The internet is my doctor.

As long as I can remember, my mom has been an advocate of medical books, ie: random books on health and medicine purchased from the B&N clearance rack which she believes qualify her to diagnose and treat any ailment. She inherited this from my grandmother, who had little formal education but read voraciously and considered herself a self-taught PhD in pretty much everything. If you mention any symptom or discomfort in front of my mother, she will immediately reach for one of her trusted books, scan the index, and dispense her expert advice.

I've made a lot of fun of "Dr. Mom" over the years, but the truth is that I'm a total hypocrite. I don't have a shelf full of medical books myself, but I do have the internet. When I have aches and pains, do I call my family doctor? No! I simply consult "Dr. Google." Lately, this has become an almost-daily habit. We're just about halfway through our training now and it seems like something hurts pretty much all the time.

As I mentioned a couple days ago, we're scaling back our long runs for the next two weeks in preparation for the A10 next weekend and our first 20-miler the week after. With the easier weekend runs comes more intense training during the week. For me, it seems that more intense weekday training also means more aches and pains.

Last week, I started off pretty well. Katie and I pushed it and did spinning and Group Power back-to-back on Monday. This resulted in a lazy Tuesday (see my 8/17 post), but I felt back to normal by Wednesday. Wednesday's Group Power was no problem, and I felt great during boot camp on Thursday. The operative word here is during.

For Thursday's class, we followed our usual pattern of running from the gym to downtown, stopping at several scenic locations to do drills. This week it was a series of medicine ball exercises, including jumping jacks, squats, plyometrics, and lunges with twists. Usually, during boot camp, I'm too focused on not throwing up to enjoy the beautiful views at places like the McNasby's pier:

This week, though, I felt great. I was full of energy throughout the class, taking in the views, and chatting with my classmates. At the end, I actually felt like I could have done more.

Well, its a good thing I didn't act on that feeling, because by Friday morning, I couldn't feel my quads. I'm not sure which exercise did me in (I suspect the lunges), but the stiffness and pain lasted well into the weekend. It made for a challenging "easy" 12 miles on Saturday.

I took it extra-easy and went to bed early Saturday and Sunday, and felt back to normal this morning... until Group Power. Again, I'm not sure what did me in, but by the time I got to work this morning, my left calf was swollen and as tight as last year's jeans. So, I spent a little time this morning with Dr. Google. His advice is pretty consistent: rest, ice, compression, elevation, and stretching.

So, if you look for me this afternoon, you'll find me in my office with my feet up, popping Advil and sneaking off to the bathroom to stretch every half hour or so. Doctor's orders.