Running (Wk3) & Improved Recovery

A family of Bewick's Swans which we've been enjoying locally for a few weeks now. They're migrants from Siberia!

I was pretty active last week. Played table tennis for the first time in 6 months, on Wednesday evening, for an hour. That felt good and didn't aggravate the right hip problems in any significant way.

Friday at the gym, I felt a bit weak and feeble but stuck to as much of the routine as possible. That included the 2km run/walk on the treadmill (in 17 mins). I was slower (5km/hr walk; 9km/hr run) although I'm not sure if that was because the treadmill was calibrated differently or not. The right front of hip/lower ab pain was worse running, which was frustrating. I left out the leg work (leg press; leg extension; hip ab/ad/ext) and bicep curls and planks because a) the right hip/leg was worse and b) I'd run out of strength!

I took ibuprofen with lunch, which kept the pain/inflammation through the hips and pelvic muscles to a minimum.

The main issue of note was how much less tired/drained I felt in the afternoon. Also, on Saturday, I didn't feel 'hung over' with exhaustion. I felt quite refreshed (albeit tired). My recovery felt 50% better than before I started the running. I guess my body is finally able to metabolise the more strenuous exercise and harder impact. I suspect it's having a very good effect on my lymph system (i.e. Link and see here too, which references rebounding but which applies to running as well:Link). And, thus, all the muscle cells' waste products from the weights work are being flushed out more effectively, meaning I feel a whole lot better. I really have been amazed at the difference. I am desperately hoping that the right hip structures strengthen up and heal up enough over Christmas so that I can press on with the running. I really don't want to have to go back to my GP, get involved in physio again, and have another 6 months of rehab ahead of me before running is truly viable!

I had to take paracetamol as well for my right hip on Friday, before bed, in order to sleep. I didn't take any painkillers yesterday though and probably won't need to today. It's a case of wait and see how things are in a couple of weeks.....