Finding the Fun!

I realize I have been taking the "occassional blogger" title way too seriously since my last post. After my hip injury, I had to take a few weeks off. Turns out it was not actually from weak muscles but actually hip bursitis. With a couple of weeks of rest and a very slow ramp up back to mileage (an a shoe change)- I'm back out there and feeling great!

While I took the time off from running- I did a few things;

• I found pleasure in exercising in other ways- cycling, Arc Trainer, getting back into regular strength training.
• I got crazy about creating my race schedule for the year.
• As part of that planning though, I decided I wanted to have lots of FUN races intermixed with the more serious ones this year.

I have at least one race, per month, through the end of the year. At least 11 races planned- and that started on May 5 with the 500 Festival Finish Line 5K. It was definitely no PR, but with 94% humidity and still being cautious with my hip, I am pleased with a sub-38 minute finish.

Some of the really fun races I'm doing?

• May 12 (TOMORROW!!) - Dirty Girl Mud Run Indianapolis, a 5K obstacle/mudd course
• June 9 - Tap N Run Indianapolis, a 4K with a beer chug at each K and a full at the finish!
• July 29 - The Color Run Indianapolis, a 5K with blasts of color at each K- resulting in a rainbow of fun at the end!
• September 14-15 - Ragnar Napa! Can't wait to get my 3rd Ragnar Race in! I'm runner 12 this year!

I'll also be attempting my 2nd and 3rd half marathons this year- Aug 25 and Nov 3. In planning for this during my recovery, I also decided to do some shoe and form research. I was very drawn to Newton Running in my search. The concept is easy to understand and who doesn't love the fun colors?! I also was happy to see that they have a guidance trainer for those of us who overpronate. I was hesitant to move away from my Strong Stability style shoes but longed for something lighter and brighter. I landed on the Distance U model and placed my order.

I mean, who couldn't love those colors?

I've been running in them for about 3 weeks- pushed past the initial adjustment phase and ran my first 5k of the year in them. I haven't had ANY hip pain since starting to run with them. So far, I think they are amazing.

All of this renewed energy and planning for my running really helped me find the fun and the joy in it again. I had begun to feel very weighted by the monotony of training - I'm enjoying it so much- I might say that the injury may have been for the best!
Happy Running!