I am training for the Marine Corps Marathon, which will be held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My race day will be on October 18 and this was week 5 of training. And the entire week of training is going to be a saga about my hip, which has been rebelling lately.

Monday – Rest

Tuesday – 4 miles easy
My hip had started bothering me toward the end of last week’s training. It was still a little sore today, but not too bad.

Wednesday – 4 miles easy
This was a pleasant run, but my hip was still being bothersome. It felt alright during my run, but was more painful for several hours after my run.

Thursday – 5 mile workout
This workout was more dialed back from the other ones I’ve done recently. I did a long warm up followed by fifteen 30 second pickups with rest in between, and finished with a long cool down. My hip felt good during my run and wasn’t too painful afterwards, so that had me feeling optimistic.

Friday – Ab circuit; 30 minute stationary bike

Saturday – 5 miles easy
I did this run in the early afternoon, as the remnants of Hurricane Laura passed through our area. The rain was already done by the time I headed out, but we were still having plenty of gusty wind.

My hip felt good during my run. Just like earlier in the week, it was bothersome after my run but less so than in days past. I hoped that meant I would be able to get my long run in as planned.

Sunday – 19 mile long run
I had some concerns heading into this run with all the hip stuff, but my run ended up going really well. Much like last week’s long run, I felt strong throughout the run. I didn’t even feel that tired at the end, aside from just feeling the effects of being on my feet for about 4 hours.

As with most of my long runs, I had pickups ranging from 1 minute to 7 minutes long during the last 90 minutes. They’re challenging, but fun, and make the last part of my run fly by. I also enjoyed the cooler temperatures and cloud cover during this run.

As has been the pattern, my hip did bother me a little more after my run. But it wasn’t as bad as it has been and it calmed down within an hour or two. So for now I’ll probably keep cautiously moving forward with training.

Total miles: 37 miles
Weeks to MCM: 7