more fit than ever

okay, maybe that's a little exaggeration, but in light of recent injuries, that's how i felt!

so today's work out was a fit test. idea is we do the test this week, and then again after 6 weeks of hill training (ug. 6 weeks of hill training, i'm already scared.) anyway, for the beginners, we were doing 1 mile warm up, then running a mile around an effort level of 3.5 (you remember those right?), 1 mile recovery, then one more e3.5 mile.

i was nervous all day. my hip had been feeling much better monday, but i made a mistake on tuesday. on tuesday i wore some very sexy but not so sensible high-heeled boots. probably not the brightest move. now you're going to have to forgive me for a moment while i mention the word "outfit" but the sassy boots looked damn good with my outfit and they are not uncomfortable boots.

of course, what the female audience knows that the males do not, is that when you walk in heels you do walk and balance and use different muscles than when you are in flops, sneakers or flats. and depending on the style & height of the shoe, the compensation is different. as a girl, you don't *think* about this when you walk in them because you are very accustomed to the high-heeled shoe stroll and the knee-high boot strut. And thus i donned the boots and went out for the typical walk-filled day. by the end of the day, the strain of the boot compensation had not only irritated my hip but cause a nice ache in my lower back above the hip. i chastised myself for not being more sensible, popped more advil and hoped for a miraculous recovery.

good news was that i was walking normally this morning but it still hurt and wasn't feeling quite right. i stretched all day, and while i didn't improve, i didn't get any worse. i left work early because today's activity was finally going to force me to buy a watch. i was going for cheap, and planned on getting a duane reade special somewhere close to the park. sure enough, there was a cvs right off the train and i managed to find a non-offensive stop watch for just 9.99. sweet. not so sweet was almost getting nailed by a car as i tried to figure it out how it worked on the way to the store but alls well that ends well, yes?

the girl that talked today before practice was so sad. i couldn't hear exactly the timing of the beginning of the story, but it seemed that her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer pretty recently. at first they thought that they got it all through chemo and a mastectomy, but after a bit her mom fell and broke something and when she went back to the hospital something was wrong. they found the cancer had spread and was in her shoulder and her lungs. the girl joined tnt and she said it was really all she could focus on, running, trying to be strong. two weeks ago, her mom died. and here she was, at practice, getting ready to run, and not only that but telling us about it. the strength that people have is truly amazing and it made me feel like an idiot for all the whining i did all weekend. we all had tears in our eyes and a little more determination.

handsome was off with the intermediates and so i found charlotte and we started the 1 mile warm up. we went slowly and i felt okay but as the mile went on i could definitely feel it tightening. it was not however painful so much that i was "running funny" as i call it. once we got to the end of the warm up, we were going out in groups every :30 seconds. we got in the slower end of the line. i was stretching and trying to psyche myself up. charlotte was being supportive. the line was moving too fast and before we knew it, it was our turn. with a set jaw, we got ready...

...and we were off! it was an aggressive pace but i was okay. not completely pain free, but like i said, okay. we were passed by some people, and then by the middle we were passing. we were going at a good pace and we were very very consistent the whole time, which i think is probably good. soon i was heavy breathing, conversation was much less but the windedness was absolutely taking my mind of the aching hip. the finish line approached finally and...9 minutes 15 seconds!!

i don't think i have ever ever run a mile that fast. not even in those dumb fit tests back in jr. high. i felt winded and happy and suddenly nauseous all at once. a little water helped that, i stretched...and then we had to turn around and do it again.

now the pain was on. i couldn't run then so we walked a bit and then i decided to try again. still hurting but managable. we jogged back up and i told char to go ahead on her own because i was probably going to be a great deal slower. i stretched my hip for a minute or so, and then i was off again.

the second time was harder for sure. i think i was favoring the left leg a little but after a few minutes, i got used to the sort of pain it was and i put my stubborn hat on. i wasn't going as fast as we had, but i was going faster than i usually ran and the effort was there so i didn't push any harder. at the end, i came in at 10 minutes 25 seconds which was not terrible considering once i stopped i was pretty much in limp mode. 4 miles and 1 mile at my fastest time ever. and i was hurt. which means, ladies and gents, that when i'm completely better, i'm going to go even faster!

but in the meanwhile...i've got an ice pack on my hip and am about to wash down some advil. tonight though, that is a.o.k.

today's mileage: 4.0
total mileage: 85.5