running

running

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Injury Update

The fast few weeks I have been dealing with some annoying hip pain, which I briefly mentioned in this post.  Throughout my running career, I have been extremely lucky with injuries (knocks on wood).  So, this injury came as a bit of a surprise, and a lot of frustration.  Thankfully, I didn't have to adjust my plan too much, with the exception of a couple of extra rest days.  I did a lot in between the runs to try to heal as quickly as possible.

#1 ICE!
Icing is an amazing thing.  It's funny because I used to think icing was silly.  Now I love it.  You'll often find me sitting on the couch with bags of ice on my legs even if they don't really hurt.  I am a huge advocate for icing.  I iced my hip/side pain like crazy.  At home I stuck bags of ice in the top of my pants and went along with my business.  At work I did the same with small ice packs.  Scrubs are great for hiding things.




#2 Foam Rolling
I enjoy foam rolling, but I definitely don't do it enough.  I did however make sure to foam roll my hip/side/back/bum area a lot over the past couple of weeks.   I managed to get myself in to some very interesting positions.  I need to be better about foam rolling all the time, not just when something hurts.  

hurts so good


#3 Stretching 
I made sure to stretch my hip/side every chance I got.  I'm sure I got many questionable looks from people.  Don't care.  It felt good, so I did it.

#4 Rest
This was the hardest for me to do.  Don't get me wrong, I love rest days.  I have two every week.  My body needs them, and I do a lot better with two a week.  However, additional rest days on top of those two?  UGH.  But I knew I needed them.  I would rather take a couple of extra rest days, than be forced to take weeks or months off.  I have a marathon to run next month, I certainly don't have time for that.  When the pain was at its worst, I cut a couple of workouts short, and gave myself 2 extra days of rest.  I'm really trying to do that whole listen to your body thing.  

While I am not a doctor, I am happy to report that these 4 things worked for me.  I am even happier to report that after almost 3 weeks of pain that ranged from mild to moderate at times, it seems to be gone completely! 

On Sunday I ran 18 miles.  18 beautiful, pain-free miles.


             

3 comments:

  1. I feel like a jerk that I totally missed you were having pain! But I'm glad you're on the mend :)Just keep up with the ice, foam rolling, and listening to your body, and once the pain is gone try adding in some strength exercises... and you'll be in good shape to crush your marathon!

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    1. I tried not to talk about it too much hoping that would make it go away faster haha! Yes, I agree I need to add in some more strength other than running to my routine.

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  2. So happy you had 18 pain free miles. The other thing i love for injuries is compression!

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