Journal 6-Mar-2023

I woke up achy in both hips.  After some light stretching and moving around a bit, I felt better with just some minor discomfort.  I went through my pre-run warmup routine and headed out for run/walk at 3 minutes/1 minute. I had no target for time or distance.  My goal was to build aerobic fitness and that comes with long slow running.  I was prepared to sacrifice comfort in my hip for putting in some distance. 

At 45 minutes, about 4 miles out, I turned around.  By the time I got within a mile of home, I was feeling it in my legs.  I completed 8 miles of run/walk in a little less than 90 minutes, 11 minutes per mile average.  I was generally wiped out.  I did not have much left in the tank.  That wasn’t as easy as it should have been at 11 minutes per mile, but I guess I’ve lost a lot of fitness over the last six months.  

At first my right hip was making itself known.  My right hip flexors were stiff and sore, much more than on my left side.  I did a couple of basic cool down stretches and magically the extreme discomfort on the right subsided and a minor discomfort both sides replaced it.  Wow!  I was pleasantly surprised.  Later in the afternoon the typical achiness on the right side returned, especially at rest.  But the muscle stiffness and soreness were about the same on both sides.  It will be interesting to see how things feel in the morning.