Far from 7th Heaven

I had a 7 mile run planned for Saturday. I got all ready and managed to psych myself up even though it was the last thing I wanted to do after my busy stretch of house-sitting, traveling to and from Omaha, and working 3 shifts in a row.

The first 3-4 miles were okay, besides the fact that I was going a full minute/mile slower than I did in my 10k the week before. But I think I was unknowingly setting myself up for injury.

You see, I've had a side-stitch for about a week now. It's been waking me up in pain at about 5am most days, but once I'm awake it hurts the least when I'm hungry right before a meal, and hurts the most about an hour after eating. And, as I found out, it hurts more when I'm running. It hurt so much that I was running hunched over without even thinking about it. It hurt so much that it caused me to hurt my left back, hip, and knee by running with bad form.

At 6.4 miles, I literally could not run another step or something inside my left knee was going to snap. I walked the rest of the way home, slowly and dejectedly.

Part of me knows that 6.4 miles is absolutely amazing and nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, I'm darn proud I made it that far! But I'm mad at myself because my back and knee still hurt. And my side-stitch hurts just enough that I really don't want to go through that all again on a run today.

I've been putting my run off all day, and I can't decide if my back of my side hurts more.

BAH. Sob-fest over. Sorry for whining. I'm going to cover 3-4 miles somehow today, be it running or walking. Anything is better than nothing. It's a beautiful day. I am just waiting for the cookie dough I  ate to digest and the Advil I took to kick in. Then it's onward with half-marathon training!