Almost Run

Last night I went for a 5 miler jaunt and it almost felt like I was running. I was still […]

By on January 9, 2008 | Comments

Last night I went for a 5 miler jaunt and it almost felt like I was running. I was still slow and I probably sucked more air than a Dyson. However, my legs were a bit less heavy, the trailer I’m towing now weighs 1 ton instead of 20 tons, and my legs didn’t feel like a drunk sailor’s when out at sea. In other words, it was almost smooth, I didn’t want to stop to walk, and I conceivably could have run more. Maybe tonight I’ll throw in some “hills.” By hills, I mean a series of 30-50 foot climbs in the North Arlington neighborhoods. I’ve been avoiding them so as not to injure or over fatigue myself. I’m hoping that short and easy, but consistent runs has me feeling better and like a runner soon.

On the “injury” front. As normal, I’m experiencing some pain in my right hip. I often get this pain as I first start to train or ramp my mileage up. It usually goes away as I train more. Though not unheard of, it’s much less common for my hip to hurt when I’m pounding out major mileage. I hypothesize that even if the injury is some sort of bursitis or something equally unpleasant, it’s caused when my support muscles are inadequate. Therefore, as my support muscles catch up to my training level, the injury subsides. Does this make sense? Loomdog?

On a more pleasant note, for the first time in a while I’ve been running without a heel lift for my Achilles tendinitis. Sometime in early December I stopped wearing a heel lift in my non-running shoes and now have discontinued using one when running. Eight runs in and still a-okey.

Bryon Powell

Bryon Powell is the Founding Editor of iRunFar. He’s been writing about trail running, ultrarunning, and running gear for more than 15 years. Aside from iRunFar, he’s authored the books Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and Where the Road Ends: A Guide to Trail Running, been a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, written for publications including Outside, Sierra, and Running Times, and coached ultrarunners of all abilities. Based in Silverton, Colorado, Bryon is an avid trail runner and ultrarunner who competes in events from the Hardrock 100 Mile just out his front door to races long and short around the world, that is, when he’s not fly fishing or tending to his garden.