5K Summer Fun

17. Aug, 2010 1 Comment

We had our annual summer picnic at work today which included a little 5K race!

A couple of weeks ago I’d gone out to run Shoreline to map out a 3.1 mile course and came up with this course, which perfectly looped our picnic site:

Some photos I took from the mapping run:

* View from the course looking across the lake to the picnic area

* Mile 2

* Park entrance crossing

* Mile 3

This morning, a colleague and I got there a little early to mark the course and put up signs (meaning, I did the course twice today).

* Our cute little Start Line

While doing this, my leg (the one that’s been bothering me) hurt really badly. My co-runner was also dealing with a heel injury herself, so we loaded up Biofreeze for the race. I think it was an old tube and not nearly as potent as we needed it to be…

* I swear, we did not color coordinate our outfits…

Strangely enough, once we got started, my leg felt okay, so I ran! But since my workout today was supposed to be an easy run, I didn’t go all out. In fact, I kept telling co-runner, “I’m going too fast, I need to slow down…” So we did.

* Belting out some Jay-Z and doing Statue of Liberty poses?!

When we finally crossed the Finish Line, we each got a Finisher’s Medal!

* Love the bling!

* The Finishing Group

Scenes from the Finish Line:

After the race, I went to my chiro visit with Dr. Eva and told her all about my leg pain. She examined my calves, my running shoes and told me:

1. The Pearl Izumi shoes I just got are *MUCH* better for my feet than the Nike Vomeros I had been wearing.
2. I must’ve had a cramp in my left calf that I pushed through because the muscle is deeply knotted.
3. She thinks the same muscle might be tangled with a vein. She’s seen it before when increasing mileage and it usually works itself out.

She worked on my calves a lot; i.e., me wincing in pain, but it already feels so much. Bottom line is I have to keep stretching it and *strengthening* it, along with my hips and rest of my legs. That means more squats, lunges, and calf raises…guess I’ll be hitting the gym tomorrow to do some lifting…yay for me!