Here we go again

 Remember a few weeks ago when I had that weird ankle injury?  Well, thankfully it went away by my next run.  Phew!  I'm really not able to handle a serious injury right now, not as I'm getting closer to the Philly Half Marathon (10 weeks!).

Yea, wouldn't life be nice if injuries didn't occur while training?  I woke up Saturday morning with the backs of both of my thighs sore, which would be the hamstrings (see above).  They just did not feel good.  It seemed odd that it was both, but at least there's consistency.  I headed out for my run anyway.  I parked the car, stretched, and started running.  It was not pleasant.  I had an 8 mile run scheduled and did my legs hurt. Just hurt.  It sucked.  All I could think about was how painful the next 2 hours were going to be.  And let me tell you, they were.

The bigger issue?  By the time I hit mile 3.5, my left hip started hurting.  Apparently, in order to keep my thighs from hurting, some part of my brain/body decided to compensate for the pain.  I don't know what it did, but whatever it was involved my left hip.  And it hurt.  I stopped and tried to stretch it out.  I thought maybe if I stop and stretch with the muscles warmed up it might work out the kinks.  It worked...sorta.  For the next mile or so it wasn't too bad.  The thighs weren't thrilled with me, but the hip stopped hurting.  I thought I might make it through.

I was wrong.  By the time I got to mile 5, the hip pain was back.  It really did not like me.  I stopped again to stretch.  This time it really didn't help.  I (sadly) thought, it's only 3 more miles, I could gut them out.  I hit 5.5 miles and realized that was a really dumb idea.  See, I have a history of quitting when the going gets tough and to me, this was tough.  I didn't want to be a quitter.  But, I thought about it and realized, this may not just be me quitting.  This is me injured, in pain.  Do what's best for your body.  So, at 5.65 miles I decided to quit. 

Of course, I was far from my car at that point.  I would have to walk back.  And I did.  With a little running mixed in.  I know. I know. Why?  Because while I knew my run ended up having WAY more walking in it than I wanted, I didn't want the last mile to be all walking.  So, I would run until my hip hurt and then stop.  I did two stints of running mixed with walking.  And in the end, I run/walk 6.5 miles. 

And today?  The hamstrings still hurt.  The left hip still hurts.  It's not pleasant.  I'm not happy about it.  It hurts to walk.  And right now, as I sit here typing, I can feel a slight pain in the hamstrings.  Walking isn't fun.  Hoping that it's nothing serious.  The positive is this week's long run is 4 miles.  I debated trying to make up the 8 miles, but decided against it.  I'm going to stick with the plan and go for 4 miles this coming Saturday...if the hamstrings are up to it.