It's happening

After last Monday's very encouraging 20 minutes on the road, I did 22 minutes on the road without any issues Wed. Then on Thurs I hit the trail and did 22 minutes again. Sat I did 24 minutes pushing Banjo, again on the trail, and I clocked the final mile at 8:00, not that pace matters or anything... but I might have gone a tad overboard-- I was a little sore afterwards-- but seriously, I'm just being hyper-vigilant here-- it wasn't bad.... Just 6 weeks ago I ran a slow 24 minutes on the treadmill as part of a walk/run workout and was very sore for days....that's progress. Then today I went on the roads and did 26 minutes/a little over 3 miles. So far so good.

This is what I've been waiting for-- a slow but steady increase in volume without significant soreness-- the next workout builds on the previous-- and the feeling that comes with improvement. It all feels good. And it feels like I've turned a corner. (grimacing as I type this.) I'm hoping in the next week or so I'll hit 30 minutes-- it's a psychologically satisfying number.... and it's within reach I'm pretty sure.

Yesterday (Sunday) I went out on the bike and did 17 miles through the Redbud Trail area. It's really hilly-- did lots of standing in the saddle and the hip got a good workout, which was the goal. It felt good afterwards, better than before, and such is the pattern with the bike lately-- it's weird that it would feel *better*, but that is encouraging too-- I remember doing the same ride a few weeks before surgery and being sore the next day. So at 5 1/2 months post-op, I'm noticing a net improvement pre-op. I'm happy that it's happening, finally.