First, Second, Third...

I ran for the third time last night.  I have to chronicle this because its so rare.  I hadn't been to the gym all week due to my work schedule and the weather, but got right back on the horse by running.

1st run:  I made it 1/4 mile before having to stop in exhaustion
2nd run: I made it 3/8th of a mile before having to stop...mostly out of pain (see below)
3rd run: I made it 5/8th of a mile before I had to stop (mostly out of lack of oxygen.  I hate running).

Wooo....I was excited.  My next goal is 7/8th of a mile or a full mile. 

My coworker (who happens to have a has a masters in sports medicine....  Why she now works where I do is a lesson in college sports and college politics)...anyways, I've been having pretty bad nerve pain in my lower right leg when running and I asked her if I could do anything about it... My doctor told me it was related to my sciatica and told me it was fine as long as it doesn't bug me and suggested I stay away from activities that exacerbate it.  Anyways, long story short my coworker thinks I also have chronic compartment syndrome.  Sounds ominous.  Well, if you look at this Wikipedia article it is....but make sure you scroll to the chronic section, thats less ominous because its exercise induced.  Essentially compartment syndrome is the muscles that surround the nerve tighten a bit as they're being used (i.e. exercise) and blood flow causes the muscle to expand...thus cutting off the nerves that run through the muscle.  I don't know why it happens selectively, and for me its only happening in one leg.  The only bother (besides the nerve pain, which if you've ever had its kind of excrutiating sometimes) is the fact that the nerves being cut-off run to my foot and I start to lose feeling in it.  I don't realize I can't feel my foot though, until I start to drag my foot and end up tripping. 

But, I figured if I make it through this run in February (running a mile and a half on the city streets of Seattle), THEN I can go bother the doctor.  My running partner has been training in physical therapy, so I told her about what my coworker thinks and we discussed it.  Last night at the Y I stood there after running while she examined both legs to make sure I was okay and there wasn't any stretching skin or swelling.  See, while the above makes me sound unresponsible, I still can be responsible when I want to be.  In fact, running this time wasn't as bad because I spent a lot of time stretching out my leg muscle before running (at the suggestion of my coworker). 

Dayshift is making me short tempered.  I snapped twice at one of my coworkers because he didn't notice something extremely obvious and then made a stupid comment.  *sigh*  I need to learn to take more deep breaths.  I did the adult thing and apologized immediately for snapping, but still.  Ergh. 

This has already been a long week.  Maybe its because I did nothing but be snowed in last weekend, maybe its my current tiredness, I don't know.  But I'm really looking forward to the weekend.

A flower in my yard before the snow storm.  I haven't checked to see if it was still there.

What is a face, really? Its own photo? Its make-up? Or is it a face as painted by such or such painter? That which is in front? Inside? Behind? And the rest? Doesn't everyone look at himself in his own particular way? Deformations simply do not exist.
~ Pablo Picasso