You're only as old as the man you feel...

Age is such a strange concept. I had a conversation with a woman whom I work with today and she was surprised to hear that I will be 49 in less than 3 months time. She was quite flattering, until her gob smacked realisation of, "God, you're older than my parents!" It was quite funny. To be honest, turning 49 in under 3 months is a surprise to me; in my head I'm still only 12. I got stuck there in 1974 and I haven't moved since.

Having not run since Monday in an effort to rest my hip, I did a short run tonight to test how it was feeling. To bring you up to speed, on last Sunday's run I developed a twinge at my right hip. When I ran again on Monday, that twinge turned into pain and so I've been swimming rather than running during the week. I haven't felt any pain at all whilst swimming or cycling; not even when walking. The only sensation I have of it is a slight twinge when going from a sitting position into a standing position.

I've thought about it quite a bit during the week and how I might have caused it:

• Is it my new running shoes? We'll they're nearly 4 weeks old and it doesn't really add up; I got used to them (and them me) within the first few days so it'd be a bit odd if they started causing trouble now.
• Have I turned awkwardly whilst running? Not to my knowledge and it didn't suddenly come on with a twang, such as you might expect if I'd turned awkwardly; in fact, it was quite a smooth and gradual onset.
• Have I been overdoing it? Well, I don't think so but what exactly is meant by "overdoing it"?
• Is it just the wear and tear on my body as I get older? Well, yes - I can't get away from the fact that I'm getting older and I'm less able to deal with life's knocks than a younger man. But again, it doesn't add up: I think I'm in pretty good nick for my (almost) 49 years on this planet - better than many younger men.
• Perhaps it's the product of a hyperactive imagination? Again, yes; I have one of those so who knows...

With all this mulling over in my head, gingerly, I set off on my run tonight; promising myself that if I felt pain I would stop running. After about 200m I could feel a faint, dull ache. It remained like that throughout the run: no more than a faint and dull ache. Barely perceptable, it didn't interfere with my run, although I have to admit that it was a shorter, nimbler and more careful run that I'd normally do.

Whatever it was, I hope that it means that this 12 year old is on the mend; I can really do without a visit to the physiotherapist.