After the stinging hip pain that I experienced last week at the Chicago 13.1 Marathon, I decided to take some time off and try to let things heal. I thought I'd give myself three or four days where I did nothing - no cross training, no yoga, no strength-training, no PT exercises (much to my PT's chagrin, I am sure).
I went in for a PT appointment this past Wednesday and told them about how my hip pain had flared up over the weekend. They examined it and determined that my hip flexor basically has a muscle knot the size of Texas. Also, the muscle knot is about as tight as the waistband now on my high school jeans. (Don't ask. But stretchy pants are a good thing.)
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| MC Hammer pants. (Children of the 80s will fully understand.) |
The PT did some intense massage on the offending area - and wow, did it hurt! I also received an ultrasound on my hip flexor, and was instructed to take the entire week off of running.
I am certainly happy to rest my hip for an extended time period. I am also enormously relieved that the hip pain is apparently due to muscle issue rather than a bone injury! However, after nearly a week without any major exercise, I am starting to feel antsy. I'm not sleeping as well at night, either.
This must be what taper madness feels like.
Since I'm on a roll with the MC Hammer-isms today and have already thrown in a zillion references to him, here's the obligatory video:
I think it's time to do some cross-training or some yoga, or something to alleviate my sluggishness. (Slam dancing? Food fight? Visiting my alderman while dressed in a yellow rubber chicken suit (full-body) that is two sizes too small?)
In the meantime, I've also lost some mental momentum. Now I'm pretty much just counting down the days until my week off has passed and I can go pound the pavement again. I don't really feel like doing anything else until then (other than reminiscing about music and fashion icons of the 80s, apparently). Fun, eh?
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| Self portrait |
It was too fun to watch that vid. Flashback!
ReplyDeleteA week off will be good for you! :) Enjoy the rest while it is so darn hot. Those runs would just be frustrating anyway!
Total flashback, right? Makes me feel old thinking about how long ago that video came out!
DeleteYou are absolutely right, the weather this weekend is not good for running anyways. Thank you for that reminder - it makes me feel better. =) (Funny how you don't notice these things when you can't run, but are so keenly aware of it when you can, right?)
I bet the time off was good for your body, but I totally understand it making you a little crazy. Standing still can play tricks on the mind. Yeay for the hip pain being muscular and thus, fixable. I hope that all gets sorted out soon!*
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Amy! And you are absolutely right about how standing still can play tricks on the mind. I find that early in the morning and late at night (basically the times when I am not distracted by other stuff and I have time to think) can be the most mentally challenging... so I am learning to be prepared to "distract" myself at those times!
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