67 and Counting

February 7, 2013: 67 and Counting….. 8-miles recovery (treadmill) – 61:30.  I’m still struggling a little with sickness.  I wasn’t so much feverish today, but a persistent cough showed up, and has been bothersome.  It was actually a pretty nice day today, but I still chose the treadmill.  I really want to try to keep my recovery runs on softer, flatter surfaces for the most part.  The local rail trails are still covered in snow and ice, so as of right now, the treadmill is still the best option to ease up on the pounding.  For about the last week and a half, the front part of my right heel has been a bit nagging.  It’s not very painful….just there.  I’m attempting to do some self-massage/trigger point therapy on my heel as well as the respective calf muscle to hopefully loosen it up a little.  I do research on-line as to the best way to do this, and there are differing views.  Some say to ice to reduce inflammation.  Others say ‘do not ice’ b/c it will cause the knots in the muscle to stay contracted, while the point of trigger point therapy is to release the knots.  Some say to avoid heat because it increases inflammation, while others say heat is good because it relaxes the muscle and encourages it to loosen up.  As of right now, I have just been massaging.  It doesn’t seem to be getting worse, but I’m not sure if it’s getting better either.  I will have to pray for wisdom.  God is the ultimate healer.  He can heal it without any therapy.  I have a 13-mile run on the schedule tomorrow.  I definitely plan to run this 13 miler much easier than the one on Wednesday.  This Sunday I have a marathon-paced run on the schedule, and I don’t want to go into that too fatigued.