Oh, the pain

I am beginning to think that 40 is not the new 30, at least not for me. I will be 38 in under two weeks, and this running is starting to take its toll on me. Seriously, how do runners run every day or most every day?!

When I was pretty much four paces into my run yesterday (which, to recap, begins uphill), my left thigh started hurting. Not a good sign, but the pain was not so bad that is stopped me. However, at the end of my two-plus mile run, I was practically trudging up the driveway to the school parking lot. I was not tired; I just hurt.

I have noticed since I started running again, I sometimes get a pain in my mid left side. It typically comes on soon after running and then lasts a day. It is mostly gone now. Unfortunately, the mild pains in my knee, thigh, calf and butt, in alternating legs, are still here.

Cardio-wise I feels as if I am really good shape. In fact, I think if I ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day, I could probably do it in not much over 30 minutes. But I am not sure my legs would cooperate. :-(

Part of me thinks it might be time to throw in the towel. I ran two days last week, and waited five days between my last run and yesterday's run. How much recovery time do I need? I see people much, much older than I running. How do they do it?

I hate to think of giving up, when I have made such progress. And honestly, I fear if I take a couple of weeks off, I might not start again. I wish I knew more about the human body, well, about my body, and what I am doing to it.