Shiver me timbers

A large part of my work day today was spent in a text conversation with Adam.  I am not injured (and, just to be clear, I'll say it again - I am not injured) but I am sore.  My long and windy run on Saturday has taken its toll on my calf, which is tight and stiff and muttering quietly to itself.  My theory is that the sheer effort of running into the wind, as well as the loss of form as I got more and more tired, meant that I was putting more stress than usual on my calf.  Up until now, all aches and pains have been gone the day after the long run so this lingering ouchiness had me a bit concerned.

Hence the texts to Adam.  I was only meant to run 2 miles today but I wanted his advice as to whether I might not be better off resting for another day or two; I even suggested that I make this week my reduced mileage week, miss out the HM on the weekend, and start back up again next week.  I was prepared for a BE SENSIBLE response but instead Adam encouraged me to keep things as planned.  His theory is that my legs were so cold on Saturday that my muscles tightened up big time, and that is what's causing the stiffness now.

As proof that I don't always think that I know best, I listened to him and took my legs out for a quick spin.  It was obvious that they still are SO TIRED but then, they always feel tired and achey on short runs.  I maintained a steady and reasonable pace and nothing snapped, crackled, or popped.  Phew.

The most amazing bit, though - and you all know how very much I've wanted to see snow this winter and how it always seems to be snowing where I am not - was that it began to snow big, fluffy, proper snowflakes just as I began to run.  Because I'm in Shetland, land of the unending wind, there was of course a gale blowing which turned the lovely, dreamy snowflakes into a fierce pounding blizzard.  I did my best to choose a route that kept the wind at my back, which froze my calves but allowed me to  feel as though I was running in a winter wonderland.   Eventually, though, I had to turn around and head into the wind to head home.

I got back to the flat with wet hair that was starting to freeze, gloves that were soaked through, and partial snow blindness from having my eyeballs lashed by wind-driven snow.  However, my calf had loosened up, I finally got to run in the snow and...

I'm still not injured!  And that's pretty amazing too.