Hello from Flagstaff.
Training this weekend will go a little different from prior excursion weekends. While I’m largely feeling better, I still feel a bit of soreness in my groin and stiffness in my hamstring, so I still need to take it easy with running until those heal up completely.
Yesterday during work breaks I found that run/walking 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off was do-able with minimal to no pain or distress. So I decided this weekend’s plan would be to do a shorter out and back test run with this run/walk split today, then if all was okay to attempt a longer run/walk (10K, maybe farther) on Sunday morning. I would also cross-train later today on the elliptical (as they have a gym in town) to make sure this was to some extent a long workout day.
With my compression shorts and brace on (I had skipped them Thursday and Friday), I headed out this morning shortly before 6am and ran/walked up Switzer Canyon to get breakfast and coffee, then ran back the way I came, a bit over 5K.
I found I felt a bit of pain (consistent with the pain I felt this morning) running on the uphill to breakfast, but didn’t feel it nearly as much coming back on the downhill. This is consistent with downhill running focusing on the quads, which for me aren’t hurt, and uphill running focused more in the glutes and hamstrings (the latter of which are). It also felt a lot better after I finished the initial run/walk to breakfast, ate, and then started again more warmed up.
I walked out to Downtown for coffee afterward, and we’ll see how things feel over the rest of the weekend. I’m hoping that regular pain-free/minimal light work and circulation through the fascia and legs will spur healing in the affected areas. I feel like that approach has been driving accelerated progress in healing up.