The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak

In between seasons at the moment (5 weeks before Summer season kick-off!) and usually, there's not much to report--I usually spend the off-season cross-training to my heart's content (and times neglecting the running a little too much, thus causing myself to start from square one every summer) and resting up for the grueling, but fun, training coming down the pike.

This time around, I was determined to keep up my running stamina, committing to run at least 2x a week and running at least 6-8 miles on the weekends. But what's that they say about the best laid plans of mice and men?

I got injured in the second week of my off-season. It was a pesky hip flexor injury that led to pain in the hip, upper glute, and left side of my lower back--just as lovely as it sounds, by the way. As a result, I was sidelined for a little over two weeks and for a week, was not allowed to do anything weight bearing, the equivalent of asking a race horse to please stay in the stable and contain itself. At this point, it should be noted that I WASN'T EVEN RUNNING AT THE TIME I GOT INJURED. Yes, I can't even chalk it up as a battle scar.

So what was I doing that led to this, you ask? Nothing. Or at least, I still haven't been able to figure out what I did to trigger it--and neither has my physical therapist, so it defies professional assessment, apparently. It might have been due to the Napa Marathon, but we haven't been able to really prove that one way or the other. The only thing I know is that one day on the bus, while vacationing in Spain, I felt a sharp shooting pain when I got up out of my seat, a pain that got even worse and radiated to my side when I stepped off the bus and set foot on the ground.

Fast forward six weeks later and I am FINALLY feeling better. Thanks to a great physical therapist well-versed in the art of torture--oops, I mean, sports massage therapy, I was able to get on the road to recovery and am slowly but surely getting to where I was when I ended my season.

It wasn't the off-season I was hoping for, and yes, I will probably have to start from square one again come June 2, but with any luck I will be 100% healthy and get back to where I left off relatively quickly.

If not, well, I do have 5 1/2 months to get there ;).

P.S. Want to help me in my quest to rid the world of cancer? Here's your chance! As little as $1 can help fund incredible programs and research from the country's leading nonprofit devoted to curing Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma. Give today: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/NikeSF09/jenibarra

Even better, join the team! Contact Simone Sarracino at simone.sarracino@lls.org to find out how to join the Summer South Bay Run team (the bestest run team on the planet, natch :)).