Hurting Hips Setback :(

I am getting close to the race - we are three weeks out. The higher mileage and five days a week running has pushed my hip flexor injury to the brink. The chiropractor found a slight scoliosis in my lumbar spine and said that my hips are surrounded by muscular imbalances and weaknesses that I need to start working on. I basically hit my breaking point on the 30K run last weekend. How? I pushed too hard I guess. Mind you, I had a better time at ATB30K. So who knows. I think that it was just the drive in me to continue to build the weekly mileage, but my increments were too much. I have backed off extensively this week. I will have only run twice. Suffice it to say I guess I have started my taper. I intend to get 4 runs in next week. We start that off tomorrow with a 38.5K (24mi) run from Barrie to Orillia. I hope the hips cooperate - think positive - they will. I will touch base later tomorrow when the 38.5 is behind me.

Wild Trail Running Adventure

So today was supposed to be an easy run day, a junk mile day, just a loosening and prep for our long slow distance day which is Sunday. I always go for an easy run on Saturday and usually take a dog along. The dogs were into their thing this morning, playing in the yard, napping and so I decided to leave them be and hang with them this afternoon. I set off on my own with the goal to get in a 13km easy run. Why the 13k? Tomorrow is slated for an "easy" 23km and I am kind of jazzed about adapting to the higher mileage these past few weeks, so I wanted to keep that up. A 13km run today would keep my weekly total at 64km - same as last week.

I trod off onto South Bay Road, my usual home route. Up and over the winding road and rolling hills until I came out to the highway which I had to cross over (a bridge) to meet the 6.5km halfway point. So I did - but once I reached that point, I looked to the right, and low and behold, before me was the snowmobile trail that my husband has told me about. This trail would link me down and into Port Severn. This trail is my only hope of creating a route that loops around to and from my house, as opposed to simply out and back. So you know what I did, I hopped on it.

I cannot explain how invigorating this trail run was for me. I felt like a hunter & gatherer, a cave woman, an animal, a wild trekker. I felt like I should have be foraging for nuts and fruit (but I didn't have to, I had a Clif bar). I met a beaver, numerous birds and was hoping to see deer, a moose, a bear - ok, so maybe not a bear. I also met a convoy of 30 or so ATV'ers who smiled and waved politely at me while more than likely thinking in the back of their heads, "What the h#ll is she doing out here?"



I talked aloud to myself, laughed at my slip ups, walked when I needed to, nibbled my Clif bar, snapped some funny photos that I am sharing with you here, and phoned my hubby a couple of times to let him know that his crazy wife was somewhere in the bush - not exactly sure where. He knows those trails well, so could assure me I was on the right path.



And here's the thing. I had a ball out there. My butt didn't hurt. I was smiling as I was dodging mud holes, branches and rocks. I had run 6.5km on road before I hit this trail and ran about 6km on the trail followed by a final 2.5km on the road again. The 6km of trail running went by effortlessly. It was pure BLISS! Which seems a funny thing to think and say when you come across hurdles like this:



And wind up with legs that look like this:



I made it through the trails and hit the pavement again. Once I realized where I was it dawned on me that I had about 10km ahead of me to get home. I was NOT slated to log that many kms today -- it was supposed to be an easy, low mileage day as tomorrow we have our long weekend run. So, thankfully I had my cell and a caring husband who wasn't that far away. I called him for a pick-up. I ran until I logged 15km and he met up with me to take me home. What a mighty good man!

(despite the fact that he was laughing at me)