This past week was an amazing week to be Road Warrior.

Tuesday evening we had a road warrior dinner with our coaches.  It was really nice to spend some "non-running" time together.  These people are truly amazing!

Thursday evening we had our usual run with RunGR.  I was given the approval to run 4 min/walk 2 min for up to 24 minutes or until I had pain.  I was VERY nervous and started out very cautious.  I didn't want to push my body to the point of getting pain.  By the end of the first segment I was feeling really good.  And not just physically good, I felt like I was shaking the dust off of my body and my mind.  I looked at my watch and I was going quite a bit faster than my usual pace....with no pain.  I decided that I would continue to push my pace for the first mile.  I could always use the second mile to recover, if I needed it.  Guess what??  I didn't need to recover on my second mile.  I was feeling NO PAIN.

Saturday I ran at the Upward Spiral event (organized by a prior Road Warrior).  It's a 24 hour run/walk event that raises awareness for depression, bullying and suicide.  My plan was to do my run/walk intervals the same as Thursday night and then keep walking until I got to four miles.  My run/walk intervals felt really good.  I don't want to jinx it, but I felt like my "old runner-self".  The walking was good too.  I got to the four mile mark and my coaches were still running.  I road with them, so I figured that as long as they were running, I was going to walk.  Well...by the time they finished, I completed a 10k (6.1 miles).  Pretty good for someone that wasn't allowed to workout the week before.

Now, I know that I need to be careful as two good runs does not mean I am completely healed.  I am continuing my hip exercises and my physical therapy appointment.  To be honest, it just feels good knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.