Time for a Change in Strategy

The beginning of April brought with it my first PT session in almost two months.  Travel and other things just made it impractical to squeeze in an appointment earlier.  During that long time, I was focused on religiously performing my PT exercise set, 15 stretch and strength exercises, which took me 90 minutes.  I tried to complete the entire set of 15 exercises every other day, while incorporating cycling or running where I could.  The result was that I was sore and fatigued most of the time, and I was not logging very many miles. 

My long-range training plan said that I needed to increase my weekly mileage to 20 miles by the end of April, then 25 by the end of May.  I did not see how that was going to happen without some relief from my PT exercise regimen.  So, I used my April PT session to work with my physical therapist to free up more time for running and recovery.
 
First, we split the set of 15 exercises into strength training and post-run recovery stretching.  The strength training set included 9 exercises with one optional exercise, while the run recovery set included 5 stretches.  Strength training days would be dedicated to strength training, no running or cycling added on top.  I need to allow my muscles to properly recover from the strength training.  Strength training days would be cut down to twice per week, allowing for 3-4 running/cycling days and 1-2 recovery days.  The run-recovery set of exercises were to be done religiously after every run.
 
Mentally this plan was a boost.  Now I would get back to a pattern that worked for me in years past when I would do strength training in the gym at work on Tuesdays and Thursdays and run 3-4 of the other days.  I would continue to improve my leg and core strength while having a running schedule that would allow me to build mileage.  
 
I am beginning to accept that my hip discomfort is here to stay, and that PT is going to give me ways to tolerate it, not eliminate it.  Since switching to this revised strategy, I feel like I have been able to increase running mileage without increasing perceived hip discomfort, or perhaps it’s simply that my tolerance for hip discomfort is improving.


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