Two Stupid Things

Every now and then I do something really dumb.  In the past two weeks I outdid myself.

Stupid Thing #1

I bought a pair of Vibram Bikila LS shoes to give the old barefoot running thing a try. I knew you were supposed to start out slow and give your body a chance to adapt, but I underestimated what “slow” meant, and did 4.5 miles on my trial run (on a Wednesday).

DUMB DUMB DUMB.

I ripped the hell out of my calves and had some trouble walking the next day.  That didn’t stop me from doing a 45 minute bike ride Thursday, or a 5 mile run Friday, after which I discovered what it’s like to try to limp with both legs at once.  Still, I had a 45 mile bike ride to do Saturday, and that went just fine.  The biking really didn’t seem to impact the condition of my calves, but it surely wasn’t helping.  I cancelled my 11 mile run Sunday and forced myself to take the whole next week off except for swimming.

Stupid Thing #2

So there I am, taking the week off of running and cycling, but at least I can still swim.  Then there’s an office remodel going on at work and I’m asked to help carry some large sheets of very heavy wood around, and I over-do it and strain the crap out of my neck and back.  DUMB!  That knocks out swimming for the week as well.

Fortunately my forced week off was a recovery week anyway, so the amount of training I’m missing is less than it would otherwise have been.  But, still, yeesh.  I’ve only got 8 weeks to go and can’t afford any more injuries if I’m going to survive the half-iron.

I just hope no one asks me to help them move in the next couple months…