THESE FEET WERE MADE FOR RUNNING.

After nearly two weeks of working out inside and sweating to the oldies, I decided it was time to get out and hit the pavement again. When its 70 degrees in November, its a waste of good weather staying inside!

For the most part, my hip/back are feeling better, but I've still got a ways to go and have actually done some pretty hard spin classes and elliptical workouts, trying to achieve 75-80% max heartate each time to maintain a decent amount of fitness.

So today, out the door I went at lunch time. Even with the intensity of the workouts I have been doing these last two weeks, I still couldn't believe how easily I got out of breath! It doesn't take long to become a slug again!

But what a beautiful day! It was one of those days that remind you of late September/early October, warm and hazy, with the fall colors and the sky muted slightly from the humidity. I've actually got roses blooming at home right now, and some of the mum plants have finally come into bloom.

At this point, I'm going to continue with some shorter runs and the spin classes and supplement with the elliptical to get some more high intensity training. I've also gone back to doing more weights and backed off some on the pushups. The yoga instructor I've been using lately pointed something out that I can't help but wonder is related to the back problem: if you aren't strong enough to hold yourself in plank position for a minute or more or do a number of regular pushups, you are at risk of injurying the lower back. That sounds like my problem right there. I do remember when the pushup challenge was nearing its highest intensity how much my lower back ached doing them, so I've gone back to the modified ones for a while at least. Part of the weakness could also be because of the soreness, and I have noticed with the yoga poses I do not have the hip strength needed for some of the poses right now because of the weakness/soreness. So I'm going to back off on that some too. Not that I'm disappointed there. I can't believe how much I dislike yoga! Maybe it has to grow on you, but after 4 weeks, I am disliking it more than I did when I started, and by the time I get home from the hour long classes, I am totally wiped out. Who knew yoga could be that intense??

Probably no races this month. I haven't signed up for anything with the uncertainty of the back issue, and sad to say the weather will probably change for the worse soon, so maybe its a good idea to lay low for a while and rebuild the base starting again in January. By then things should either be cleared up or I'll know if I'm in for a long recovery.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weather!