Ouch.

That pretty much says it all. I wasn't too bad Sunday morning, I thought maybe I could run, but I also thought it would be wise to rest up. Eric and I walked the Orting Trail, Rick and Sonya opted to join us. We walked two miles, then met up with the rest of the group (who actually ran) for coffee. By Sunday evening I was afraid to sit down. Every time I sat for more than a few minutes I would stiffen up and end up barely able to move my legs. Eric warned me that day two would be the worst. He was right.

I woke up yesterday (day two) and staggered out of bed. I had to get to the Y and teach my class - fortunately as I moved around I loosened up. I set up for class, then spent a few minutes stretching. The real problem was getting down to the mat, then back up. After class, I actually felt pretty good. I popped some advil after breakfast and drove the half hour to the other campus. I still wasn't too bad - sore, but manageable. I taught the class, standing part of the time, sitting on a table part of the time. When I hopped off the table I was definitely stiff again. Off to a meeting, an hour of sitting. Oh, my. And you should have seen the staircase I had to climb to get back to the car. It wasn't pretty and I was very slow. Things went downhill from there, till by the end of the night I was "cruising" the furniture like a baby learning to walk. And all the while, Eric is laughing at me! He told me that I now know how he felt after Tiger Mountain.

I was tentative about running this morning, even though Eric recommended it. I woke up at 3:00 and took some advil. When my alarm went off at 4:30, I again staggered out of bed. I went into the bathroom, turned the light on, turned it back off and went back to bed. I laid in bed debating - and finally got back up. I decided I might as well try it, I could always come back home if it was bad. Lucky I got up - when I walked out the door, Rick was parked out front waiting for me. I warned him I was pretty sore but he said we'd just give it a try. The first quarter mile, everything hurt. Then, miraculously, the pain receded and I felt good - till the first downhill, then everything hurt again. The uphills were fine. We ran four miles in 48 minutes. Our last mile was at an 11:55 pace even with a minute of walking. Not too shabby!

Yesterday, I boldly posted on our run group forum that I was running hills tomorrow. I've been debating about it since I finished this morning's run. I think I'm going to give it a try - there are two or three points where I can bail and run back home, so where's the harm in trying? Both Rick and Rob have said they are going to try to join me - Rob, if he can get his schoolwork done, Rick, if his job doesn't interfere. (Rick works crime scenes and evidence, so he can't always make a solid commitment). If neither of them makes it, I'll probably skip the hill run and go for a more moderate route. If they come though, I'm in!