Starting Over: Day One "HERE WE GO!!"

A lot to catch up on since my last post 4 months ago.

1)  I successfully completed my Half Marathon in June with a combination of running and walking and still I finished faster than expected.

2) We put our home up for sale shortly after and it took a lot of time in upgrades, repairs and showings.

3) We moved to an older home in the Arizona high desert. The elevation here is 3,783 ft. That is 3,465 feet HIGHER than our previous home. Also, our daytime temps run between 95-99 almost daily. We have had a lot of thunderstorm activity.

4) Other than a few quarter to half mile jaunts with my dog, I haven't run since June 15th.

5) I weigh less than I did in April, and only less than half of one pound more than I did New Years this year.  I weighed this much when I did my Half Marathon in June, but I FEEL like a blob.

6) I weigh 20 pounds more than my training peak (Oct 2012) and my measurements between then and now are hugely different. Hugely being the key word. 

I AM TIRED OF FEELING LIKE THIS

I WANT TO FEEL STRONG AGAIN.

My challenges are starting over while having lower back and left hip pain. I have an appointment with a sports doctor/ortho guy next week. SO! Until then....I will walk.....mostly.


TODAY:

I put on a backpack filled with a large bottle of water, a handgun, cell phone, tissues, first aid kit, and a camera. I grabbed a spiked hiking stick and ventured to the tall hill around the corner from me.

TONS of wildflowers all over the valley and my allergies never flinched. I love it here.

Some lower back pain on the steeper parts. Slowed down to a crawl on the steepest inclines and made a point of standing straight when that occurred. I did a LOT of stretching when I got home. It helped.

WEATHER:  Late start because I waited for an electrical storm 18 miles away to pass.

TEMPS: 81

WINDS: 23 mph with gusts of 35 mph (RESISTANCE TRAINING!!!)

PACE: I ran about a half mile and walked paces showing 17's here and there, but, I forgot to stop the watch when two dogs approached me for a visit. The pace including that was 21:08

AFTERWARDS: I felt great and hadn't realized how much I missed that post workout feeling.

View on my way up the hill....valley a blaze of yellow wildflowers

Steady incline up is steeper than it looks

Approaching the very top (FINALLY!)

View of the hill I live on, on my way back home.

More scenery on the way down

Still heading downward, enjoying wildflowers before...

I am headed back up MY own hill

So incredibly steep here. 

Steeper even than Andresen in WA.

Two new friends came up from behind me (out of NO where) to introduce themselves (SCARED ME AT FIRST!!) and get tons of hugs and loving.
The tan one took me all the way home then headed back.