The Next Step

DC:  Flew to DC last night for a quick trip.  I was downtown so didn't really have a good place to run so ran on the hotel TM.  I felt pretty good today.  No real problems with the hip.  I some of the usual tightness along the way but no pain.  Definitely a good sign.  I started off easy and picked up the pace as I went along.  Didn't have a lot of time because of early morning meetings so was glad to get in the 6 miles.

46:53 (7:49 avg)

Back in Indiana today and it was warm (72) and very humid this morning.  I started off real easy this morning to get loosened up and woke up.  This is something that I have started doing since the hip injury.  In the past I may have been starting off to quickly running and not giving myself time to get warmed up.  I took it easy for the first half and then gradually picked it up.  My hip was good so I decided to keep picking up the pace to around MP.  The hip felt fine during all of this but I could tell that I have lost some fitness because 7:00 pace didn't feel as comfortable as it has in the past.  Anyway, I held this for about a mile and then actually picked it up some more to around 6:40 pace.  It felt good to run faster and not have any pain.  I don't want to overdo it but it was nice to feel like I was really running again.

54:03 (7:41 avg)

I didn't sleep good last night so missed my morning run and ran after work.  It was warm (86) and windy.  I felt pretty sluggish getting started.  I am not sure if that was from the heat or the fact that I am out of shape from the cut back in running.  I didn't have any problems with the hip.  The pain seems to be gone now the only issue that I have is that sometimes it will tighten up while I am running but goes away after a couple of minutes.  I am still keeping up with the stretching which seems to really be helping.

48:01 (8:00 avg)

It was a very nice morning today with temps around 70 and no wind.  I was dragging a little this morning.  I think running last night and then this morning had some effect.  Also, continuing to build back up the mileage and get the body used to running full time again.  Other than that it was a good run.  Still no pain in the hip just the normal tightening during the run.  I just took it easy this morning.  Actually started off real easy and picked it up after a couple of mile to more normal pace.  Staying on track for my first full week of running since the hip injury.

55:58 (8:00 avg)

It was a nice morning (72) and calm.  I felt pretty good getting started this morning but still ran easy the first couple of miles to get good and loosened up.  This is 5 days of running in a row which is the first time since the hip problem.  I didn't have any problems with it today.  Not even any tightening like I have had the last few days.  Hopefully, I am finally over this issue.  I will continue to be conservative in my build up as I don't want another set back.  Yesterday I started looking a fall marathons and I am trying to come up with a plan.  I am looking at some later in the year to give me plenty of time to get back to where I want to be.  Any suggestions?

56:08 (8:01 avg)

I slept in later than normal this morning so it was pretty warm when I got out (76).  Also, we had some storms blow through last night so it was still very windy.  I felt tired this morning.  This is my first full week of running in about 6 weeks so I think the cumlative fatigue was starting to get to me.  I just took it super easy.  I didn't feel like I had any energy at all.  I did have some tightening and a little pain in the hip but nothing bad.  I plan to take tomorrow off and will continue to stretch and massage it.  Hoping that I can build up the mileage more next week.  This week was certainly a step in the right direction.

65:30 (8:11 avg)