These past two weeks couldn’t have been more opposite.
I was in Louisville, KY for my job week 9, and my hip pain really flared up. I eked out a miserable 5 miles at long run pace Tuesday morning. On Thursday and Friday mornings I got up early, dressed, walked out of the hotel, started running and turned around and went back to bed discouraged. I didn’t even run long enough on Friday for the exercise to register on my Polar watch. When I got home I managed to run a slow 4 on Saturday and bailed on my long run after 8. Was this the end of my marathon training? All I could think of was that I had an appointment with Jamie, my physical therapist, Monday after work and I hoped he had an answer.
One good thing about week 9 was that it motivated me to become a student again. I studied my mother’s Physician’s Desk Reference. I scoured the Internet for diagrams and pictures of hip anatomy. I wanted to know how it all worked … I wanted to find the root cause of my problem. The best pictures I found weren’t artists’ drawings but actual photographs of mummified corpses. They definitely are not for the squeamish. But, they did give me an appreciation for people who donate their bodies to science. I went to my appointment Monday pretty sure my pain involved my pubic bone or right pectineus muscle.
Fortunately, Jamie had experience dealing with over-analytical engineers. He explained how hip pain can be confusing because so many muscles cross over the hip joint. After bending me like a pretzel again, he was still pretty sure it was pinched ligaments. As the femur rotates forward, he explained, the femur is supposed to slip back to keep the ball centered in the socket. The tight muscles behind my hip joint were not allowing it to do that but instead were pressing against the joint forcing the ball to try to rotate out of the socket. A couple of weeks ago I pictured the ball trying to slide forward out of the socket instead of rotating out. Seeing the pictures helped me visualize and understand exactly what he meant. They also helped me understand exactly what each stretching exercise he prescribed was trying to accomplish and how to do them correctly.
He then videotaped me running on a treadmill. He suggested improvements in my running form – some I had heard before but didn’t do well: a) run ‘tall’, b) tighten my ab muscles to give my hip muscles something to work against (but not so tight I had trouble breathing), c) extend my leg back at toe-off so my ankle, knee, hip and neck form a straight line, d) pick up my heel quickly after toe-off and e) feel my gluts work more so my hip flexors work less. I could see in the mirror that I looked better, but I felt like my foot was stomping at each heel-strike. “Try to feel like you are pedaling a bicycle downhill,” he said. It felt awkward and I wasn’t sure how long I could run like that, but the pain dramatically lessened.
Invigorated, I went home and ran to the end of the street and back to put his suggestions into practice before I forgot. I found that I could keep that form longer than I thought.
Week 8 has been an amazing turn-around both physically and emotionally. The new running form isn’t awkward anymore and it naturally promotes a faster pace. I don’t feel like I’m stomping, and I’ve actually experienced the “biking-downhill” feeling. As long as I think about the form I can run that way, but I catch myself falling into the old shuffle form when I start to daydream.
Jamie suggested that I stop doing speed work. Tuesday morning was tough. After running the mile warm-up with my friends, I told them the “doctor’s orders.” Wanting to be on the track with them was too emotionally painful so I ran the streets around the school practicing my form. I felt better by the end of a much-improved run so I returned to the track to cheer them on as they completed their last fast lap. We ran the mile cool-down together.
I was able to complete all my planned mileage this week, relatively pain free. My form and times improved with each outing. I was able to complete my planned 16-mile long run at a decent pace for me feeling like I could have run longer.
This week 42 miles are planned including a 23-mile long run. Jamie suggested I not go over 16 miles very often. I may not do the full 23 … I’ll listen to my body. Miles aren’t as important to me. I’ve done 20 and know that I can finish the distance on October 7. Correct form and running pain free are my current training goals. Pace and mileage will return eventually.
Are training injuries getting you down? Ask your local running club for sports doctors/therapists who understand how to balance caring for and correcting your injury while still trying to maintain some level of a training regiment. Also, hit the books … understand how your body works. Not only is a well-informed runner a better runner, but also your faith will be strengthened as you marvel at God’s amazing design. Until next time, run smart, run strong!
One step at a time,
Dave
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