Momentary setback

Staring out a window, watching the world go by
Sometimes it's as if time takes too long
Why don't I just take my own life?
But then my better sense kicks in, sit back and take a breath
Why am I thinking like that?
I'm only thinking of myself ...

Slow down boy, relax, a momentary setback
Don't take it so fast

Thanks for the perfect sentiment, Marc Broussard. :)

I'm sure in reading my two entries, as I pushed myself that extra bit and shaved :30 off my mile, you could see it coming: I pushed a little bit TOO hard and started feeling some pretty serious pain in my left calf. It'd been happening for a few days, but today it was to the point that I had to stop running because I knew if I didn't, it could be a REAL problem.

And then I had a thought: This calf pain began about the same time I switched to new shoes, which is also when I started really upping my weekly mileage. I thought I was being careful in my increases, so can the pain be attributed to the new shoes?

So after pulling myself off the treadmill (because OMG IS THE RAIN EVER GOING TO STOP, BOSTON?!), I limped to Marathon Sports in Washington Square and asked for their technical advice. All three employees there were exceedingly helpful as they confirmed my potential suspicions and watched me run in literally every possible way: in the old shoes, barefoot (ok that was just walking), in a stability pair, in a neutral pair, and in four different sizes.

Since we weren't sure of the true cause of the pain, the store manager agreed to extend the return policy slightly so that I could take a week off of running before taking my new Brooks Dyads for a couple of laps. How cool is that?

The part that surprised me the most was my internal response to their diagnosis: I have to take a week off of running? Then start back up slowly? But ... but ... I've worked so hard to get up to four miles, and in a week I have to start back at one! Waaaaaaaaah Rickyyyyyy!
And the worst part: Now I have to forgo the 5K I was hoping to do on Independence Day. But there will be other 5Ks, I'm sure.

I've decided to look at it not as a deterrent from future running, but as a momentary setback - a week off in order to ensure that I will have many weeks and many more runs in my future. This time off is an investment payment to the future runner that I am becoming.