No run: The Walk

I was going to run tonight but then my leg exploded.

This is a slight exaggeration.

On Sunday’s run the muscle that went kablooey in my upper right leg last August started to ache a bit. Concerning, but yesterday (Monday) it felt a lot better so I was no longer as concerned and I planned to run on my normal schedule tonight.

Very early this morning the same muscle felt a little more sore instead of a little less sore, as expected. At first I shrugged it off as sleeping in a weird position and stretching it or something. The run was still on.

Just before getting up I stretched my legs, as one often does before rising. This resulted in a sensation in this upper right leg muscle that can be compared to (pick one or pick all):

  • 500 matches inside the muscle all being lit simultaneously
  • Satan suddenly possessing the muscle and attempting the Linda Blair head spin with it
  • a machine specifically designed to create pain suddenly teleporting into the muscle and activating

You get the idea.

I’m not sure how the simple act of stretching caused such an explosive burst of pain, but it did. I took two Alleve and tried resting (I passed on work since the incredible pain would probably prove distracting) but there was no position that went from “yes, this hurts” to “no, this doesn’t hurt” or even “yes, this still hurts but is tolerable.” So I got up and padded around, sat, had tea, got up, sat down again and so on. A few hours later the Alleve finally had some effect or the muscle relaxed sufficiently to become an ache.

It remains a dull ache tonight.

I decided a run would be unwise, plus it looked like rain, so I probably saved both my leg and my nipples*.

However, I felt a walk would be okay so I headed out and walked the river trail, touching the gate at the far end before returning. The weather was a light drizzle for about the first two-thirds. It changed to, well, steady rain for the last third, meaning I got drenched.

Still, it was nice to get out.

The Apple Watch proved flaky again, as it has before in inclement weather (or when I’m wearing a jacket, I’m not entirely sure what the trigger is). It tracked my run up to 7:20 p.m. then stopped on its own. I got inside at 7:24 p.m. so it didn’t miss much, but still, the only way to stop a fitness activity is to:

a) swipe through several screens until you get to the one where you tap the End button
b) force touch (press hard) on the activity screen until you get the same screen with the End button

Notice both of these require you to tap a specific, small button on a specific screen. There is, to my knowledge, no other way to make the app stop. And yet it did.

There’s a way to lock the screen. The next time I’m out and the weather turns bad I may try it to see if it prevents this from happening. I’d prefer it to just not happen, though. I don’t mind AI in the watch but I’d rather it not be rogue AI.

 

* don’t ask

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