The mistake that led to being sidelined was twofold. First, I abruptly changed my training routine from running just for time to running for mileage. This led me to doing too much, too fast, which is a pitfall that becomes the downfall of many beginning runners. As I start from the drawing board, I am going to focus on running for time and will leave running for mileage until I am actually training for something.
Mistake number two was not watching what I eat in the belief exercise alone was all I needed to lose weight and get healthy. I am not sure if this was a cause of my injury, but until someone more knowledgeable than myself tells me otherwise I am going to think so.
For Christmas I got a new pair of Mountain Masochists from Montrail. They were way to narrow in the toebox so I exchanged them a pair of Salomon XA Pro 3d Ultras (perhaps the longest shoe name ever). My brother-in-law recommended them and so far taking advice was a good thing. So far the Salomons have been great and I am considering buying another pair once my Brooks Adrenalines wear out.
Though I said the cause of my injuries was twofold, I realized there was a third clue to the cause of my hip injury, not enough cross-training. Running is my favorite form of exercise. However, for a beginner like me, it is not something to be done everyday. From the little I have read it is a good idea to take a week or so off to do things like cycle, elliptical, or swim to allow the body time to recover from the pounding and stress running places on the body. Speaking of pounding, now that I am the proud owner of a great pair of trail running shoes, I am planning on spending more time on the trails near my home in the hopes that my body will thank me for running on these softer surfaces(Thank you this year's mild Utah Winter).
I have dreams of doing marathon and beyond distances but for now have to focus on building a base, eating right to lose weight, and training at a pace that will allow this body of mine to adapt to the stresses of moving being overweight to in-shape. I am excited as ever to run and hope to make it healthy to at least one starting line in 2012.
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| My new Salomons. Not to be confused with Saruman :-) |
