Bad Month

Ever since my great Freihofer's 5k race on 6/3 when I ran 17:02, 3rd Master Overall, I have been struggling. Since the race I keep getting tightness in my lower right leg. I have gone to two different massage therapists, a chiropractor and an acupuncturist trying to figure out what is wrong. Although at times I can run really fast, last Wed. I did one of my best 4 mile AT's ever then on Thursday timing the All comers track meet my right calf tightened up again! So frustrating! I had to skip my favorite track workout Saturday, 8 by 400's because my right calf was tighter than usual.

I decided on Saturday I am going to give Mark Plaatjes a call. Anyone who has ever gone to Mark knows the pain you are in for even for small problems. I still remember the pain from last year. I got an appointment for Tuesday afternoon. The week started pretty rough for me and just keeps getting worse. On Monday morning I woke up with a bad cold. I struggled through work and left a couple hours early. I went to get the mail and being a 100 degrees out I took my shoes off and got my first bee sting ever! I quickly looked on the internet to see what to do. Experts say to ice right away, which I did and if you are allergic to the sting as soon as 30 minutes you would know. Luckily, I think I am alright.

Tuesday morning at 5:30a.m, I was woken up by a horrible tooth pain. It seemed to go away, so I went off to work ready to go to Mark's at 3:30 for a diagnosis. I ran Tuesday and felt pretty good while running, but afterwords my leg still feels a little sore. Tuesday afternoon the pain in my tooth came back, so I made an emergency visit to the dentist. As it turned out, my tooth was infected and had to be pulled. A short dentist visit turned in to 1 1/2 hours of one of the most painful experiences I have ever had in my life. I left shaking and crying with a swollen right cheek. I had to reschedule my appointment with Mark for Thursday afternoon. The "pain" with Mark will now be a piece of cake. I wont even mind the pain. I just want to be back to training and running fast again. It looks like I will miss the Uni Hill 2k on Thursday night. I need to just jog for the next couple of days until my mouth heals up. I don't need any more excitement this week.