January 30th: Didn't I Say Easy?

A little more than a year ago, I had some sciatica act up, and the pain radiated all the way down my leg. I got it under control after a couple of days, and obviously went about my life.

Well, I must've jinxed something. Last night, I was talking to Jackie about how my legs have been so much better since I got my new running shoes -- no problems with the MTSNBN or shins or anything. This morning, I did my "easy" run on the treadmill, and about 2 miles in, I felt a little soreness. I quickly realized that everything felt kind of tight, like I couldn't loosen up the muscles regardless of how warm they were. But I guess it didn't seem that far out of the ordinary, and I was going at an easy pace aerobically, so I just kept running till I hit 4.5 (44:00, for those of you keeping score).

I really need to get a foam roller.

When I got off the belt to go stretch, the leg started hurting a lot. And by the time I got home to shower for work, it was absolutely killing me. I iced it, but I quickly realized that I was feeling pain all the way down my leg, including in my ankle -- where I never have any problems. The next realization was that this is the sciatica, which gets activated by tension. For some reason, my muscles really, really, really contract once in a while. It doesn't seem to be triggered by anything specific, but I've learned to recognize the symptoms.

Anyway, some ibuprofen made a huge dent in the pain, and I'll do a regimen for another day or so. Fortunately, tomorrow is an off day and Saturday is cross, so I should be good to go for my long on Sunday.

Miles since starting the blog: 291.7