Right Under My Nose

So, despite the injury I've been managing to keep up with my training. Just short little runs last week, and then decided to do something a little different on Sunday. Went for a trail run in the park next to my house. Funny thing, there are these great trails right outside my front door and I never go in there except to walk the dogs. And actually, since Libby died last September I really have been avoiding the place---that was her special place.

The only previous time I ever went running on these trails was probably about 9-10 years ago, when we had first moved here and before we got Libby! Crazy, I know.

So anyway, I tried to follow a route that I figured would add up to about 3 miles. I'm not gonna say how long it took but let's just say that based on my time I think I got it about right. On these hot, humid summer days, the trails are a pretty good place to run. We haven't had much rain so there's very little mud and the conditions are good for trail running. At least, IMHO, since it's not like I have so much experience with it.

Of course, trail running really isn't the best thing for that butt injury I'm suffering from but it was the best thing for my head. I got home and right away I told Tommy, no way we could move from this house, what are we thinking, how could we ever leave here when we have these great trails right outside the front door, plus miles and miles of the best road running in town. How can we move?

One thing I realized is I am going to have to get new trail running shoes if I want to be a little more aggressive on the downhills. Didn't want to wear my new shoes, so went out in the Nike Triaxs, and they just don't have the traction for it.

Yesterday, it was just too hot to run outside (and it's even hotter today) at the time of day when I can fit it in, so I finally got a long one in on the treadmill. 12.25 miles. Ideally, would have made it 13-14 but 12+ was plenty mind-deadening enough. Not sure what I'm going to do the rest of the week but I think I will try another outing on the trails.

Injured again!

I have been having a great last few running weeks of very consistent training, and even steadily building up the long runs with hopes that I might actually log one over 20 before my next marathon. Then last night in agility class, disaster struck. I was running Eddy on leash (not to go into too many details, but he is in that awful teenage stage and I have to curtail his "freedom" sometimes) and I somehow tripped over my own feet and fell down. I can't really blame Eddy, except for the fact that if I did not have dogs, I would not run agility!

I stumbled a bit before finally falling, resulting in a nasty pull to some muscle deep in my left buttocks. The glueal? The piriformis? One of those guys. That's the worst of it. The other injuries were intitially worrisome: bruises and abrasions to my right ("good") knee, large bruise on right upper arm just above the elbow, another bruise on the side of my left hip. But it's that butt pull that's gonna hold me back just when I was really ready to ramp up my training.

So, instead of the long run I had planned for this week, I just did a very slow and deliberately easy 4 miler on the treadmill. Had to do something or else I'd be thinking about plastic bags and duct tape again. Also took two Aleve after, which seemed to help a lot after my long run last week but doesn't seem to be doing the trick today.

I am hoping that if I scale back a bit and just do short runs this week, maybe the recovery will go fast and I can come back ready to go longer next week. It helps that I don't have any agility this weekend. Staying home from the dog training club tonight so I don't aggravate things any more. Running around on that thinly covered concrete is really hard on my old body.