Sunday, August 3, 2008

Happy Anniver . . . ouch my hip flexors!

Hoorah! Its been 730 days now since I started running... as I mentioned last post, 4 5Ks, 1 5-mile race, 4 half-marathons, and 1 (and a half!) marathon later, I've clocked 106 runs, 644 miles, 3 pairs of running sneakers (none of which prevent the blisters in my arches), one ugly boot on my left foot from a stress fracture, and not enough massages later and here I am.

I finished my 17-miles today. I did the full 17 too even though I was nervous that I wasn't fully recovered after the half last weekend. I could not get out of bed this morning (which ticks me off because I stayed in last night purposely so I could get up early), and didn't leave until noon. Wasn't as bad as last week... it was sunny and pretty warm, but there was a nice breeze along the Esplanade. Along my run, I ran past an ex-boyfriend (second time this week! Believe me though when I tell you, that is not a sign of anything but to keep running!), past an ex-coworker, past two sweet little bunnies, past a lot of flocks of geese with two geese in one flock honking and chasing me!, and past 10 bridges to the very end of the Charles River Path. It literally started thundering and pouring about two minutes after I walked inside. Perfect!

The first 9 or so miles I felt PHENOMENAL! Usually my worst few miles are the first three, but my pace was good, my breathing was steady, I felt great... and then, I don't know what happened but the last 8 miles were horrible. Since it was an out-and-back run though, I thought "we'll see how this goes before I decide whether I do 15 or go to the last bridge for the full 17". So I was tricked ! I had to do some definite walking the last half. Oh well!

Assessment: well, I wrapped my left foot so no NEW blister there although the one from last week is still pretty ugly. my glutes are a bit sore. my calves are a bit tight (but I was told by the orthopedic shoe guy that with my crazy foot deformities — don't get my started — that I should just start incorporating some yoga poses daily to keep those muscles loose so I'm working on that). and mainly, my hip flexors REALLY hurt. but there's a lavendar epsom salt bath in my future later tonight, some yoga, and maybe even some Advil even though I hate taking anti-inflammatories (I hear a rumor that they make your muscles build back to their state pre-workout rather than rebuilding them to be stronger... don't know if that's true or not). Next weekend = 20 miles! But that's the highest mileage I'll have to do before the marathon (oh, but I do it 5 times on this training schedule!).

Happy two-year running anniversary to me. I'm still going *mostly* strong. ;)

1 comment:

sarah said...

very impressive - that is a LOT of running. congrats on your first 2 years. woot !