Long run...tired hip.

Monday, October11, 2010

Of course I’d overeaten the day before. It was family dinner night and Holly had made spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread and, of course, peach cobbler. I’d helped with the pastry that covers the peaches…don’t know what else to call it…by kneading the butter with the bisquick. I knew how much butter was in that recipe and I wasn’t about to let that stop me from eating a couple of pieces after dinner and then finishing it for breakfast the next morning, which I did.

So…there I was heading for the park and a run and trying to decide how far to go. I’m guessing that I’ve probably added a couple of pounds back on as a result of my restricted running schedule of the previous 8 weeks. And I know that I want to get back to the times and distances I was running prior to the injury…so…run long.

I was heading for the trail in the South Chagrin Reservation that runs from Miles Road north to the Polo Fields. The last time I was there, I’d come up against the horses…and won. It’s a flat course making it ideal for running longer, but I’d really run out of steam the last time I ran this course and wanted to make a big improvement.

I started the run thinking that although it was cool, the air seemed heavy with humidity. I wasn’t wrong and found that I was well on my way to being saturated in sweat after 15 minutes of running. I reached the Polo Fields in 25 minutes and then looped the Fields to get in some extra time before retracing my steps back to my car. Although I wouldn’t classify the way my hip was feeling as the pain that had sidelined me, I was certainly feeling a fatigue in my left buttock that’s probably related. It would of course been prudent to stop…but prudence is way overrated…and so I finished the run, albeit slowly. I don’t think I’d sweat more on any run all summer…even through the 90+ degree days. My shirt and shoes were saturated demonstrating again that it doesn’t need to be scorching hot to suffer dehydration and the accompanying heat related illnesses.

I went home to a dinner of a BJ’s chicken and buttered noodles, which I’d eaten only after consuming a bowl of pea soup. There was a little chocolate pudding in the frig from a dinner over a week ago with some major separation going on, but I didn’t let that stop me and ate it, too. Bottom line – when Holly asked me around 11 p.m. to take a walk – I figured I needed it. Tomorrow…maybe a long bike ride. I think the hip needs a day off.

Run duration: 63 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 145 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,100.