10K this weekend!

It's been about half a year since my hip replacement. (181 days)

goats munching grass near the bay

I've been running several months now ...started up in January a bit and now for the last couple of months have gotten up to 20-26 miles per week. This is not bad, but I need to get up to ~35 mpw for a decent marathon training.

I've been running in the 10:00 - 11:00 range and my HR is higher than it used to be for the same paceThis is due to my running economy being lower from not running for a few months and also because I'm about 5lbs heavier and of course because my right leg is still weak compared to my left leg.

But it's getting better week by week. I caught a bad cold which set me back about 10 days but now since then I have two 10 mile runs at about a 10:30 m/m pace and it was a push but felt really good to do 8).  Mostly I run 3 to 7 miles.

Other changes in my life: I am completely off caffeine. Gradually it has become more and more powerful to my body and jangling the heck out of me. My sleep in the early morning hours was becoming very fitful. My stomach also doesn't like it.  

So, it took a while but now the only caffeine I get is from GUs 8). The small amount there take when running doesn't seem to effect me.

I have a target first post-op marathon in sight now: Napa Valley Marathon. This is the first weekend in Feb and was where I had my first marathon! It's a beautiful run. It will be more than a year post-op: I'll have a couple more months to get ready. Need to do some half marathons (1-2) between now and then.

This Saturday is my first post-op race: the Los Altos Pathways 10k..it's a trail race and single track with lots of people, so hard to go really fast but thats okaaaay, I'm not really fast.

Today I did about 6 hill sprints and 3 miles...tomorrow I'll do an easy few and then I'll rest on Friday.

Wish me luck!