"Speed! podcast on cross trainer and the start of a Plan !

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I've hardly run at all for two weeks now. I haven't even kept on top of my hip exercises thanks to a nasty cough and cold. The only run I've done in the last two weeks was on Wednesday with a new localish running group - it's a very informal set-up so no pressure really, but I had to give up after about 1.5 miles because my cough got the better of me. My hip niggled slightly but not to the extent that I ended up limping the next day so that's an improvement but I felt so disheartened afterwards. I also noted that it's getting close to being glove-temperatures when running, even when it appears nice and sunny !

Yesterday, I decided to see if I could cancel my Birmingham half-marathon entry so I could stop fretting about being fit enough or not. I found that I didn't have that option and that I would have to accept it's better to lose £30 than aggravate my hip injury. Strangely, that sort of gave me a kick up the arse to do something about my fitness rather than feeling sorry for myself and supping hot toddies ! I started doing my hip exercises again yesterday evening and today we went to the gym for probably the first time in a month or more.

I decided to try the "speed" podcast on the cross trainer - the cross-trainer doesn't aggravate my hip as it is non-impact. Last time I attempted this, I gave up on the second fast interval. Today, in spite of my cough and streaming cold, I managed to complete the podcast. On the fast intervals, I was actually exceeding the 165 steps per minutes and had to slow myself down as the cross trainer started bumping around ! I felt a lot more positive and motivated after that and did some strength and balance exercises to follow up. I'm thinking of trying a gentle run later just to see how it goes, but that probably depends on how I feel after going out for Sunday lunch.

I'm think of regular sessions on the cross trainer using the "Speed" and "Stamina" podcasts and gradually building up the runs, depending on how my hip continues to improve. I don't have enough time to build up to running all of the half marathon (only 4 weeks to go) but I'm hoping it will be possible to approach it with a run/walk plan without causing any injury. I'll probably invest in some compression shorts for a bit of extra support.

Fingers crossed........