How to make a two-mile run take two hours

Well, I ran again today, finally covering a whole whopping two miles.

At this point, I can't wait for this race to get here already. I have been icing and stretching and using the electrical current machine like crazy. It seems I spend more time immobilized on the couch with something on my leg than I do with anything else.

My gym also has a lap pool and a spa, so I decided that I would start today's oh-so-cautious workout by sitting in the spa first for ten minutes to warm and loosen my muscles. Which was very pleasant, actually. And the bathing suit I bought years ago looks better on me now than ever before. Thank you, running, and thank you, Pilates!

Next, possibly the world's most boring form of exercise: pool-walking. You get in the pool in the lane that's only four feet deep, enough to make it difficult to move, but not so deep you can't stand on the bottom, and you walk laps back and forth, back and forth, back and ZZZZZZZ... Seriously, it made running laps on the indoor track seem like Mardi Gras. There was a man next to me doing much the same thing, although he occasionally busted out a few strokes of something resembling a backstroke before going back to walking. He was verrrrry old. If I ever get to the point where I consider pool-walking vigorous exercise, please shoot me.

After fifteen minutes or so of pool-walking, it was time to dial it up to running, except, of course, I had to go all the way back to the locker room and change and shower again first. And rinse off my suit and put it in the suit-drying machine, and put the pool stuff back in my locker, and...

I walked in the gym at 11:05, and it was 11:57 before I took my first step on the treadmill. I did an extended warmup, ran ridiculously slowly, and watched TV ("Home Improvement"). I was such a schlub that I actually managed to whack my right hand on the side rail while watching. Smooth, Amanda!

I went a whopping 2.3 miles in 30 minutes. If I hadn't been on a treadmill, I might have broken the sound barrier! [/sarcasm] My leg was not actively hurting, but I just felt all the muscles moving around in a way that I didn't with my good left leg. I don't know how to describe it exactly--not strain, really, but a feeling that things were just a little rough around the edges somehow. Not quite 100%.

After running comes the most important part of all: stretching. I have a very involved post-run stretching routine that takes 15-20 minutes. I might have taken even longer today, but I forgot my resistance band. So I couldn't stretch my hamstrings until later.

And this is how it was 12:50 by the time I left. Not quite two hours, but close.

Most disappointing of all is that my leg twinged again this afternoon exactly the way it did last week. I need to send a new letter to TFOTURFRM (The Forces of the Universe Responsible for Runner Mojo):

Dear FOTURFRM,
Please let me finish this race without debilitating physical pain. Thank you.
Love,
Amanda