Charlotte Trip

Vacation! Warren and I had an opportunity to go to Charlotte, NC to visit family this week. We left after I got out of work on Wednesday. The weather was TERRIBLE. Our GPS was TERRIBLE. We had plans to drive to Beckley, WV to stay overnight. We calculated that it would take us  until 12:30 to get there, but for some reason the GPS said 2:30. As we got into southern Ohio and the mountains, the rain began to pick up. This picture doesn't look like it was bad, but it really was awful:

Soon after it got dark, our GPS routed us off the highway, and we drove for almost 2 hours on a two lane highway in the middle of nowhere, while it was pouring and dark. As we got close to WV, we ran into a thunderstorm and got routed off the highway AGAIN, and had to drive through a washed out back road. It was really stressful. Sure enough, we pulled into our hotel Warren reserved in Beckley WV at 2:30. Our hotel was noisy and awful too...not the best start to our trip.

Thankfully our trip has improved significantly since. The only bad part was my attempt at a run. We had a really cool day here yesterday, so I decided to go for a 3-4 mile run. Even though it's pretty hilly down here, I had a flat route to run. Sure enough, as I approached 1 mile, my left leg started acting up again. I stretched before, and stopped at 1 mile to stretch again. I could barely flex my foot. I tried to run it out, but the pain continued to get worse, and increased to shoot pain into my ankle. I called it quits and walked back, frustrated again. I was near tears again. When I got back to the house I googled the pain I was having and learned that I likely am agitating the Peroneus Longus and Brevis muscles in my leg (http://bananarunning.wordpress.com/2009/02/21/leg-muscle-101-peroneus-longus/). I don't know for sure, but it is the exact spot I am feeling pain, and the symptoms match. I tried some stretches I found online, but it wasn't very effective. I am going to go to the sports medicine clinic on campus Tuesday to see if they can give me an idea of what is going on and what to do about it. I am running a 5K next weekend, which is usually no problem, but will be with this injury. I really hope it isn't a long recovery, I am really excited to run the 5K next weekend with my friends.

Today we went to Lake Norman, which is in Charlotte. It is huge, and beautiful. We ate lunch on the water, and walked to a nice gazebo that overlooked the water. We are heading home tomorrow morning. Sad to head back to reality.

Warren and I overlooking Lake Norman

Gazebo overlooking the water