Seven Squared

Not a great week, running-wise, I'm afraid. Whatever the problem was I had with my adductor, apparently, moved around slightly and now shows up as a very stiff hip on the right side. It's not hurting, not at all, but I can't stride out properly and whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be in a hurry to go away.

Every run starts with me hobbling one-sided down the road, which I'm sure isn't a great sight. It takes absolutely ages for the hip to loosen up, 5 miles usually, and then I can finally run properly. Like I said, there is no pain, but something is clearly not right. The biggest worry from my point of view is that it doesn't seem to be getting better - it feels exactly the same as it did at the beginning of the week.

So, true to my usual MO, I did my best to ignore the damn hip and kept on running. Since almost all of my running these days is either running from or to work, it doesn't leave much option as far as distance or route choice is concerned. They are all a bit hilly, and they are all 10 miles long. Maybe a short run would be better but then I'd have to get up almost an hour earlier to run before my commute, and that really doesn't appeal to me, so for the time being I'll hobble along, hoping for the thing to work itself out eventually.

Also, because I can't seem to generate a lot of power with my jammy hip I've slowed right down again. This, looked at in isolation, is not a bad thing, actually. I do have a tendency of running my easy runs just a tad faster than I probably should, so an enforced slowdown might actually be good for me.

Oh, and I'm yet another year older. Still not enough for a new age group, though.

21 Jan

10.25 miles, 1:24:38, 8:15 pace, HR 138

22 Jan

10.2 miles, 1:30:56, 8:54 pace, HR 139

2.12 miles, 17:37, 8:18 pace, HR 128

23 Jan

10.2 miles, 1:29:16, 8:45 pace, HR 139

24 Jan

10.25 miles, 1:26:56, 8:28 pace, HR 138

25 Jan

10.25 miles, 1:33:47, 9:08 pace, HR 138

26 Jan

7.22 miles, 59:34, 8:14 pace, HR 141

27 Jan

11 miles, 1:37:00, 8:49 pace, HR 137