Saturday Evening's Random Thoughts

Well, my calf is still tweaked but it is getting better each day. I've been treating it with ice, self'-massage, Traumeel ointment, epsom salts baths, and as much time off of it as my mind can take.

I tried running yesterday morning but after only 2 miles it was clear that it's just not ready yet. The good thing is that I can bike with little to no pain and I can also cross country ski with little to no pain. The bad thing is that the weather this week hasn't been very good for either one.

Despite the fact that my girlfriend rides her bike in every imaginable type of horrible weather I just don't have that same willingness for suffering.

The skiing was pretty good today but the temperatures have just been hovering in the low to mid 30's and it's been raining and or snowing all week. What snow we have is just so dang sloppy that the skiing is fairly marginal.

Today would have been quite nice classic skiing except that I put on too soft of a kick wax so I was getting some pretty annoying icing up going on. I really need to get some waxless skis for conditions like these but that's one purchase I probably won't be making until next winter. The skate skiing was pretty good today too. Kind of slow and punchy but still pretty fun. The only problem is that I just haven't been that interested in skate skiing this year. For some reason I just feel like I always want to classic ski, even if the conditions are better for skating.

So until I can run again (I'm hoping Monday or Tuesday) it'll have to be a combination of skiing and biking on the stationary bike at the gym (I really don't see myself actually going out for a bike ride in the next several days since the forecast calls for more wind, rain, snow, and temperatures in the 30's).

I'm not yet too concerned about this little setback, but the ITI does start 4 weeks from tomorrow and is BY FAR the most difficult foot race I have ever attempted, and I have run less than 30 miles in the last 14 days. I've still got a little more time in which to deal with this calf problem, but if I'm not running pain free in another few days, or by next weekend at the latest then it definitely becomes much more of a concern. I'm very optimistic that this will heel up and be of no concern going forward, I just want it to do so ASAP. A little extra rest here probably hasn't been a bad thing, but at this point I am 100% recovered from the HURT 100, and pretty much was 3 or 4 days ago. Now that I've fully kicked the stomach bug I had earlier in the week I'm feeling very healthy, energetic, and raring to go... if only my right calf felt the same as my left one.

Oh, and tomorrow's the big day. No, not the Super Bowl. The lottery drawing for the Hardrock 100! It'd be sweet to get drawn in but more than anything I'm looking forward simply to knowing whether I'm in or not because the entire middle of my summer racing schedule will be affected by whether I'm doing Hardrock or not.