Really running.

No fake stuff here. Last week I was really running -- stretching my mileage to include a 6-miler with friends.

It was terrific.

Check out the post-run smiles:

Karyn, Bridget and me after my 6 mile run -- my longest run since April!

It was so good to be back out running along the Hudson River. And 6 miles? Hey, that's no joke when you've been nursing an injury since the spring. The best part is that those 6 miles were pain free. Brilliant!

I only managed three runs for the week but they were quality runs. (Quality runs! Man, it feels good to write that . . .)

So far, this return-to-running thing is going well. I'm still icing and taking extra rest. I'm also seeing a chiropractor twice a week and I've been researching and talking to this chiropractor about having the Graston Technique done on my hip/thigh/hamstring. I think it could be very beneficial to me. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, I'm still grappling with my marathon/no marathon decision. I looked into the deferment policy a little more and I can fairly easily defer my registration to next year. I can also try to switch to the half marathon. With that additional option that I didn't know I had, I'm feeling more undecided than ever!

Well, that's not true. I've decided I am not running the marathon this October. I'll either defer completely to 2014 or try to switch to the half.

Decisions, decisions . . .

Since I've taken the marathon out of the equation, I do have a little more time to make my decision. So, I figure I'll procrastinate on that one for a little while!

I have four runs in mind for this week, including another 6 or maybe even 7 miles on Saturday. Woo hoo!

Have a great week, everyone. Thanks for stopping by!