Last Saturday when we were getting ready to leave Las Vegas I decided it was a good day to start running again. Technically the doctor wanted me to wait until I see him again on Tuesday the 11th. But I feel good and I know I am farther along now than I was at this point in my recovery last year. So I did some run/walk on the treadmill that morning. And then I did run/walk again on the treadmill last Monday. Then I ran for 30 minutes straight on the treadmill last Wednesday. On Friday, I ran for 45 minutes continuously on the treadmill. I took a day off from running in between each session to make sure everything was ok. So far it has been.
Today I decided to try running outside. It's just so much more enjoyable than the treadmill and it was a perfect day in Chicago to run. It was sunny with temperatures in the low 60's and a nice breeze. I enjoyed every minute. This was the first real outside run since I was running around the Beach Club at Disney World back in June. The day after I got back from there was when the fracture happened.
I am aware of my hip when running, but not in a painful way. It's just different, and I know from experience that it will take some time to feel completely normal again. I am also obviously slower than I was before all this happened, but I believe in muscle memory and I know my speed will also come back in time. All in all, I ran for an hour today and got in over 8 miles -- not too shabby for someone who had hip surgery 11 weeks ago.
I am optimistic about what the surgeon will say on Tuesday. My plan is still to complete the Chicago Marathon -- which is just 4 weeks from today. I have no intention of pushing for a PR; I know it's not in the cards this year. But I am confident that in the next 4 weeks I can continue to carefully build up enough to complete it in a respectful time without wrecking my body. I have some ideas how I will accomplish that over the coming weeks, but we will see what happens on Tuesday.
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| Happy after a successful run! |
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| Not my fastest but not too shabby |
That’s great! Congratulations!
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