Sat 8/8 - AM 60 minutes incl. 5 mile road race in 32:00

A demoralizing stink bomb. Found out much to my chagrin that no matter how much slow running I've been able to do over the past month or so, it doesn't mean I'm ready to run fast and I'm certainly not, not even close. Right adductor tight and sore from the beginning of the warmup, expecting some stiffness just because of the morning but it wasn't feeling any better even after 20+ minutes of warmup jogging. It proceeded to bother me every fucking step of the misbegotten attempt to race the hilly 5 mile course, even though I gave up on racing soon after 2 miles (reached in 11:10) and got a head start on the cool down from that point on. Looking back at the past 8 weeks of the log I was certainly kidding myself when it came to thinking that I had a chance in hell of running anything close to what I have in the past on this course. Injury issues notwithstanding there's the small matter of not being at all sharp or fit what with all the time off in May and June and the complete lack of sustained fast running since then. What was particularly appalling though was how sore both adductors felt afterwards--there's simply no strength whatsoever in my core right now, no ability at all to stand up to the rigors of more forceful contractions that come with running faster. The week leading up to the vacation I had the distinct feeling progress was being made. Certainly the vacation wasn't the best thing for what's been ailing me what with all the downhill pounding, long hikes, and lack of consistent stretching and strengthening. I had hoped getting back on the straight and narrow since returning would put things back in order but it obviously hasn't. Best case scenario is that I can keep jogging slow for simple base while putting more time and effort into strengthening the core, as such the swiss ball will be dusted off and put back into service. Of course even jogging the next few days may not be advisable after the damage done today, may need some time to cool off first. Ugh. Worst case is that I have to quit cold turkey again and take more time off for this exceedingly pernicious injury and its aftermath that just keeps lingering on and on and on and on and on. I had a feeling back in April that it would end up taking months to recover from the strained adductors, now I'm wondering if it might be years. Fall racing season is circling the drain as I write this, going going gone...