Time to Give it a Try

I woke this morning with no hip pain.  I did my physical therapy exercises and stretches.  And being that I had to go to the post office anyway, I thought I'd take a little run.  I headed out in running pants, and a hoodie, zipped to my neck.  Gray skies, it was breezy and pretty cold.  But my hip felt fine.  And oh, about three blocks after taking off, I had that bright yellow hoodie off my shoulders and tied around my waist. 

Flat runs are difficult to come by in my town -- unless I drive down to the marina.  So I ran some minor hills out of the neighborhood, headed toward the sound of live music downtown.  With the roads closed into the town center, I realized that today was Festival of the Wales!  I ran on into the plaza, delighted.  Making eye contact with the band's lead singer, he waved at me as I ran  into the crowd.  The plaza was lined with vendors --different foods, arts and crafts, businesses advertising.

Out of the plaza, I ran across Pacific Coast Highway to the post office.  I crossed the highway and ran the cliff neighborhoods.  I just couldn't take it anymore; my body practically steered itself down the big hill to the marina.  There was a slight ache in my hip, not actual pain, so I figured it was okay.  Definately nowhere near a "2" on a scale of "1 to 10." 

Down at the marina, artists displayed their paintings along the sidewalk as crowds mingled about.  There were face painters, balloon twisters -- all sorts of interesting talents.  I squeezed through, making my way toward the wharf where I was met by another rock n' roll band.  Then I ran through the dry dock to make my way to the jetty -- a run up that road and back was an easy 1/2 mile addition to this run.   Fisherman threw a multitude of lines out into the harbor waters by the jetty.  And a great number of our city's homeless were camped out there as well.  As I ran through, an elderly, seemingly stinkin' drunk man (who could have been homeless) hollared at me, "You're lagging!  You're lagging," all the while shaking his finger and smiling at me with a toothless grin.  I thought to myself, "I know!  I'm doing it on purpose."

I kept up my leisurely pace back to the main road, a little concerned about running the big hill back.  Surprisingly, I took it no problem.  And the hip ached no worse.

Sorry about the hills Doc.  But they were nothing compared to what I'm used to.  And the PT said, "nothing that causes pain."  And the hills didn't cause me pain.  Really. 

Miles logged:  4.0

Back at home:  plenty of stretching, ice and more ice, and something new -- planks!