Running.

"How poor they are that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?"William ShakespeareSo, I'm officially back to running. I've kept myself honest ~ sticking to my promises to never run more than 3 times a week and to never run more than 5 miles. It feels really good. This week I ran Monday and Tuesday pushing Jake, and again on Saturday afternoon sans stroller. Not keeping track of my mileage and pace is keeping me from getting competitive with myself, and I seem to pretty consistently be running about a 9:15 pace when running solo and about 9:30--9:45 when pushing Jake. My first two miles my hip is stiff and my gait has a bit of a hitch to it, but by mile 3 I feel almost "normal" again. I run 5 every time, I have a perfect loop from the house and another at a local park that I like, a perfect mix of hills and flats to keep it interesting.
Its been a full 16 months since I broke my hip. It still hurts. I am still considering surgery to have the hardware removed, as the protruding screw in my femur is truly something that will only "heal" by being removed. I don't know that I'm willing to do that while undergoing this yoga training......so I guess for now I'm just living with it. It isn't intolerable by any means, just kindov niggling and annoying. I have to just laugh at myself, looking back at the early posts after the break ~ I simply was so naive. I had NO idea how truly catastratophic my injury was. I was wondering if I was going to run my first mile, like, last August......and it was THIS July? I think before I dared even think about running even a mile. It was an incredibly humbling injury....for someone who is used to being in complete control of their body it was mentally and physically challenging. Having to rely on others for help was not easy for me, and the experience of living with chronic pain (which was pretty severe for that first year) changed me. Its actually what taught me just how critically important a role yoga can play in overall wellness. Without yoga in those early weeks I would have been totally fucking  crazy a lot more stressed out and depressed.

I'm in the process of changing up my workout routine again. I've cut out the pure barre classes ~ though they only use 3 lb weights I don't want to use any weights right now. I just feel like I build muscle too easily and any extra muscle limited my shoulder range of motion. Plus, lifting your own body weight (aka inversions and the like) is PLENTY of weightlifting for me! These days I run three times a week, do dance party once a week, zumba once a week, do the stairs once or twice a week,  and am doing yoga about 6 days a week. Its a perfect blend for me. Fairly low inpact, loads of yoga, a good mix of cardio, and a lot of fun.