Run - Home Around Town & Downtown to Pick up my Truck

Time: 7:20am, approx 43 minutes
Meal: Myoplex Vanilla Shake (approx. 1 1/2 tablespoon in 8 oz. rice milk)
Distance: Approx 4 miles (Map)

Ugh...I'm off to a slow start this morning. Well...first a quick rewind. I opted against Saturday's 1 1/2 hour practice because I woke up in the middle of the night on Friday with all the action items on my to do list haunting me. My mind was going a million miles per minute and I just couldn't stop it. I barely slept all night...when my alarm went off at 6am I made the decision not to torture my body with a 10 mile run with little sleep. Plus, my mind was spinning for a reason...so there's two objectives (sleep and stress) that I'm having a hard time getting a handle on.

So back to this morning...my right leg is really tight. There was no real pain at first, just extreme tightness in my hip and a little on the inside of my thigh. It didn't take long (say 10 minutes or so) for my hip to start giving me trouble again. I struggled my way up the Loma Alta hill, (and down...which was worse in a way) - the whole time just not feeling confident in my stride. I didn't have the ability to trust my stride, I was too afraid that one wrong move would leave me wrenching with pain (for good reason, too...I got a glimpse of that pain every now and then as I tried shifting my stride to a more natural movement). It wasn't until Carillo & Castillo (3 miles), that I began to regain some sort of normalcy. Even then, the pain in my hip was present, only I finally felt like I was running like a normal human being (heels landing when requested, knees bending, and my body generally loose and free-flowing). I wasn't anywhere near the 9 minute mile pace I would have preferred to be at, but the point is that I completed the practice.

I'm sore this morning. Just like track last week flared up the pain, I'm wondering if running is really doing it any favors. All I can do is ice and roll and find the regime that works for me for now...

The marathon is now less than 2 weeks away. I'm excited...just trying not to psych myself out. I'm still feeling overwhelmed by way too much stuff to do...and it didn't help that I felt so sick yesterday!