First I must share this video with you.

I have had some really isolated soreness in my upper calf (same leg that the ankle tendonitis is) Every time I go to physical therapy they massage the area but apparently running and biking cause the knot to return no sooner than it was unkinked. I found this video and have been doing this mayofascial release technique and it’s helping a lot. I spent more time viewing videos on this chick’s channel and found this video to be amazingly helpful as well for hip flexors, glutes and core stability.

OK, now on to this morning’s run. I had originally planned a 4 miler on the dreadmill at the gym during my lunch break but as I was packing my gym bag I kept thinking about how difficult it would be to slip out of work for more than an hour. (p.s. I never even took a lunch today because we were so busy and just ate at my desk so my intuition was on the money #winning). I’m slower these days so I would have needed close to 50 minutes for the workout, plus 5 minutes walking to and from the gym and another 15-20 minutes to shower and change.

Bottom line: I grabbed the bull by it’s ass and just decided to bang out my run outside by my house at 6:30am. I went to grab my Garmin and it was D.E.A.D.

dead Garmin

dead Garmin

Not sure why but since I was pressed for time I just grabbed my iPhone and started my RunKeeper app. 4 miles became 3 miles mainly because I am not feeling well.

78run

I’ve been super fatigued lately and I think I’m fighting something. Anyhoo, I kept a slow and steady pace and was happy to know my “good faith” run was done. The ankle was literally feeling 100 percent Friday and Saturday. Then I ran 8 miles Saturday and walked on the sand at the beach and by Sunday my ankle was feeling achy. I need to not freak out as this is just a sign I might have done a little too much too soon.

A different kind of sweat band

A different kind of sweat band

So while I was running I thought about all the rituals and superstitions we, as runners have. You see I opted to wear my Brooks Ghosts today.

Brooks Ghost

Brooks Ghost

The last time I wore them was on 4/27 when I ran the NJ Marathon and crossed the finish line with what eventually got diagnosed as ankle tendonitis. So in my mind, I’m working on forgiving those kicks. I’m pretty darn sure it was the 4 hours and 38 minutes of continual running that caused the injury and not the sneakers themselves. Especially because they never gave me any issues during training. And the dead Garmin….yeah, i made a plan B really quick but for a few minutes after stepping out the front door i just felt that OCD feeling of “my watch? where’s my watch? oh right it’s dead. I’m using RunKeeper. All is good. cCarry on now and run girl.

I have rituals with the way the wire of my ear buds have to be. I have rituals with my pre-run routine including coffee and potty (as i’m sure most of us do). I have superstitions with running gear….I have my favorite running capris only for marathon distances but I’ll wear just about any type of workout gear for shorter distance. I run the same routes for my midweek runs. Hmmm…maybe these aren’t rituals, maybe it’s just a case of Runner’s Rut. Or Runner’s Routine.

So what type of rituals and/or superstitions do you have when it comes to running (training and races)?

4 Comments

  1. What do you call the key holder?! And how many do you have?

  2. Just found your blog this weekend. I really enjoyed reading some of your past posts. What an inspiration you are! I started running 5 years ago. Have run 15 half marathons and 2 full. Training for another full in August. I look forward to visiting your blog.

    • Thanks for stopping by….you have covered quite a lot of races in just 5 years…that’s awesome. I love the running community…It just keeps getting bigger and better…=)

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