Hard times on the short track

Sounds about right

Today's run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

My current level of fitness is probably at its lowest since early 2010. Back then I was recovering from a bout of pneumonia that had me in the hospital for a week. My time away from running (after our treadmill failed) had an effect on my conditioning. More concerning is an injury that surfaced in early December. Things improved a lot in January but I made the mistake of pushing hard on a run one day and that re-aggravated the problem. Three weeks working out exclusively on the elliptical got me back in the game.

Things started going downhill after we got our new treadmill. I had three decent runs and concluded that I was back on track. I was having a great run last Friday and decided to step up my speed. That was a big mistake. I suddenly felt searing pain in the area between my glute and hamstring, Even though I stopped right away, the damage was done. The closest thing that I've found online that describes it is something called hamstring tendinopathy.

I was back to the treadmill on Saturday but I struggled to the point where I had to stop. I completed my workout on the elliptical and didn't even attempt to run on Sunday (elliptical again). I hoped that a three day layoff since Sunday would allow sufficient time to recover. I felt okay at the start, even though the modest speed I'd set felt as fast as race pace.

Despite the challenge, I was determined to see this run all the way through. The pain started increasing after ten minutes and I decided I'd deal with it for as long as I could stand it. I hoped I wasn't doing any damage and felt okay when I finally finished, but I've been very sore all day. I'll give it another try tomorrow but I won't be a hero. Reducing speed seems to keep the pain in check so I'll see how it goes.