Yesterday's gym session, combined with copious amounts of ibuprophen and a good Sticking, meant that I was only in mild discomfort from my hip this morning. I thought that it was worth it to try running, especially as Bassman offered to wait by the phone in case I seized up half-way and had to call for an emergency Mondeo.
I set off at a very slow jog, and was relieved that what I felt was discomfort, not pain. As Jan the Physio once said, 'If it's just discomfort, stop being a baby and run through it.' So I did.
For the first three miles, I walked occasionally when my calves felt too tight, when my Achilles tendon grumbled, and when I felt that my hip deserved a break. And if I'm honest, my calves were causing me more grief than my hip. By three miles, as always happens, I finally felt warmed up. My calves and Achilles tendon relaxed and, without trying, my speed increased. This resulted in an escalation of ouchiness from my hip - teetering on the pain edge, in fact - but I wanted to do the five miles that I should have done yesterday so I ignored it and carried on.
The last two miles felt great (aside from my hip, but the pain wasn't constant and sometimes it disappeared altogether). And when I entered the data from this run into MapMyRun, I was thrilled to find that - even with all of the walking and the 12-minute mile start - this run was only 6 seconds slower than my fastest one on this route.
Not bad for someone who, only yesteday, was facing a hip replacement.
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