Monday, July 28, 2008

At Least Only Part of My Pain is Due to Stupidity

Ouch. I took Carrie to the waterslide/beach the other day. As usual, I was running around doing stuff at the last minute and left myself little time to get there to meet the other moms. There was just enough sunscreen left for my little red-head. I didn't want to keep everyone else waiting so I didn't stop for any more. Bad move. That was Friday. I'm still in agony.

Ouch. Ouch. Did my 8 miles last night. Okay, I really only did just over 7.5 because the gym at the Y closed 15 minutes before the Y actually does and I misjudged how long it was going to take me to do my run, including driving, in and out of the car, checking in, warm-up, etc. I'm not feeling guilty (too much, anyway) about that 1/2 mile deficit. My run went fairly well and I definitely could have handled the rest of the run. However, for the first time in my short running career, I am in real pain. I've got to do some more research to figure out exactly what it is but if feels like something with my hip adductors??? Whatever it is, it hurts. It's only on the right side, and I wasn't feeling it before when I was running, only when I was getting on my bike, or trying to sit with my right leg crossed over my left. Until yesterday. I messed with the speed a lot trying to squeeze my whole run in. I don't THINK that had anything to do with it but I'm such a newbie to all of this, I don't know.

By the way, we've been doing the last few runs on the treadmill because Jim is suffering from plantar fasciitis and thought the softer surface might help. (it has been, thankfully) I have been setting the treadmill to a 1.0 incline just to better simulate outdoor running.

Last night's run was tough, but a reminder that if we've come this far from where we were a few months ago, we CAN run a marathon! WooHOo! Go us!

5 comments:

Alissa said...

Karen, I have had serious hip pain like you are describing. I took 6 months off of running a few years ago because it got so bad. Don't keep running if you are feeling the pain build up. If its the same thing I have, then stretching can actually help cure it I have some good stretches but I can't explain them very well. Tonight when I get home I will try to draw you a sketch or find a video on youtube. Just be careful! Don't run through the pain like I did because it only extends the time you need to recover!

Anonymous said...

wow, you are running 7.5 miles on a treadmill? I've only been able to run almost that far once, on a treadmill, I don't know if I could do it again. You have my respect!

Sorry to hear Jim has that plantar fascitis (no idea how you say that by the way...)

Alissa said...

Glad to hear that you are not pushing it. I found this article that illustrates one of the stretches I do: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-286--12514-0,00.html

The first one where you push your knee down always feels really good on my tight hip. I actually do it on the floor on my back, propping my self up on my elbows. There are lots of other IT band stretches that might help. The IT band runs right over the hip and if it gets tight it can cause irritation. Hope that helps!

Karen said...

Alissa,
THANK YOU, Thank You, thank you! I suppose that is the danger of training for a marathon when you're not in good shape to begin with. I might be getting those running muscles in decent shape--but the ones that support them are not because I haven't been doing much stretching or cross-training.
Thanks again. I always do better when there are pictures to follow!

Terri- An i-pod loaded with Dave Ramsey podcasts does wonders for that long stretch on the treadmill. Also, Jim's feet are doing quite a bit better. His job has him touring large hospitals in horribly uncomfortable dress shoes. He finally went out last week and got some cushy, supportive shoes so he doesn't destroy his feet for running.

Jenn said...

You can absolutely do the marathon! I have a bit of PF too. . .the strassburg sock has been helping a lot.