It's not confidential, I've got potential

So the whole blogging website is down right now, so I'm typing this up on Word so I can get my ideas out while they're still here. First things first - the calf feels ok. Not good, not bad. Though I think it's getting better, which is really a good sign. I've pretty much been studying all day for this exam I have tomorrow (I'm taking a summer class) so I haven't been on my feet too much. I was thinking of maybe going swimming today but it's been raining on and off, and then I thought about going on the exercise bike at the rec center....but ehhhh I really need to study. It's one of those things where the test is tomorrow and I didn't start studying til yesterday....oops! Oh well, I'm more than used to it by now.

Tomorrow's gonna be an off day as well, though I am going to lift weights in the morning. I may do some leg extensions/curls if all feels well, just so my quads and hammies aren't atrophying too much. Is that even a word? Atrophying....the process of atrophy....hmm.

That race from Friday night also got me thinking....if I ran 17:21 in 70 degrees with no speedwork or long runs in the previous 4 weeks, can you imagine how I would have performed if it was cooler and I was on my regular training schedule and not hurt? I recognize the potential in me, I've seen it ever since I first ran cross country in high school. It may have been a lofty goal from the start, but at the beginning of this year I set the bar at a sub 17 minute 5K, and now it doesn't seem too far fetched. Taking 21 seconds off of my last race or 18 off of my PR isn't that much time. It's all just a matter of me staying focused and running strong.

Oh and I think I'm a firm believer of pain being in your head. I mean, it only hurts if you think it's going to hurt. I've noticed this with my injuries...it just kind of nags you but then eventually it seems to go away because you're focusing your attention on something else. I don't know, maybe that was kind of vague. But relating this to my calf injury now, I was sitting in class yesterday and was focused on what we were learning and nothing hurt. Then I shifted attention to the calf, and I felt a dull pain...and I wasn't hearing one word of what the prof was saying. So I made a new "game", so to speak. Whenever I think about my calf hurting, I'll choose something in my field of vision and name 5 characteristics about it. So yesterday I chose the overhead projector - made by 3M, can project things onto a screen, is sitting on a table....and it may seem easy but I've found that the 4th and 5th characteristics are difficult enough to think of that you totally focus your attention on that and not on whatever hurts. It works for me, at least.

The lecture notes in class also had a quote in it, which I really liked....

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." --Benjamin Franklin

It's one of those quotes that I think every runner can relate to in one way or another. Now if only we all knew how to prevent every injury from occuring...