Icy Hot

4.0 mi. in 52:45 min. 33°F, no WC
Time of day: 7 a.m.

I successfully ran my 4 miles today even with a sore hamstring. After discussing the situation with Coach Jeni yesterday we came to the following conclusion. Running Saturday at a 3.5% incline irritated my hamstring, then Sunday running a hilly route on snow and ice further inflamed and irritated it. Treatment was ice yesterday afternoon and evening, 10 min. on/30 min. off, and ibuprofen.

We also discussed stretching and whether to stretch my hamstrings before running. I am in the camp that stretching cold muscles is more harmful than not, so I always stretch at the end of my runs. However, this morning I did do some mild stretching before heading out.

My leg didn't hurt when during the run, but I felt it. I have had heat on my leg most of today and it's feeling pretty good. Tomorrow is a rest day and Thursday is strength training again. So the hamstring should have time to do some healing.

On Sunday my son was telling me about the running app he downloaded to his iPhone. It was basically like my Runmeter app, but he had voice updates on how far we'd run, the pace, the time, etc. It was pretty cool. So I checked out my Runmeter app and discovered it did the same thing. I set it up this morning and every 1/4 mile this voice came on and updated my progress. Very cool! Thanks, Scott!

Also this morning I tried a different energy source. I took along a bag of energy "jelly beans". I liked these a lot better than the GU but the package is difficult to tear open while running and then they have a zip lock that you have to pry open. I will buy these again but put them in a different kind of bag to carry with me.

And one last thing. I ordered an arm band for my iPhone from Overstock.com. Soon I won't have to hold my iPhone any more.