I Am Leopard.

And shameless. Pictures never do it justice, the bruises I'm developing from my second ASTYM treatment. My bruises are quite spectacular, and they look like I'm channeling a leopard. Random aside: what noises to leopards make? Do they meow? Growl? Do leopards purr, I wonder?  If they do, I'd be purring right now because my leg may look horrific, but man is it feeling better!

Regardless, the above splotches on my quad and inner thigh (yes those spotty patches are bruises, hard to tell) are the result of ASTYM; well the second treatment, the first treatment bruises aren't going public... well maybe... for a fee. So. Everyone handles treatment differently (i.e. level of bruising and swelling). I bruise a lot, and swell some. But it's very manageable. The pain is the payoff in this case. Literally. The good news is all those little spotter-spots? That is my damaged tissue thanks to all that speedwork this spring. Clearly I can work hard to run faster, but if I neglect my legs during my phases of speedwork, the results aren't good.

The great news here is that it's not like I have some awful injury like I've experienced in the past, my muscles just didn't heal back correctly. They should be like spaghetti in a box, and right now they are like cooked spaghetti. It's just how my muscles respond. And basically everything in my upper left leg is cooked spaghetti, not just my hip, but my IT band, my groin, my inner thigh, my butt. It sucks, but now I know. I know how these issues can be fixed. And now I know what to do when the aches, throbbing and pain appear.

I am an official ASTYM junkie! 

I have a few more treatments to go, I'm not sure how many exactly, but I can keep running through treatment.! And if I knew what sound a leopard makes? I would totally insert the appropriate text reflecting said leopard noise... for now I'll say meow. And purr.