Putting The "R" In R.I.C.E

I have always considered myself a chronic person, always switched on, a habit, vexing at times. I do what I want to do, even when I probably shouldn't do it. Impulsive might not even cover it, it's more like stubborn or hard headed. My dad would give me advice in college and he'd usually end it with, "But you're going to do what you want to do and not listen to me." Dad was usually right. It didn't always come back to bite me, but there are many times I wish I had backed down when instead I just kept right on going.

The same is true for my running. And while tenacity is admirable in a runner, blind stubbornness is not. Especially when it comes to sickness and injury. I preach R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) to anyone I run with who even remotely says they have an ache. I just can't take my own advice. My ankle injury last fall is a prime example - It wasn't even an ankle injury to begin with. It was a calf injury from a 5k... then I ran my first half marathon on it the next day... and two days later, I couldn't even make it through a lap at the park. Instead of taking it easy, hitting the ice pack, and trying to wait it out, I kept pushing. After my pitiful run at the park, I was trying to stretch it (here's where looking up calf stretches on the internet would have come in handy), turned it wrong, added some weight to that leg, and *WHAM* a small amount of calf pain becomes a pop in my ankle and I'm chilling out for 5 weeks.

So here I am with a sinus infection to beat the band. I skipped running today because from the throat up I'm worthless. Seeing as this is a pretty integral body part in breathing, I'm probably better off this way. Not to mention there is the possibility of making this worse, getting sicker, and missing the Gate River Run on Saturday. I can't imagine that.

So R... rest. Boring but necessary.