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Epsom Salt Believer?

I hesitate to put this in writing, but today my leg feels better than it has all week. This is particularly surprising because I had a rough day with it yesterday. After feeling the pain all day, I went to the gym after work to try to get some cardio in. I first went to the elliptical machine and stayed on it for a whopping 15 minutes. But I could feel some mild pain even with that. So I then moved to the stationary bike and managed another 15 minutes (I hate doing stationary things). I then did a circuit of three weight machines, went to a treadmill to power walk for 10 minutes, and did the circuit once more. I left feeling very frustrated that this "low-impact" workout took so much effort (partly because I didn't know what to do), and I still felt like my leg was bothered by it.

When I got home, I ate dinner and then drew a hot bath with a lot of Epsom salt poured in and just soaked in it for as long as I could take the heat. I then applied my ice pack for about 30 minutes, or whenever the "cold" ran out. I didn't do my strengthening exercises that night but instead rolled out my legs--my whole legs. I noticed I still had a very tight and knotty right IT band, despite not having run in a couple of weeks. So I focused on just rolling and stretching out the rest of my body before going to bed, at a decent hour.

This morning I woke up with noticeably reduced pain. I'm not sure exactly what the cause was, but it made me wonder exactly what Epsom salt is supposed to do (I've only taken the baths because they're commonly recommended--but I never looked into why). So I read about the benefits on this website, and it turns out that Epsom salts have many health benefits (or health benefit claims, at least), one of which is "easing muscle strain." And because it's a homeopathic treatment, I'm going to do it every day now! Just in case that was the healing agent. Of course, it could have just been time, but I think it was an odd coincidence that I felt relief when I least expected it.

This may not mean anything different for my chances of running the marathon in three weeks, but it sure is nice to feel something different than the same nagging pain I've felt for weeks.

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