More surprises

2019 has been a down and up and down year - it began with a "series of unfortunate events", with viruses, with a kidney stone, and with a XC skiing accident that pulled a bone fragment off my knee and took me out of action for a while. Late Spring, summer, and early Fall were all good, with the highlight being a successful completion of a long-time goal - the GraniteMan Challenge - in the Eastern Sierra in September. I had a long series of trail runs and beach runs and short pavement runs that gave me no pain in my psoas - was this long nagging problem finally whipped? Then I came down with a virus and joint pain that had me suspicious of Lyme Disease after cutting trees for days at Cabrillo Observatory, and my doc was also quite worried, so I got the full 3 week nuclear option of antibiotics (Lyme test was negative, though). Regardless, I must have had some sort of bacterial infection because within 2 days, my lethargy disappeared and I was eager to get out and run again, although my thumbs and ankle were still hurting. Not problem enough for running (yet). I was feeling quite optimistic for a good run at the Santa Cruz Turkey Trot 10K on Nov 23 a month ago. Alas, not to be. At mile 1 my psoas began hurting and quickly got worse. I stuck it out, out of pride more than anything else, and finished with a 1hr 13min time - not what I'd hoped, not what I'm aerobically capable of, surely. I hurt bad enough that it kept me from any running for 10 days, and even walking was very painful for the next week. But since then, I've been fine, and back to decent distances w/o hip pain. Doing adductor work, is all that I can attribute this to. I'm still trying to figure it all out. Last weekend I got in 15 miles of trail hiking and beach running at Pt Reyes, with Steve K, Mark and Leanne S from UCLA Sierra Club days long ago. Love running on Abbott's Lagoon beach! It got my run total close enough to my goal that I decided I should go for it after all (after giving up on it after the Turkey Trot debacle). I just need to average a 5K per day through 12/31. Then I'll have beaten last year's mileage. I've already, as of now, set a new PR for annual swim yardage. 206,800 yds, almost 120 miles in the water!