Last week I was in Paris, eating way too much butter-filled food and doing no exercise whatsoever. The week before that I was moving - and I wasn't the hauler of boxes up and down stairs; I was the packer. Tonight was my first "work out" in the fitness centre at the new building and it did not go well. First, I hate the treadmills. I have no idea how to program them correctly. One machine I managed to get my age and weight into, but couldn't figure out how to have it timed for more than 20 minutes. The other was just a simple on/off machine. No data feedback like heart rate or calories burned, just elapsed time and current speed. I was cranky to begin with, so I was probably more displeased by the change that I would have been otherwise.
Another different feature in this new place it that the treadmills face large windows which at night (the time I like to run) function as ersatz mirrors. It was about two or three minutes in when I noticed in said mirrors that my right leg kicks way out. This is likely a by-product of the problems I have with right hip, namely that it slides out if its socket from time to time. I tried to correct this, to kick my right leg back behind my hip as my left leg does, and my hip did not appreciate this. It slid out of socket and I stumbled. I tried running again, correcting my leg again, but the same thing happened and I was in quite a bit of pain. I shut off the treadmill after only "running" for five minutes. Not my finest run.
A cursory search of the internet seems to suggest that strength training in my hips can help fix the problem so that's my plan of action for now, but the whole affair is really discouraging. That, combined with the weight gain from Paris, the stresses of moving, and trying to get all my visa stuff in order is making for a really tough month.
I feel like I'm failing. The beginning of April was when I promised myself I'd stop taking days off, and it's almost the end of May and I haven't run in three weeks. The half marathon is a little over three months away and I am nowhere close to being able to do it in less than three hours. I'm nowhere close to being able to do it at all, honestly. I can't sustain a running pace for 5km, let alone 21km. I don't think I'm going to be able to do this, but I know I'll hate myself if I quit.
105 days.
