So It’s Easter.
What do I plan to do? Well get a run-in of course, but I also decide to help the inlaws with collecting firewood.
That does mean wood splitting.
I have a new appreciation for woodcutters. Far out man cutting wood is hard work.
As you can see I’m not doing it very well. But I’m giving it a go at least. (Start singing “I’m a lumberjack and I’m ok, I sleep all night and I work all day, I chop down a tree I eat my lunch…..”
Did I have a good time? Hell yeah. Sure I did a seriously crappy job. I shall be now be known as Chippy, cause that’s all I seem to be good at cutting off, wood chips.
However that being said the wood was still green, which apparently makes it really bouncy and hard to split, so there, it wasn’t me, it was the wood I tell you.
I should also mention that a huge wheel of wood that I was trying to roll on the trailer, fell, and it fell on my foot. It got me good on the top of my foot, even though it landed on my toes, my toes didn’t get hurt. So I have a bruise 🙁 oh well, life goes on. Thank goodness for my new boots, they saved the day. If I had my runners on it it’s possible it would ahve been a whole lot worse.
So will I be going back and splitting more wood? Why yes, yes I will be because I really enjoyed it.
After looking at the clock I decided that it would be good if I headed off for my run. That bruise wasn’t going to stop me from running. I put on my running gear and headed off toward home. I got 4km done when my ride came. I was disappointed, only 4km.
So after about 5-10 mins of driving, I got dropped off again and headed off for another run. This one was just shy of 4km.
I noticed while running however that my right calf didn’t feel 100%, I wasn’t in pain, it was just slightly annoying me. So I just took it easy as I didn’t want to overdo it, especially with my half marathon coming up next weekend.
The rain was coming down now, but it didn’t bother me, it was actually quite lovely. It was that light drizzly rain, which I like.
When I got to the Delley’s Bridge part of the trail (part 2 of the map), I knew it was going to be muddy and slippery so I watched my step and kept my calf niggle in the back of my head (don’t over do it don’t over do it). The I got to the “hill” all was going well. The came the steps right at the very end of the run (I’ve run this trail many times), and as I was coming down, I felt it. I fell my calf pull, and I felt it starting to cramp, so I had to slow it right down.
When I got home I did a big stretch, some self massage and put on some tiger balm oil.
Lessons Learned
- Hydration.
Cramps are caused by a lack of hydration. If you keep your hydration up, you are less likely to get a cramp. - Salt.
Helps prevent muscle cramps. It’s why a lot of marathon runners have salt sachets in their pack when they run, as the hit of salt boots their electrolytes. - Electrolytes.
Nuun is my fav electrolyte drink. Why? It has all the nutrients / elecrolytes that my body needs but without the calories. - It happens to the best of us.
I knew that a cramp was going to happen sooner or later. At least it happened now and not in my race. - Stretch.
In my opinion yoga and running go hand in hand. They really do help each other. I plan to just keep on stretching out the calf, and keep hydrated along the way.
So that is how I roll on the Easter long weekend. And all without one single easter egg.