Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone!  I celebrated this morning by getting a 3.78 mile run in.  It's quite warm in this area, so I took it easy and just got it done.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to exercise since Thursday.  On Thursday I was having horrible muscle spasms in my neck.  Every time I tried to turn my head to the left, the muscle would seize.  It sort of felt like a charlie-horse in my neck.  And let me tell you, it was really painful.  So much so that I had to go to the doctor.  This, unfortunately, is not the first time this has happened.  I had to get a prescription for stronger muscle relaxants, use moist heat, take ibuprofen, and stretch a lot.  Taking muscle relaxants is a little scary because they make me a little drowsy and I need to do things a bit slower.  I decided that exercising while on muscle relaxants would not be a good choice.  I'm feeling much better, however, and I'm off the meds.  Can I just say I really hate having to take a pill to fix things?

While I was laid up, I did get the chance to purchase a foam roller.  I got the smaller one.  Like this:

Previously, I was just using the one at the gym at school.  The gym here at home doesn't them.  I was definitely noticing an increase in knee pain from my ITB band since I've stopped rolling.  Foam rolling is painful, but it works.

Well, we're hitting up a cookout later with Patrick's family to celebrate the 4th properly.  What's everyone else up to?  Hopefully you're out enjoying the gorgeous weather instead of reading this crap!