An unexpected Triumph!

Well, that certainly was an unexpected Triumph!

First allow me to set the scene....

A gal decides to do some stair-training on a cold winter night. She ventures into a 5-story building and spends about 35 minutes running up (and down) the stairways. She takes the steps two at a time (easier than single-stepping with her long legs). After 16 sets (80 total flights), she calls it good. Each flight has 20 steps, for a total of 1600 steps....but taking the steps two-at-a-time nets approximately half of that (unless you count all the steps going down between sets, which are single-stepped to avoid any awkward klutzy stumbles and/or falls). You can do the math yourself.

Call me crazy, but I love stair-climbing!

That was Monday evening, just after work, and the gal doing all the stair-training was me. I also did a quick mile on the 'mill upon returning to my house (#nevermissaMonday). All was well.

Tuesday arrives, and I feel fine. Until lunchtime. The dear old (and dreaded) DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) make an appearance. Ugh.

As the day progressed, the soreness increased. By the time I got home, my calves felt like knotted-up golf balls. With every. single. step. As I was climbing, I had felt some strain in my quads, but my calves seemed fine at the time. I have never experienced calf strain (or pain) like this before. Ever.

I had planned on running a few miles Tuesday evening, but kept procrastinating in hopes the tightness in my calves would diminish. Finally, around 9:00PM, I decided to just give it a whirl. If it hurt too much, or felt worse, I would stop.

I climbed on the treadmill, and took a deep breath.

Let's do this!

I set the incline on 2 (hoping the incline would help), and started running. The stiffness lasted briefly, and by the time I had done one loop (equivalent of a 1/4 mile), l was already feeling better!

Off an running, pony tail flip-flopping....

I upped the incline to 3, and kept going. My goal was to go 2 miles, and I was able to do it.

two miles at an easy pace....

I probably could have gone longer, but decided to call it good. I'm always paranoid about injury, over-doing it, and especially over-training. I knew I'd still need some serious foam rolling, and there was no sense in risking anything by doing too much on my compromised muscles.

DOMS, be damned! Those quick two miles did wonders for my emotional well-being! A small triumph, perhaps, but I'll take it!

I did it!

Stay tuned, there's a recap coming with more details on my stair-training episode.

Have you ever done a somewhat tough workout, and felt great afterwards...only to be blind-sided by the DOMS? Have you ever procrastinated doing a workout, but wound up feeling better when you finished? Do you ever do stair-training? 

I'm linking up with Deb at  Deb Runs  for the Wednesday Word.....which, today, happens to be Triumph. I invite you to head over and check out what everyone is saying about Triumph.