Large dog, his tongue, and I ended our July by running an easy 6 while watching the sun rise this morning in some awesome mid-50s temps.
His tongue enjoyed that sunset.
Pic #2:
This run topped off our July total at 155 miles and some change.
I have no idea if this is good or bad. Maybe good since I ran all those miles.
Pic #3:
My hip wasn't so bad this morning, but I was feeling some tightness toward the end of the run - which is why I did my hip and glute strengthening exercises this evening under large dog's supervision.
He's ready with toys in case I need those for my exercises.
Pic #4:
Female cat cannot believe how stupid this blog post is. And how stupid this blog is because it has so much large dog on it, who just likes to eat her head when she least expects it.
SO MUCH STUPID EVERYWHERE
And she thinks it's stupid I included a picture of her in this post just because I needed a fourth picture. Cats. Sheesh.
Tomorrow's workout: 30 minute tempo - a gift from the My Run Plan gods.
So my sore hip flared up yesterday and today it really hurt to sit. So of course I did some strength training this morning and it’s all better now. Kind of.
You know you love that crazy turquoise wall.
Anyway, here are some reasons why I think my hip liked the strength training (Cathe’s PHA 1 workout) so much:
It wasn’t running.
My legs were moving in directions other than forward.
There was no running involved.
Sometimes I didn’t use my legs during the workout.
Running was not something I did during the workout.
I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I *may* have to actually stop running for a week just to let it heal.I’m going to see how the next two runs this week go; if it keeps getting worse then I’m going to have to take some time off. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go quietly sob in a corner for the next hour.
Tomorrow’s workout: Easy run. WITH NO HIP SORENESS *wishfulthinkingactivated*
This morning I had a 9.5 mile run on tap in the form of some delicious 1200 meter repeats...seven of them. And this run pretty much sucked from the get-go, and even my dinosaur shorts couldn’t save it. Here’s why:
I thought 1200s would be easy peasy compared to mile repeats but NOPE NOT TRUE they just suck 400 meters less at an 8:20 pace. My mental game was packed in a box in my closet this morning after I realized these were going to be hard.
Eating red meat for both lunch and dinner yesterday made Mother Nature call about 6 times during the run, and I ended up only running 4 of the 7 repeats uninterrupted.
My nose was running constantly...and having to wipe my nose so often was really pissing me off.
The top of my right foot started to whine in the 3rd repeat. Sooooo annoying.
Well, not every run is spectacular. My own puny win out of this workout is that I got the distance on the training plan done...and I learned red meat is a pretty crappy friend.
Tomorrow’s workout: Some cross training goodness to help me forget the hot mess of this morning’s run.
I know I say this every time I start blogging again, but I really mean it this time: I am going to post more regularly from now on.
Even if it's just a picture with one stupid little sentence from the deep recesses of my brain, like this pic from yesterday's 16 mile long run in the heat:
When the dog slobbers all over the front of himself during the run just as much as you sweat....
So expect a lot of what you just saw on here kids. My sanity these days depends on having some sort of fun and creative outlet, and, unfortunately, you all are going to bear the brunt of my bad sense of humor just so I can maintain the blogging habit again.
But I do have a bit of a longer post planned for today, seeing as some recent running things have happened in my running life:
I ran a half marathon race in a sports bra and shorts, and
My right hip has been nagging me with soreness for the past two weeks.
The half marathon was last weekend, and of course it was on a day where we had dangerous heat. The course had very little shade and, even though it was well-supported, I knew that trying to use the race as a tune-up half to run marathon pace just wasn't going to happen. So I made my goal just to run my first race in a sports bra instead.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Really.
I kept the pace slow (ran it in 2:18...a very slow race for me), but not just because of the heat--I was also running slow because my right hip capsule has been sore for weeks. And by "sore" I mean "a deep pain would happen trying to hold the gas pedal down while driving" type of soreness. A soreness whereby I was testing daily to see if it was really a stress fracture in my femur level of soreness. A soreness where sitting down in a regular position on the couch was painful.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that my hip was really really sore. And it was very concerning.
But of course I kept running on it, and then complained about my hip being sore. I finally did what any other normal runner would do to see if could get some relief from the discomfort--do some research on Google. (What, did you think I was going to go to a doctor? Crazy talk.) After exhaustive and extensive research on the internet and a lot of jamming my thumb into various parts of my hip and glutes to see where it hurt the most, I diagnosed myself with a pain in the piriformis caused by weak hip and glute muscles. This made sense to me, especially since during my last marathon training cycle I did absolutely no lower body strengthening whatsoever. It seems that the muscles in my glutes and hips responsible for motions other than forward propulsion got all weak and stuff and then all of a sudden it's hurting to drive a car.
Since I made my own expert diagnosis using Dr. Google and my thumb, I have been trying to strengthen those weak glutes and hips with these exercises from Strength Running:
And by doing these plyometric workouts from Cathe because they involve a lot of squatting and lateral hip exercises: High Intensity Interval Training, Plyo HiiT 2, and Crossfire.
Are they working? Well, remember that 16 mile run I did yesterday? My hip didn't bother me once. And while it was a little sore when I woke up today, I am happy to report that I can sit, walk, and drive a car normally.
Now if only I can get that nagging pain on the top of my right foot to go away. So, if you'll excuse me, I have to go consult Dr. Google again. Until that time, enjoy the non-learning learnings meant to summarize this post but really are just a list of nonsensical random thoughts I couldn't find a way to coherently put into the post above:
I do really mean it this time - a pic a day at least on this blog. Contain your excitement, kids.
Feeling like someone is grabbing the top of your femur and squeezing while you're driving is a weird feeling. Very weird.
Cathe's workouts are full of jumping, and jumping is fun, ergo plyometrics is fun.
I'm glad my hip didn't bother me yesterday on my run because then I could really focus on just how miserable I was in the heat and how much my bra was chafing. Good times.
Upcoming workouts: More plyo and some weights today, and a crazy amount of 1200s for tomorrow's speed session on the 'mill. Even more good times.
