Moo!!

Ever since the torch run and the 6+ miler the following day, my calves have been killing me! Calves, like the muscles, not the grouping of many baby cattle kind. I initially thought it was because of the hills on both runs and not enough rest afterwards, but after having to walk/run quite a few times this past week, I have some other reasonable ideas:

• Lack of proper stretching. Sometimes I am lazy about taking the time to stretch afterwards, but I know it is a necessary evil.
• Heat/dehydration. When in doubt, blame the heat, right? You know you all do it... "I'm just not acclimated to the heat yet so I didn't a) run as fast b)run as far c)run at all d) you know the excuses. But really, I do think that if nothing else, its a mental thing and I always fall back on it. I clearly prefer cold weather running.
• Speed. I have really enojoyed running a lot more with Keith and with that comes some speed. When you don't rest your legs enough between fast runs, bad things happen. I can't seem to get him to realize that not every run has to be 'balls to the wall' fast but don't want to hold him back either. When did he get so fast anyways?! So, its become an exercise in submitting for me. He runs ahead, I silently curse my calves (moo), run a little, walk a little, and watch for him to double back to me, where he smiles and listens to be verbalize this list.
• Shoes. Keith thinks its my new shoes, but why would it start now, when they are still so new? I think I need to have a backup pair to switch on and off with so my new ones can have a day off to get the bounce back in them.

My solution?? Off to yoga it was last night! I really do think it helped loosen us both up. My calves (moo) feel a ton better today, all loose and ready to go on a girls run this evening. Keith has baseball every Wednesday night through the summer, so going to yoga a few times a month will really help him stay loose for his games. Eric showed him some additional moves to loosen him up, which rocks! I don't care what anyone says, yoga pretty much cures all that ails you.