Running (Wk4) & The New Year

A female Bullfinch. Pretty scarce in the area so nice to get a shot.

I'm not really in the right frame of mind to post an entry but I'm not sure when I'll really feel like it, so here we are. Generally feeling pretty tired of the hard work and slow progress and the years of managing pain and injuries. I know there has been progress. I am fitter and stronger but the returns seem so small compared the amount of effort I put in. Today, I just feel drained.

I did some good walks over Christmas. 3 miles Christmas eve, 4 miles Christmas Day and then another 4 miles the day after Boxing Day. I was good for nothing on Boxing Day - utterly drained - just wanted to sleep. The usual problems with the hip connections surfaced esp right hand side. But, overall, I did well.

I got back to the gym on Friday. Managed to run/walk 2km in 14:25 mins and it felt good. The right hip/glute pain kicked in the afternoon and I've been managing it since. Ibuprofen + paracetamol + icing my butt! My calves were stiff the day after which I think is a good sign. The rest of the gym routine was as usual (leaving out the leg press/extensions; hip ad/ab/ext; & step ups).

I guess I've been feeling kinda rubbish due to problems with my gut. I sometimes get gut spasms/pain on the left hand side which seem to irritate the vagus nerve and make me feel very faint/unwell. There's nothing I can do to get rid of it. I just have to wait for my gut to settle down. In the meantime, I look deathly pale and feel almost as bad!

Maybe the dark days aren't helping.

I guess the aim for this year is to sort out or get rid of the right hip problems. That is top priority. Ultimately, I would really like to be able to enter a 5km run but that's not going to be possible until the hip issue is resolved. So, it's going to be another year of gym work with the occasional swim thrown in, I think. Dear God, please let my health (both physical and mental) really stabilise and resolve this year...