I have been having some hip problems lately. It started about two months ago on a simple 14 mile long run. About mile 10 I started feeling this niggling little ache in my right hip. I pushed on through as it didn't seem horrible and finished the run. The next day I ran and it hurt again and then my left hip got in on the fun.
I decided to go see my awesome bone and joint doc and see what he said. He diagnosed me with bursitis of the hip. When I went to physical therapy I discovered my glute medius muscle (the one that is on the outside of your hip) was very weak. The first day my PT told me to do 2 sets of 20 side lying leg lifts and I could only do 10 and it was fatigued. You don't realize the places you are weak until you actually start isolating them. They had me do some exercises that were surprisingly hard for me like these things called Monster Walks in which I would have my feet in a circle tubing and then walk forward with legs going out and in. They also had me doing sideways squats where I again had the circle tubing around my feet and had to walk sideways with the resistance. Oh my god were they hard! It took me 2 weeks to get up the point where I could do one way down and one way back twice.
They gave me small resistance bands to use to do clamshells and side lying leg lifts at home. We foam rolled and stretched out my calves and they did some deep tissue massage by scraping my hip over and over again with a hard plastic thing that resembled an ice scraper.
I was getting better and then I ran a marathon. The marathon was fine with the hip...some pain but not bad enough to stop or anything just a little nagging thing I had to baby with a bit of pigeon stretches and things along the way. Then Monday night I got greedy. I went to run group and decided to HIT IT with a fast, hard run. Fast for me anyway....8:30 miles and such. And then I felt a wrenching pain my hip. Uh Oh!!
I went back to my doc and he said he would give me an MRI and make sure it was not a stress fracture. I was sweating it out for 3 days waiting on the results because he said if it was a fracture my 50K at the end of September was OUT...completely. He got back to me and said no fracture but it was a little tendonitis so keep up with PT for another couple of weeks and no running.
NO running???? Wow. What does a runner do when they are not running? I had been training pretty consistently now for over 2 years for marathons and ultras. Though I had given myself a "training break" for a month or so in the summer I was till hitting 25-30 mile weeks. Long runs on the weekends.
Now? Nothing. Last weekend for the first time in a VERY long time I did NOT run a long run. The weekend seemed to go on forever. I cleaned my house, read the sunday paper, went out for coffee, did my laundry, watched Netflix and still seemed to have way too much time on my hands. I got all my prep work done for my classes and clients which was good and used up some more of the time. But I was jealous of my friends out running the trails and such and wanted so badly to lace up and go.
But I am nothing if not obedient so I will wait it out. I am going to go aqua jogging tomorrow and maybe a couple of times next week, I rode my bike a lot yesterday and today got up and did my PT exercises and foam rolled. I believe Flatrock will go alright. I did just run a marathon and it is not my first Ultra plus maybe a couple more weeks of rest and cross training will be good for me. Work and strengthen other muscle groups. And when I start to run I will still have a good month left to train.
In the meantime.......I guess I will keep busy with work, books, art, alternative workouts and having some fun on the side.
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