Week 22

It was bound to happen sooner or later.  Things have been going so smoothly that I knew something would happen that would challenge my ability to keep running.  This week was that week.  My feet are healed from the earlier abrasions so I am back to full barefooting.  What I wasn't expecting so soon was water retention in my ankles.  Ack!  Cankles!!  Starting back to work full time this week has greatly decreased my water intake, therefore, I am experiencing quite a bit of swelling from not flushing my system adequately and being on my feet all day, every day.  Although I noted these changes, I did not expect it to affect my ability to run.  So what exactly is going on?  About 1/2 mile to 1 mile into my run, I am experiencing extreme ankle and lower calf tightening to the point where I am have to stop and try to stretch out my ankles before I can even turn around and head back to the car.  I have also "popped" (according to my co-workers) so my stomach is sticking out quite a bit further than it was last week.  So this may be a perfect storm of bodily changes that is causing this bump in the road for me this week.  My plan is to stretch my ankles before my run so that I can really loosen up the ankles beforehand to try to avoid the tightening that I am experiencing.  I also want to make sure that I do not cause any unnecessary injuries as the 5K and 10K are just a month away.  Another goal for next week....DRINK MORE WATER!!