Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Not this kind of thing again

I have a confession to make. I'm dealing with yet another injury. Last year it was an abdominal strain, a calf strain, and finally a stress fracture in my foot that ended my running year. This year I've spent months recovering from old injuries and now I have a new one. This one is in my right hip. At least I think it's my hip. It's not debilitating (yet), and I was able to knock out three solid miles yesterday after a week of very light running -- 3-4 miles total -- and was reasonably comfortable doing it, but today my hip (or hip-like area) is sore.


My discomfort is within the shaded area, and the more I think about it the more I think I have a pulled/strained/hurt ligament and not a problem with the joint itself.
It kind of makes me feel a little better to think this, although I probably shouldn't.

This wouldn't be a killer for my running season generally, but I have a 10K race this weekend and a 5K/half marathon "double" weekend in a few weeks. I've already come to terms with this weekend's 10K being my slowest ever, and now I have to figure out how to finish a half marathon without doing any long runs in the last few weeks before the race (maybe).

I always figured that if I lost my running mojo it would be due to ankle, knee, or back problems. I never though it'd be a strain here, a strain there, and now my hip. I've never gotten any kind of negative feedback from my hips before. They were always there and did what they were supposed to do without nary a peep. And now? Sigh.

The plan is to take today off after yesterday's 3 miles. Then 4.5 miles tomorrow, and then 10K Saturday. I'm supposed to knock out 11 on Sunday. Yeah, we'll see about that.

Maybe I'll just have to get used to the idea of being a back of the packer after being solidly in the middle of the pack (or slightly above!) my whole running life, but I have been eyeballing the lap pool at my gym a little harder lately and thinking about how non impact it is in there, I have to admit.

Even worse, I'm considering trying... yoga.

The 15 year-old me would hate the 42 year-old me, for sure.
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9 comments:

  1. Sorry, I deleted the last comment because I wasn't sure you would know who left it. Anyway, my comment was that I wish you were closer so I could acupuncture you. I think it is all connected. With some testing, we could figure out where it is all stemming from.

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    1. Considering I only know one acupuncturist I think I would have figured out who wrote your comment, and for the record it's your fault I'm not closer! ;-)

      You're right though. I think I'm all out of whack from adjusting my gait over the last year or so due to compensating for this ache and that pain on either side of my body. Could probably use a chiropractor at least to straighten my bones out some. Or can you suggest how to find a good acupuncturist in my area? I have no idea what to look for.

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    2. I will do some searching. I want to send you to a good orthopedic acupuncturist who has some training in Dr. Yoshito's meridian tests. The beauty of this system is that it test range of motion to determine where the original issue started.

      It is expensive but I would suggest you look into rolfing. It is a type of massage focused on the structural integration of the body. It reorganizes the fascia so that your gait returns to normal. Rolfers are easy to find but I work for one so let me see if she knows anyone in Maryland.

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  2. I've lived with sciatica for years, maybe even decades now... it's a pain in the ass, literally - HA! Nothing really fixes it... although I had a fabulous massage therapist who used to be able to knock it out for a few weeks at a time. There are several stretches for it and that's about it. You'll have to do them before getting out of bed every morning and there's a hard ball thing that you can roll on and work it out. I've added those stretches to my neck, calf, and foot stretches... getting old sucks :) My 18 year old self hates the shit out of my 38 year old self!!

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  3. Hang in there Brett! It's been that kind of spring for me as well. Nagging calf issues and trying to get my miles in for Frederick don't mix.

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    1. Hey, we can hobble through 13.1 like a couple of geezers whose only concern is not getting run over by the sag wagon. :-)

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    2. I'm only 33...I can't be breaking down this early! :) Thankfully, the course is flat for the most part. Sounds like you had a good run yesterday...here's to staying semi-healthy for Frederick!

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  4. Yeah, but the 42 year old you can drive.

    Good luck with the hip!

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  5. Try to have a sports massage. Sport massage can improve tissue elasticity - hard training can make tissues hard and inelastic. This is one reason why hard training may not result in improvements. Massage helps reverse this by stretching the tissues. Hope it helps.

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