A second, pain-free run...

Monday, September 27, 2010

I started the day with the left over peach cobbler for breakfast. I suppose it’s not that much worse than the bowl of Frosted Flakes I’d eat normally and I didn’t scoop any ice cream in the bowl with it so…I guess its okay.

I don’t know why I felt so great during and after the ride yesterday. Luck, I guess. My plan was for a run today, but again, I’m not too optimistic that it will go well. I’ve had no trouble with the hip from the last run, but I’m always reluctant to believe that something is healed. I guess I’ve had too many nagging injuries over the years and am always expecting the other shoe to drop.

The day was cool and overcast, which is perfect for running as far as I’m concerned. I always ran my fastest times under such conditions and is just another reason I hate to be injured and out of running in the fall. If I were entirely healthy, I’d be looking to run an hour plus almost every day. Well…today I’d be satisfied with 15 minutes pain-free.

I chose a boring, flatter course in the Metroparks, but 4 minutes into the run changed my mind and headed up the hill for my favorite course. I’d just run it Friday successfully, so maybe it would bring me luck. I was stopped by a couple of hikers who were trying to find the Overlook Pavilion and after giving them the directions in great detail, started out again. I ran past it myself at the 20-minute mark and was feeling ridiculously good. I wanted to run faster and farther, but would hold back on both counts to limit the impact on the hip.

The final part of the run was down hill and I was very cautious not to go too fast as this would create the greatest pounding. I reached the car in a little under 32 minutes, so I passed it to round the time up. As I walked back to the car for my cool down, I pondered what this meant. No pain from a hip that had me crying 8 weeks ago. Should I try again tomorrow and give it another couple of days between runs? I mean…if it’s healed, it’s healed and I ought to be able to run every day. I afraid to find out it isn’t, but I’ll wait until tomorrow to make that decision. Since it’s supposed to rain all day and that would knock biking out, I may just try running again.

Run duration: 32 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.