast recapping our Napa adventure on my run tonight and it was nice to re-live our experience. It felt like I was running with Sarah, Dimity, Kelly, and Melissa! It was also really nice having Nick with me on my run. He's such great company and it was fun watching him build up his confidence on his bike. Next up, we decided we need to add a bell to his bike and a nice light to the front like the other bicyclists had on their bikes.
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| Me and my sweet running buddy before our run/ride |
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
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