“Hey, did I miss week 1?” That’s probably what you’re saying if you’re one of my rare followers who reads all of my posts and realizes I’m starting my training updates a week late. So you didn’t miss it, I did. And in fact I basically missed week 2 as well, but I’ve got a bit of a story/explanation that I’m going to share with you now. Running isn’t all about just pushing yourself and being motivated – it’s about being smart when it comes to injuries and other things that come up.
I’ve noticed I’ve been having slight hip pain in my right hip when I run for awhile now, ever since I did Princess last February. It wasn’t major so I just ignored it and chalked it up to typical running pains. It gradually got worse, until it was hurting pretty badly anytime I ran more than 4 miles. I did the Hershey Half Marathon in mid-October and was in awful, awful pain after that. I decided it was probably a result of me pushing past some minor injury that needed to heal, so I took a week off from running.
My hip didn’t hurt at all after resting so I ran a 5k the following weekend. As soon as I started running again it was back, and now just doing 3 miles was painful. Since I knew something was going on I went back on rest and made an appointment with a sports physician.
I don’t need to go into all of the details of the appointment. After several sets of x-rays and tests, my doctor determines it’s not my hip that’s actually the problem but my spine – the hip is just a result of a spine issue. So what’s my spine problem? Well, the doc looks at me and says, “This is going to be an awkward conversation.” Umm, what? And he starts, “well, you’re obviously rather top heavy…”
So yeah, long story short (too late) my spine is curving from having to carry around my boobs all the time. One option would obviously be surgery (I don’t want to do that). So what we’re going with is physical therapy to teach me some good core and strength training, which I can then continue on a regular basis. If I strengthen my core I’ll be able to support my weight better. I’m also going to try and lose some weight, hopefully about 10-15 pounds, in the hopes that some of it will come off of the top.
The good news? Aside from, you know, actually being in pain, running doesn’t affect the issue at all. I’m cleared to run and was prescribed some strong painkillers to deal with the current leftover pain from the half marathon. Which is good, because I have a 10 mile race next weekend and some training for Princess to do!
I normally follow Jeff Galloway’s training plan on the RunDisney website, which started last week. So yeah, week 1 and week 2 have basically been a bit of a bust. I did one half hour run on the treadmill on Wednesday just to see how I was feeling and I purposely took it very slowly. But now that I know running won’t actually hurt anything or make it worse, I fully intend to stick to a good training plan from here on out – one that also incorporates core exercises and a stricter diet. Wish me luck.
Anyone else training for the Fairy Tale Challenge?
