Being Injured is Great!

I usually spend most of my free time and energy either running or biking, but I have acquired a mysterious quad injury which prevents me from doing either.

So I decided to cross train with an intensive home maintenance workout. Sunday I replaced the garage door opener, power-washed the house, and started cleaning out the garage.

My internal clock woke me up early again today, so I was out at 6am cleaning off the deck with the leaf blower. I bet my neighbors can't wait until I'm running again.


Usually I know exactly what dumb thing I did to injure myself, but not this time.
I somehow pulled, wrenched, tore, tweaked, and/or strained my left quad.

Shannon and I went out for a 17 mile run last Saturday and my quad was bugging me, but I figured it would go away like so many little aches and pains do.
It kept getting worse though. By mile 4, I turned around and ended up walking home. I tested it again on Monday, but it is still messed up, so I need to take at least another 3 full days off.

Trashed quads are typical after a marathon, but I didn't expect it after a blogging marathon.
Actually I think the root cause of the injury is from reading other blogs. In particular, this post about the "hip stretch/reflex mechanism"

Last week I experimented with letting my leg stretch out behind me more, essentially elongating my stride behind me. It felt great at the time, but I either did something wrong, or too much, too soon.


Anyway, time to paint the deck!