Oh yeah...

I actually got up this morning, put my running clothes on, puttered around for a while, then at the last possible minute headed out the door to run 5 miles. I ran!

Oh yeah. In my haste to berate myself for eating too much and not moving enough, I completely forgot WHY I haven't run so much lately.

DUH!

My butt has felt better since Saturday's run, which was cut short due to a sharp pain in my hip instead. Apparently whatever tightness I had in my piriformis moved from the spine area to the hip area. Also apparently, because it didn't hurt directly every minute of every day, I promptly forgot about it.

So I headed out the door today, congratulating myself for actually moving when I hadn't for several days. My run felt awful. I was stiff, my feet hurt, my knee hurt. I felt I'd forgotten how to run, which I attributed to not moving in several days. When that happens I just wait until mile 2, which is how long it takes to shake everything out when I haven't run for a bit. Only I never got to mile 2. Just after mile 1, my hip screamed at me. Not just a little complaint. A sharp pain. I wanted to run through it. I continued on my route, walking, for several hundred feet before thinking better of the idea. I do not want to sideline myself for the entire winter again, like I did last year. I will listen to my body, and maybe even give it what it wants.

I'm thinking what my body wants is core work. The piriformis is directly in line with my lower abs, which are weakened and abnormally tightened by surgery scars. I came home, stretched, and tested for both the 100 pushup challenge and 200 situp challenge. I've started these challenges more than once in the past, but never got very far. I figure if I just keep working at it, eventually I may actually finish.

That's my plan and I'm sticking to it. I'm going to add planks in there, too. I'll also continue to attempt shorter runs, until I can complete them pain free. Then we'll talk about long runs again.