The Long Run

LOST AND FOUND DOG

This morning I had no idea what kind of run to expect. I was just going to do 9 and see what happened. I got moving but was slow at first. Something in my left hip was bothering me slightly, it felt like it might loosen up.

Less than a half mile from home a dog came running after me. I wasn't sure at first if it was a friendly dog or not. I told him to go away. He stopped at first, but when I started to run he ran after me. He was a cute brown mixed breed dog around 30-40 pounds, similar to my brown dogs. I then ran after him and he seemed to be leading me. We started going around the neighborhood loop with him in the lead. People were looking at me like I was a bad dog owner taking his dog out for a run with no leash. I caught up to the dog to check for an address on his dog tag. He lay down on his back while I checked. No address, just the rabies vaccination information. I thought I would go with the dog around the loop until we got back to my house so I could call the dog's vet. The dog started slowing down and I thought maybe we should go the short way back, maybe this was an older dog and he was getting tired? Finally the dog turned down a side street. I saw a man get out of his car in the driveway with an exasperated but relieved look on his face, his dog had come home now.

So, this was good for an interesting one mile warm up at an 11:30 pace. I got back to my normal route, heading down the old road towards Thousand Oaks and then into Trinity Oaks, looping through there and heading back.

The rest of my run went pretty well, I didn't go too fast and did not try to make up lost time. My hip was ok, I'll just keep an eye on it and maybe not do the planned tempo run tomorrow.

Average pace: 8:37

This morning's run didn't quite work out they way I had planned but I did get something in.   After yesterday's issue with my hip I spent some time in the hot tub last night which seemed to help.

This morning I went to the Y, did some warm up on cardio machines inside then headed outside for a run, hoping for 7 or 8 miles.   As soon as I started it didn't not feel right.  I haven't pinpointed the exact spot but it's around my hip flexor on my left side but it is not the hip flexor.  The pain is not terrible but hurts on each step even if going slow.

So, I went back inside, got on another machine for a bit, and did some weights.  Now, I felt a little bit better.  I got onto a treadmill and won't slowly.  I gradually picked up until I was at a 9 minute pace.  It felt better as I kept on going but did not completely clear up.  At this point I was running out of time so I only did 3.25 miles.    Hopefully I can shake this soon.

This morning's run was pretty good. My hip was back to Tuesday's level, maybe slightly better. I think the hot tub last night helped out, along with some advil.

I ran from the Y, initially on an out and back course which would have been 6 miles if I stuck to that. I was feeling good enough that I added a little bit on during the return trip. The weather was nice again this morning but the air is starting to change and it won't be long before the morning's are not so cool.

Average pace: 8:30 

I biked the boys to school so Jenny could get her run in before it got even warmer out. I like taking the boys to school, it's good to spend a little more time with them and it is also a good post run cool down.

Hopefully I can have another decent run tomorrow, if I'm back to normal I'll try for 12.

I did my long run one day earlier than originally planned since I'll be driving most of the day tomorrow.  Ideally I would have done 18 miles but I'm not 100%.  So, considering the circumstances 14 was pretty good.

 I woke up a little bit earlier and got moving just before 6:30.  I headed out of our neighborhood, down the old road to Trinity Blvd. and then into Trinity Oaks.  I kept on going towards the horse farm (well, they used to have horses there at least) and turned around once I got there.  I headed back the same way except I stayed on Kinsmere to Hawbuck, across Little road and then back through Thousand Oaks West, and then home.

First 3 miles were slow (did not break 9:00), gradually got faster as I warmed up and then kept the miles between 7:45 and 8:15. 

Average pace: 8:22

It felt good to get this run out of the way since the trip to Texas will require some adjusting of my usual running routines. 

Still having some hip issues on my left side, it was no worse today during the run than yesterday, but after the run I felt it a little bit more than yesterday.
 

Yikes!

Over one week now without any running.

 Basically, what happened is when I got to work, a week ago Friday, my left hip was hurting me.  It hadn't hurt during the run but was hurting later.  At first I thought, no problem, I'll just take off a couple of days and then be better.

Saturday morning - still hurting, getting ready for trip, problems just walking around, spent rest of the day in the car.

Sunday - more driving, stayed off my feet, getting a little bit better.

Monday - still hurting

Tuesday - went to Austin, getting better to walk on.

Wednesday - came home from Austin, stopped at Innerspace caverns, finally started feeling normal.

Thursday - back in Dallas, feeling a lot better unless I tried to walk quickly.

Friday - feeling better, went to the Ft Worth zoo, a little bit sore from walking towards the end of the zoo visit.

Saturday - back in the car to head home.

Sunday - back home at 2:00 pm, took the dogs for a walk with the family, feeling ok but still couldn't walk fast.  Hot tub later, felt better.

Monday (today) - felt a lot better this morning, I don't think I'm 100% yet though.

This whole thing kind of snuck up on me, it didn't feel any worse when I ran on it, the last time I ran.  This usually means that it is ok to run.  So often, I have run, where it didn't feel so great starting out but once you get going, or after the run, whatever it is has cleared up.

Well, hopefully I can get over this.  I'll tread lightly and come back slowly for now.  I should be able to walk fast without any problems before trying to run.  I might also have to spend more time in the pool.
 

I went to the Y today.  It felt good to do at least something.  I warmed up on some of the cardio machines to see which ones might work the best for me now.  I treaded very lightly and decided I would stop even if I imagined any pain.  I did a few minutes on the bike, a little bit on the rower and then some on the arc trainer. 

Next I did some upper body weights.  This was my main workout and I think it went pretty well.  I had read recently that you can maintain or even improve your lactic threshold with weight lifting.  It would be nice if that turns out to be true. 

So, the real test now is to see how I feel the rest of the day, tonight and tomorrow morning when I wake up.  If I feel the same or better, then maybe I will do just a little bit more tomorrow. 

Another day of very light cardio today.  I did 10 minutes on the bike at a slightly higher resistance than yesterday, and 10 minutes on the arc trainer followed finally by 2 minutes on the rower.

I only did 2 minutes on the rower because I was either starting to feel something or at last thought I was feeling something so I played it safe.

 Overall, so far so good.  This morning I felt pretty good and have felt good so far during the day.
 

Another cross training day.  I stepped things up one small notch from last time.  10 minutes on the bike at slightly higher resistance once again, then 16 minutes on the arc trainer (I had planned on doing only 15, kept going, but then decided to quit while I was ahead).

Then I did some upper body weights, as well as some push ups and two sets of pull-ups.  So, this morning I felt like I did more than just show up at the gym.

No pain still a couple hours later.

Another day of non-running cardio and weights. I tested out my legs on the treadmill but it did not take long before I knew that I was not ready to run.  It hurt from the start, not quite a stabbing pain but somewhat pronounced.  I made a few different attempts while on the treadmill, starting out from a walk and trying to progress to a slow jog (5 mph). 

The rest of the cardio felt really good, I felt stronger than last week.

So, after two weeks of no running I made an appointment with the doctor for this Thursday.

In any event I'll just keep taking it easy and doing what I can until I'm better.  On the bright side this could be the time that I finally learn how to become a better swimmer!

I decided to up things a little bit this morning.  I was not going to try running again but would do some non-running cardio.   For some reason I did get on the treadmill and walked a bit, but could not turn up the speed very much so was only on it for a few minutes.

I got on the bike for 15 minutes, that felt pretty good.

I then got on the arc trainer and did 21 minutes there.  I can use my arms a lot on that machine so it works out well.

Then I went home, got ready and then went to work.

Later in the afternoon I'm not sure if I was hurting or not.  There wasn't really any pain but there was something.  So, I'll take tomorrow off completely.

As promised I did not exercise today.  As hard as that is, it is probably better since my doctor's appointment is soon and I might as well wait to here what she recommends.

No running or cardio this morning. I figured I would wait for the Dr.'s appointment.

So I just got back from the appointment and so far so good. X-ray looked good and doctor's assessment based on moving my leg around in variable positions looked good. She does not think it is a stress fracture. My hips do look tilted so I'll start PT next week. I have an MRI scheduled for tonight.

One thing that I really like about this doctor is that you get the feeling that her goal is to get you back running. No running at all would be prescribed only if absolutely necessary.

It was kind of neat that both the doctor and the nurse saw me win at the 5K, I don't remember seeing them there but I'm not good at recognizing people when they are not wearing what you usually see them wearing. 

On Monday I'll have a follow up appointment to go over the MRI results.

Mainly cardio cross training this morning.  I did 10 minutes on the bike and then 30 minutes on the arc trainer.  I was feeling pretty good after the arc trainer so decided to give the treadmill one small try.   Since the Dr. said yesterday that it was probably not a stress fracture, and since she also said to just use pain as a guide - if it hurts don't do it, I figured it would be ok to try.

I started out really slow (4.2) and slowly increased the speed until I eventually made it up to 6.4.  I don't think there is any pain and now a couple of hours has  passed and I think I'm still ok.

Hopefully I'll get the green light on Monday for more and then the physical therapy should help things along to get me back to normal. 

Mostly cross training and another attempt at running.  Did 30 minutes on the arc trainer, 10 minutes on the bike and then got onto the treadmill.  I was hoping to do 3 miles.  If it didn't hurt I would go to 3 and call it a success, otherwise I would stop earlier.  It felt about the same as yesterday.  I thought about going to 2 miles, but the pain was just enough that I decided it wasn't worth it since I don't know 100% what is causing it.  Hopefully I'll find out on Monday.

Overall, it was nearly an hour of pretty good cardio. 

10 minute warm up on the bike, then upper body weights. Just under an hour total with the bike and weights.

Just got back from Dr.'s appointment,  no stress fracture!

Well, it still hurts to run on it though, but hopefully PT will  help get it sorted out tomorrow.

I did 10 minutes on the bike, then stretched a bit, then did 10 minutes on the arc trainer and stretched a little bit more.   Then I got onto the treadmill for another try at running.  It felt a little bit better than last time.  I think I could have gone farther but wanted to see what the physical therapist was going to recommend.

One thing that was promising is that I didn't feel like I had "forgotten" how to run.  It didn't seem odd or unfamiliar.  Now, if I can just get my hips straightened out or whatever it is that is going on. 

I got to my PT appointment on time (well sort of).  First appointment is not until tomorrow, oh well. 

AM 

I went to the Y this morning and did some cardio. I thought I would hold off until running until after PT later in the morning. I did 12 minutes on the bike then 30 minutes on the arc trainer.

Went to 9:30 appointment. Explained my symptoms and what led up to it. Took him about 5 minutes to figure things out. It was basically the same thing as last time only on the other side and more off balance than last time. The last time I could still run ok but had trouble with ab work.

He did some adjustments and then had me get on the treadmill for 5 minutes. It was the most pain free since this began. He wants me to do 5 miles some time today on a treadmill so I can stop if there is any pain. If that goes ok, then do try for 8 on Thursday, then come back and see him again on Friday to see if I'm still straightened out.

PM

I stopped by the house quickly to change then headed over to the Y.  I warmed up 8 minutes on the arc trainer then stretched my hip flexors then got on the treadmill.  I started out at just over 5 mph and gradually upped it until at 6.5.   It felt pretty good although maybe not 100%.  There were times when I wanted to go faster but I held back because I really want to be able to run tomorrow.  Felt pretty good at the end of the run.  Hopefully I'll still be in good shape in the morning.

It was an amazing feeling to be able to run again.