Today, I was planning on posting about my training plan for the SF half marathon and its integrated cross training. But today, something happened. It’s almost as if I knew this time would come, but have been trying to put it off for a while.
Today…I got hurt.
On Friday, I did a Nike Training Club workout that left me pretty sore on Saturday. To be quite frank, I’ve just never done that many lunges and squats before and my lower half was paying the price for it.
Saturday was a rest day and Sunday I headed out to the Iron Horse Trail for 10 miles by myself. The good news is that the trail was stunning. All of the trees were a rich green and covered the picturesque trail. The weather went in and out from cool, dry temps to 10 minutes of solid downpours. I could feel my booty aching, but I thought I could push through it.
Around mile 8.5, I could feel my hip acting up and I stopped every so often to stretch it out. By mile 9, the sharp pain with each step was enough for this girl to wise up and walk the last mile in. I was defeated and ever since then, I’ve been playing sick mind games with myself – I’m trying to stay positive here!
What happened? I’m not sure yet, but I know that I’ve been trying to ease my way back into training so something happening already is a bit frustrating. To add to my worry, my hip gave out at the end of a two mile race in high school and I was out of commission for the rest of the season, and that is definitely something I don’t need a repeat of.
So what’s next? I’ve had copious amounts of frozen fruit shoved down my Lululemon Wunder Under Crops (they’re tight and hold it perfectly), I’m going to make a trip to a new chiropractor, up the cross-training and the low-impact activity, and just try to rest and stretch as much as I can this week. I’m trying to avoid turning this into something bigger than it can be.
Thus, the training plan is going to be a little modified, but I’ll be posting it soon.
When you faced injury, what did you do? How did you overcome the mental anguish?
Happy Running!
Oh no!!! My hips are really bothering me too, especially my left one 🙁 I was actually doing the same “wedge an ice pack into my lulus” move, definitely a benefit of their ubertight fit 🙂 I think my hip is just being cranky right now, but I had an issue with my hip being aggravated leading up to the ’09 Marine Corps Marathon and it freaked me out to no end. I ended up resting it for a short period of time and then I was fine (however, I did end up having other issues during that race), I hope that is the same for you!! I feel as though I am ALWAYS injured and I got through intense depression whenever I go through an injury and I can’t run or at least workout hard. I just try to look back on past accomplishments and remember how great those felt, and that I will be back in action very soon! I know you will be back before you know it.
I love that you use frozen fruit as an icepack. In my house it’s always frozen peas.
Oh no, I hope the icing a rest makes all the pain go away! I find that pool running with other injured people really helps! Its good cross training and keeps you active and motivated.
Two marathons in two weeks. Recipe 4 disaster
What part of your hip hurts? And where’s the pain felt?
Oh nooooooo hope you’re hip is okay!! I’m still struggling with injury, and that’s because I was so STUPID as to ignore it in the first place, so you’re doing the right thing! Hopefully you’ll be healed up real soon 🙂
Oh no, hope your hip gets better! Trader Joe’s berries cure all 🙂 I too struggle with hip problems from time to time and just try to brush them off and hope they go away. Most of the time, they do, but it’s always so hard to tell when a nag is going to turn into a major injury. Sounds like you’re taking all the right steps to correct, though! Keep us updated on your progress!
My hip has been really bothering me too but it seems to be getting better with and ice. I hope you recover quickly!
First off – while the comment by A2 above might be correct about doing marathons so close together is really tough on the body, I think they need to include a link to their blog to backup what they are saying. Saying a comment like that without a link to their blog is not cool in my opinion.
When I read that you did a ton of lunges and squats last week as cross training after not doing some for a long time, I sort of was afraid of the repurcussions of that might have on your body. I remember reading your race recap of Big Sur about having your hips be in pain during the race. It just seems like your hips were hurting and sore and likely could use a break. If I would guess what caused the hip pain I would go with doing a lot of squats and lunges. And partly due to the 2 marathons in 2 weeks that made them sore.
That’s good that you’re going to the chiropractor to get checked out, I’m assuming that he’ll make sure that your hips are in alignment. You might also want to make sure that your shoes are new enough – sometimes the hips and knees get sore if your shoes need replacing.
You might just want to take a short breather from training to let your body heal a bit – hopefully your chiropractor will have some good ideas. Depending on what he says you might want to see a doctor or physical therapist for their opinion too. I definitely would hold off on doing any cross training related to the lower part of your body – especially squats and lunges.
I’m facing injury right now, and it is not a fun process. Personally I find the mental aspect is harder than the physical aspect. I would try to talk to chickenface and other close friends about how you are feeling, I thought it helped to get the feelings out there. Posting on here also helps, because runner bloggers understand exactly how you feel.
It is just tough to phathom that I might not to get to do the races that I want to during the year. I’m going to a knee doctor on Friday, and he will diagnose me hopefully. The shoe orthotic doctor that I saw on Friday thought that I might have a torn meniscus in my left knee, which would be a really bad injury if that is the case. If its true it will likely wipe out my entire 2011 race season, and I likely would have to have surgery and do a bunch of rehab exercises to even start back to running again. Though my appointment on Friday will determine what happens.
Oh no! I hope it’s just a matter of a few days :-/ Get well soon and thank you for your very sweet comment the other day, it cheered me up 🙂
sorry to hear that you’re hurting! i’ve been struggling with hip issues for several months and finally saw a sports chiro who determined that it was a functional problem with my glutes and hip muscles. i was given some exercises and i did a lot of trigger pointing on myself and was able to keep things in check and continue training (luckily). it’s also possible that your body is still recovering. after my ultra last month my knee was killing me and i thought i might be injured, but after a couple weeks off of running it was a-ok. i think it just needed rest! so go easy on yourself and i’m sure you’ll be back in no time : )
Oh NO!! Hope you can bounce back quick from this. I had some butt pain last week and I foamed rolled like crazy but it is still bothering me a bit. I usually just focus on my injured spot and google search like crazy for answers. But sometimes all I really need to do is rest and that is the hardest part.
Oh ouch, I’m sorry to hear that! I hope it heals soon!
Oh no! i hope your okay!! keep us posted!
aw shucks. shucks!!
I’m not a model runner (I don’t stretch or rest enough), and I never will be, so I’ve accepted that annual injuries are part of the game. And maybe they are even part of the game for runners who do everything right!
My hips are a very re-occuring injury, and I don’t think the pain has ever lasted over 3-4 weeks if I take it easy and cross-train instead of run. So I think this will SURELY not last until your marathon! you have time to repair.
I cope by thinking of those times as my annual “running break” — and I spend some more time than I’d like on the elliptical, bike, walking, etc.
note to self: squats are evil, never do them again. yesssssss
Oh bummer! I’m so sorry Page! It seems like running injuries are inevitable, which is so uncool. I think the only really effective thing you can do is ease up on the running. Stop altogether if you need to. Until it gets better. But being the superstar runner that you are – you already know that.
As for the coping – I recommend you try Bikram yoga. It’s a killer workout. I have been recommending this to everyone today. I think because I haven’t been in awhile and really need to go myself…hmm…I just had a psychological breakthrough there.
So sorry to hear about your hip! I’ve also had a hip injury that lasted 2 months, and it was awful! I think you’re doing the right thing by taking it easy, even though that can be ridiculously hard. The way that I get through injury time is by focusing on other things. So if you’re still looking to get all buff for your wedding, you can still do plenty of weight training. Not ideal, but still something. Do you swim? Swimming’s another one of my favorite ways to cross train. Other than that, it really just plain sucks any way you cut it. But just keep resting and stretching, and hopefully it will be a passing pain!
Bah, that just sucks. I agree with the comments about focusing on other things, since you want guns of steel for your big day. Hopefully a few days of rest will calm it down! xo.
My hips are constantly causing problems (back aches, IT band woes) – I’ve been trying to do strengthening exercises, but I admit that I’m not a model student. When injury strikes, I try to focus on staying busy with other fun things – nights out with my lady friends, cross-training, extra sleep, putting in some OT at work. I’m a fan of the ice pack/lulu spandex combo. Hope you feel better soon!
Love the fruit in the pants. haha :o) Have you seen these? http://www.therapearl.com/
oh noooo! im glad you’re being smart about it. i hope your chiro appt is ASAP. Try pool running! Especially if you can find someone to do it with you…I really do think it works for staying in good running shape
Nooooo! Feel better!