Running in the Rockies

Beautiful morning. I went walking on a different route and tried to run as much as possible (which is not much since I'm still just starting). Last Saturday, I was looking at the races in this area and I've chosen my first race: there's a 5K in 4 weeks that I would like to compete in and use that time as a benchmark. It's so interesting to have a goal! Instead of just running for an ambiguous "be healthy" goal; knowing that I need to be able to run a 5k in a few weeks makes me MUCH more motivated to get out the door and really train. I'm excited! This will be my first time to compete - EVER (in a sport - I've done musical competitions before).

My hip has been really hurting after my last run. It's actually been hurting since I first starting exercising 2 weeks ago, but it got much worse when I started running more. I called my brother-in-law, James, and he recommended to take it easy, get good shoes, and go to the chiropractor. So, I went on the elliptical this morning for half an hour (thus, I estimated about a mile's worth of running). My hip is feeling better today. I have an appt on Friday for a chiropractic adjustment; it actually makes sense that my hip is out of alignment. All during my last trimester, I had to go to the chiropractor all the time because my tailbone and low back were causing me major problems. I don't want to chicken out on my 5K race, but I also don't want to get an injury that will make it impossible to run at all. Ugh.

The elliptical again - half an hour with varying levels of resistance. This is helping with my hip, but I wish I could get outside and run instead. The week is almost over and I had hoped to be able to run half a mile without walking by the end of my first week of training. Ugh. The best laid plans. . .

Well, I finally bought real running shoes yesterday and I also went to the chiropractor. He actually gasped a little and said, "No wonder you've been in pain." When laying on my stomach, my feet were a full inch different in length. I also tried something this morning that a friend told me about; it's called Ceragem and it's a therapeutic massage table that utilizes jade rolling stones that emit far infrared heat. So, you go to the store and they have 20 of these tables that people can just try for 40 minutes for FREE! You can come back as often as you want - in fact they encourage you to. I guess after using it, people love it so much, they're willing to spend the thousands to buy it. I know two people in my ward that have one (one has it for her Fibromyalsia). The salesperson said it might hurt the first time if my back is not doing great - and it did. But, afterwards, I felt more relaxed than a massage therapist - and I felt . . . elongated. Does that make sense. I felt like I was standing taller. Anyway, it was very interesting. I think I'll try it 2 more times next week and if I don't notice a difference, at least I won't be out any money!!

My walk/jog/run felt good. It was nice to have better shoes that didn't clomp. I tried jogging at a walking pace like Lybi recommends and I was able to do that for about half the time (not all together). I even tried hard to continue jogging UP the hills thanks to Brent's Rools. Thanks for the push, Brent! Hopefully my hip won't be hurting me tomorrow. We'll see . . .