Today was a rest day, so naturally the weather was PERFECT for running. And that is no exaggeration. 63 degrees, blue skies, with occasional puffy white clouds passing by, and a gentle breeze. I wanted to run so bad today I could've run right outta my skin! But no, I must rest once in a while. I never thought I'd be faced with this overwhelming desire to run, that is unless something was chasing me. But low and behold, here I am jealous of those trotting by on the sidewalk past me. And to add insult to injury, of course I woke up at 7 am this morning; all on my own, all bright eyed and bushy tailed. And ready to run no less. SERIOUSLY?! That NEVER happens. Gah.

Like I said before, my rest days are active rests. I took Layla for a walk and to the dog park. We strolled leisurely along the bike path through the park and took in the nice weather. We ran into an old friend and his dogs in the dog park, and then on the way back to the car, we passed by and stopped and visited with a friend from high school. It was nice to just enjoy being outside and social.

While today was supposed to be a rest day, I had an appointment with Trainer Jenny. We were supposed to meet Monday, and needed to reschedule. So we planned for a half hour session today. No big, right? Thirty minutes of strength training. Easy. Or so I thought. (Remember, the last two day I have been running in new shoes and using new muscles) My legs felt great today. No soreness from the new shoes or the longer run. I dodged the "breaking in" phase of new shoes, I am awesome. Lies. All lies. I thought I was awesome, until we started our leg day workout. Squats went well. Even lunges weren't so bad. Then we started one of my (legit) favorite exercises; its a glut exercise. Using a squat machine, you kneel on all fours and lift one leg behind you, like this,
but pushing up a weight bar with the top foot. It AWESOME and (literally) kicks your ass. Half way through this super workout, my butt cramped. Yes, cramped. Nothing is more painful and weird than an ass cramp. I almost fell over from the above position, face first. I immediately rolled over and tried stretching it out. I made it through two sets of these, and had to call it. I never quit. I felt like a huge sissy. We finished our workout with mountain clumbers.
With this, you are switching legs as quickly as possible while avoiding falling on your face or throwing up. I did 79 of them, and then suffered ass cramps again. Awful. Just awful.

So I didn't avoid the strain of new shoes, and got too cocky too quick. I've been stretching since I left the gym, and my butt still hurts. Lesson learned today: when its supposed to be a rest day, take the rest day and be happy.

Tomorrow is a cross training day, and I am hoping for a nice bike ride. Lets hope the weather cooperates. Until then, enjoy the weather, get outside, and be happy :-)