I'm still trying to figure out how to go forward with my running and am really leaning towards giving up racing for good.  I've been fighting this injury thing for close to two years now and quite frankly I am tired of it.  I've invested a lot of time in getting out there racing again and have very little to show for it.  My leg is better than it was but I still feel a weakness in my right hip.  What's going on is something chronic I think and in that case will it ever really go away?  I am getting to the point where I feel that it is no longer worth the investment to find out.  The other thing is that it just doesn't seem fair to do this to my wife anymore.  She doesn't run so running is time away from her, and every time I have a set back it affects my disposition (as much as I try to not let happen it does).  She puts up with it because it is a healthy habit, but I can run less and still be healthy and have more time to spend with her.

I'm not venting or whining about this, just laying it on the table.  I have actually been in a pretty decent mood as of late.  I have little idea of how much I have ran the last several weeks.  A handful of the runs are still on my Garmin waiting to be downloaded.  I've kind of let this OCD with running thing go indefinitely.

So there you have it.

Yeah, I think that I can probably run 30 or so miles a week.  That would give me more time for core work which is even better.  The reason I say no racing is because maybe I grew spoiled with my PR's when running more mileage.  If I cut back I would barely race if at all because I would see no point of it.

If I cut back I would run a lot more trails.  I really enjoy them and they don't see as hard on my body.  There are a lot of options around where I live so I could do quite a bit of exploring.

But yeah, it's got to be fun.  These last couple of years haven't been as fun as they should be and leads me to thinking that I need to change my focus.

 If I cut back I would barely race if at all because I would see no point of it.

 

Well I have to throw this out there.  Are races only to run PRs?  Dude I haven't run a PR in YEARS.  I've been racing several minutes slower at all distances.  Do I think back to the good old days when I watch guys who couldn't run a 16min 5K if their life depended on it run away from me at the gun?  Hell yes.  But there are still good things about races.  Find some trail series or something like that....things where PRs don't matter and you can't compare times anyways.  Run something muddy and dirty.

Dime-a-dozen street 5Ks get old, but there is a lot to enjoy in racing other than raw speed.  That's why I'm looking at ultras now, something new I did not max out when I was younger/faster.

With the reduced mileage maybe there are a couple of PRs to be had at the shorter distances by allowing you to run some faster workouts?  That 30 MPW might be enough for 5k-10K distances. I am not saying that mileage would be ideal by any stretch, but just enough to allow some workouts and races?

I knew that this was coming, and I do get the point.  The difference is that all of my lifetime PR's are fairly recent and should still be within my grasp.  For the short term I would want to avoid races so I can let this shit go.  Being around them would just piss me off.  Maybe in a couple of years I would change my tune, but for now I may need to go cold turkey.  I'll still be running.

This perspective I can totally understand.  It took not running at all from ~January 2009 thru July 2009 to get me over that and start fresh.  In retrospect that was probably not the right idea but given what I had going on at work at that time I could not deal with the stress of trying to run and reset my expectations too.

If you have weakness in your hip - Run or not run you need to get focussed on fixing it.  Unless you want to waddle like a 80 year old farmer @ 60 years old.

Life is too short to not be able to be active - It does not have to be running - But you are a physical spud.

After running so many miles - I do not think I could be a 20 MPW fitness jogger - I would have to take up something else. 

I would suggest figuring out how to fix yourself - Run for fitness for the next 6-12 months and enjoy extra time with your wife.  The urge will either come back ... or not.

Good luck

I'm still trying to figure out how to go forward with my running and am really leaning towards giving up racing for good.  I've been fighting this injury thing for close to two years now and quite frankly I am tired of it.  I've invested a lot of time in getting out there racing again and have very little to show for it.  My leg is better than it was but I still feel a weakness in my right hip.  What's going on is something chronic I think and in that case will it ever really go away?  I am getting to the point where I feel that it is no longer worth the investment to find out.  The other thing is that it just doesn't seem fair to do this to my wife anymore.  She doesn't run so running is time away from her, and every time I have a set back it affects my disposition (as much as I try to not let happen it does).  She puts up with it because it is a healthy habit, but I can run less and still be healthy and have more time to spend with her.

 

I'm not venting or whining about this, just laying it on the table.  I have actually been in a pretty decent mood as of late.  I have little idea of how much I have ran the last several weeks.  A handful of the runs are still on my Garmin waiting to be downloaded.  I've kind of let this OCD with running thing go indefinitely.

 

So there you have it.

What about moleskin on the blister?  The stuff is pretty amazing.  I don't know how well it would stay on while running, but I bet it would help out the rest of the time.

I thought you were supposed to cut a hole in the moleskin for the sore to breath. I figured that's why corn pads came that way. And yes, those moleskin corn pads don't move when running. The thin bandaid kind end up on my heel after a run. Yes, I have corns. There, I said it.