Monday, September 04, 2006

Running Hopeful

Dang Blogger! Dang computer! Dang Internet!

I just finished my masterpiece of writing. I wore my heart on my sleeve and its all gone. Way too much time spent composing and editing in Blogger's dashboard and poof its all gone into the neverland of cyberspace. (Truth be told it was probably just another one of my run-on stream of conscious ramblings, but I guess we'll never know.)

Here's the short version.

I ran 22 miles on Saturday down at the Santa Ana River Trail in Yorba Linda with 16 of my CA Cruiser buddies. I ran the first 5 with Michelle, Rochelle, Jesse and Anet. The next 4 with Jesse and Michelle. 6 more alone until I met Terry from work and turned around and joined her for 3, followed by 5 more on my own. The final time was 3:31 for a relatively slow, for me, 9:36 overall pace. Because of the hip issues I intended on taking things slow so I was really happy overall. I did manage a couple of miles at 8:35 and 8:36 in the middle when I was running alone.

Final analysis: no hip joint pain during the run and yeah, no blisters either. The only aches are in my glutes and hip adductor muscles on the left side. I'm thinking these are from the chiropractic adjustment. I've been doing a lot of reading in magazines and the web about hip injuries. For me sitting is the most uncomfortable position. It could be any number of things, but self-diagnosis is probably less than reliable and self-treatment even less so. For now I plan on keeping my chiropractic appointments, scaling back the training program and keeping a watchful eye on the hip. I don't want to "cry wolf" too soon and run off to a specialist before it's absolutely necessary.

Only 5 weeks to St. George and I don't want to do anything stupid at this point (hopefully I haven't already) .

10 comments:

Wes said...

Excellent run, Darrel! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for your hip!

Anonymous said...

22 miles. Muy Bien!

Sorry that blogger ate your primo posting. I am sure it was great.

Good run. Now rest up and get that hip all fixed up.

Mike said...

Great run Darrel but be careful with the hip!! You already have the fitness to finish this marathon no problem so be conservative there- I'd hate for you to have any issues that would be a problem for mary #8,9,10 etc!

matt said...

i am glad to hear that the hip isn't causing you any pain after that run. nice job keeping the pace solid and still getting in a couple of miles around 8:35.

what is your assessment of St.George as a course? do you think it tends to yield fast times? what is the altitude out there?

i, too, will be keeping my fingers crossed on the hip and will be sending my best thoughts your way, buddy.

Joe said...

Blogger editor...yeah, it'll crash on you. Bummer, I've seen the same thing. On any long post, I just open a Word document, compose (with links) and then just cut and paste when I have it. Links move perfectly that way.

Wow, 22 miles after a week off. Very good. Mike said it well...your base fitness is probably there, so make sure you get to the starting line healthy!

Anonymous said...

Congrats, Darrell, on another great run! And as the other runners have said- go easy on your hip... We all know that you are very capable of running St. George well---- as long as you don't injure yourself:) Remember, only six down- which means you have to stay in good condition for many more!

Legs and Wings said...

Welcome to the club Darrell...the club of broken blogger posts. Sometimes it just makes me mad. I learned to formulate in as a Word doc and then, like Joe, copy and paste. Seems to work well.

Excellent work on the long test run. Are you a fairly tall guy? I'm 6'4", and my hips sometimes bother me. I've gone the chiro route and been adjusted and re-adjusted but it sometimes still haunts me. I'm not certain what it is or what the triggers are for this condition. I hope it eases up bud.

Take it easy Darrell.

Anonymous said...

great job on the long run and take care of yourself as you get ready for St. George! Who sends out the emails for the Cruisers Saturday runs. I get the pictures from Dr. John (you all looked like you were having fun) but that's after the fact. Kids sports schedules permitting I would like to try one sometime...

Ryan said...

Wow that's quite a group of runners…sounds like fun! Best of luck running the St. George Marathon. It’s always a mental battle during the last few weeks before a big race, you get into a running routine and it’s so hard to slow down! I feel like I need to cram in more mileage, but it’s always better to rest-up. I hope everything goes well over the next 5 weeks!!

Rae said...

Great job with the long run!! Keep that hip in check, I can't believe it's time already for the next marathon!