Well....this was probably not the wisest decision of my running career but it turned out to be one of the most rewarding. I have been rehabing my back and hip for the better part of two weeks now with only some very light running and lots of walking and stretching. Started todays run with the intention of going until my body said to stop and then grab the bike and go for a ride. Well long story short, I decided to finish the whole 20 mile run. This is my first 20 miler of my running career that I was able to finish relatively pain free. My only previous 20 miler was last year in preparation for the SGM and when I finished I was in severe pain with shin and knee problems and never fully recovered in time to run a good SGM. This year I was wiped out physically but the rest of my body seemed to be in good working order. Calfs...good....knees....good....back....fair.....hip.....fair. I am writing this on sunday and things are feeling pretty good. I will probably continue on with the training program tomorrow depending on how I feel in the morning but all speed, interval and hill work will be out. I will be focusing only on base miles and staying injury free from here on out. I have borrowed an inversion table from a member or our ward and have used it for the last couple of day and it really seems to be helping so far with the aches and pains. My goal with borrowing first is to determine whether to purchase one for myself. Based on my experience so far I would say a purchase is in my future. Hopefully the next 7 weeks will go smooth and I can stay injury free to run a respectable time at SGM. Oh....the run.....well my wife and I started out really well keeping the pace in the 8:45-8:50 range and then due to my lack of planning on Friday I think a bit of dehydration set in for me and I struggled the last 3-4 miles but ended up maintaining and average pace of 9:03. Not bad for two weeks off and I'll take it considering my current level of fitness.
Time: 9:03/mile | 