Switching to Virtual

I place my butt in the bed. Raise my right leg up to follow it. Then I swing my left leg up, over, and in. YEEEOOOWWWW! There's a sudden, unexpected, sharp pain in my left hip. It's around the front corner a bit, so you could almost say that it's the top of my thigh instead of my hip.

It probably shouldn't have been quite so unexpected. I experienced the same pain yesterday night as I got into bed. But I had stretched and strengthened the thing all day, and I thought it was mostly better. The pain was also more intense today. And this time, there was some anguish and disappointment rolled in with the sudden suffering.

What could cause such a thing? Darned if I know. I did have a sudden psoa problem whilst running in North Dakota a month ago. I recovered from that, but I don't know whether this is related; it's close to the same general area.

Two point six miles: that's the goal for today. It's ten percent of the distance I'm supposed to run at tomorrow's Northern Ohio Marathon. Not much of a test, but it's something. The pain I experienced last night has mostly subsided, but I'm running quite gingerly. The slow, easy forward motion of my legs is generally pain-free, but then  I step up onto a curb with a slight sideways motion. And there it is again: that same pain. That does it. The decision is made.

As soon as I get home, clean up, and eat breakfast, I change my marathon entry from in-person to virtual. It's a darn shame because:

• Virtual racing is not the same as in-person racing. Not even close.
• I had been looking forward to this race. I had that double-or-nothing beer bet with Deb Horn riding on it. Not to mention that I've enjoyed this race in past years.
• Also not to mention that this was going to be my "A" race for the entire year. That got changed a little when I "went for it" and ran hard at Boston 2.0 two weeks ago. Even so, I thought I might be able to approach that performance.
• I had been experiencing other aches and pains after Boston 2.0, but I thought I had them under control. Evidently not.

I will probably do my run at a track. It's easier to support myself and also easier to quit if something goes wrong. But of course, you ask, what could go wrong?