Sunday, August 05, 2012

All About Running...Sort of

You know how I signed up for that marathon?  Well, October is fast approaching and guess what?  I haven't run more than 6 miles at a time since this event nearly three months ago.  This, my friends, is a problem.  I'm not thinking there is any way I'm going to be running 26.2 miles all at once in two months' time.

Partially, I'm okay with this.  I actually decided not too long after the half marathon that I'd be fine with just walk/running the marathon and not running quite so much.  I only strengthened this intention when Davan and I took on the walking challenge, as completing that left no room for running.  Our couple of weeks last month of hiking and backpacking rather than running pretty much cinched the deal.

Never-the-less, I decided last week that I really wanted to up my running some and be more ready for the marathon.  Even if I walk/run it, it's still 26.2 miles and that's a lot of distance!

I've done pretty well.  I did a nice long run on Wednesday.  I got out there for two more runs that week.  I had full intentions of doing some interval training this morning, after a couple of rest days.

And then I went and played kickball yesterday.  Anthony's office fields a team for Kickball Without Borders, which is a fundraising event for Engineers Without Borders.  We went out there with several of Anthony's co-workers and their significant others and, surprisingly to me, ended up kicking some booty.  We had fun, although we only stayed for two of the three games, as Anthony didn't want to over do it yesterday.  He's riding in this race today. 

Somehow, in the first game, although I hardly touched the ball (I was in outfield with three other people), I did something funny to my left hip.  I enjoyed the second game quite a bit, where I got to play third base and had a lot more action as well as more success (having not caught the one ball that came my way in the outfield during that first game) but also noticed my hip more and more.

We came home and chilled out for most of the rest of the day, aside from walking the dog and that sort of thing.  I did some stretching while we were watching the Olympics last night and thought, "Oh, boy, this is not a good thing," on many stretches which involved, if only peripherally, my hip.

Overnight, though, it didn't bother me at all.  I got up this morning feeling pretty good, laced on my running shoes, leashed the dog and headed out.  Within steps I realized I was not going to be running sprints today by any stretch of the imagination.  Ranger and I ended up doing two easy miles and that was still painful.

I believe in working though pain most of the time, as long as it's not making things worse.  Usually movement is good.  Not always, obviously, and this isn't meant to be medical advice.  Broken bones, for example, are best left to mend.  Many sports injuries, though, and the experts are all agreeing on this lately, will heal better if one continues to exercise and use the injured area in an intelligent way.  So, I feel fine about running on it if it's not killing me.  That doesn't mean I want to do long distances or sprint, though.

So, that marathon that's coming up in a couple of months?  Well, it's looking less and less like I'll be posting any sort of semi-respectable time.  I still plan on being out there, though, and completing the course.  That's still something.  Right?

2 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your hip. :-(

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  2. Definitely something to be able to even walk that far. The last three years have been sort of shitty for me between injuries and pain,and one thing I've definitely learned is that you SHOULD keep moving... there's a difference between pain/damage and simple discomfort.

    Also, that aspirin is a better anti inflammatory than any of the expensive prescription ones I've tried.

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