Sat 2006 Nov 25, 5 mi, 27 deg

St Croix Valley Runners 5 mi, pace 9:09. What a beautiful morning. Cool and crisp with the sun rising through streaks of clouds. And after two Thanksgiving dinners I needed to run! No pain during the run, I felt strong. Even doubled back once to join a couple of guys behind me. We had A&S, George, Dave, Tom, Al, Gauss, & Paul. Nice group.

But I have a minor concern. Or is it not so minor? After taking 18 days off from running, I still feel the hamstring after the run, going up stairs, or as I sit down. Both Thursday and today. Not during the run, but later. Is this a normal part of the healing process, or am I just starting to re-injure it? Should I take more time off, or start a therapy program, or just run until it pops again and then take time off? Curious minds want to KNOW! Sigh. For now here's the plan, subject to better advice: (1) Keep running slowly and build up both the weekly mileage and long run conservatively; (2) Do stretches more religiously; (3) Start doing standing knee bends; (4) More self-massage on the affected hamstring muscles. Let's see how that goes. At bottom: I'm alive, feeling great, life is good. All else is just noise.