I have had pain in the general hip region on and off for years, which jumps around from hamstring, to gluteus medius area, maybe some piriformis pain thrown in there, and even bouts with niggling hip flexors. Last year I spent some time going to physical therapy for it all. He was stretching me by bringing my knee up and across my body, and it hurt, and not in a good, stretchy-type of way. When I exclaimed, he said, hmmm, kind of seems like a labral tear. I didn't really think much about that at the time, and then last week it hit me: I have a tear in my hip labrum! I started doing some googling and I had another epiphany. Back in 2008, I think I was training for Boston (when you didn't have 5 minutes to sign up). I ran my best half marathon, then continued with my sister another 7 or so miles of her marathon relay leg. Afterward I could barely walk from hip flexor pain. I went to a doctor who said I did not have a femoral neck fracture, thankfully, and that it must just be my soft tissue. Now I conclude that this was probably referred pain from my labral tear as well. Just wish I had been diagnosed then.
As nice as it is to now have a "diagnosis" (can't I diagnose myself?), I am not planning on having anything done to it surgically. I might not even go through the whole rigmarole of going to the clinic to get a referral for an orthopedist to look at it then being told to go to PT, then months later when that doesn't help, having an MRI to confirm. I will just look up some strengthening exercises and rely on PTs (Damie, please!) to tell me what to do to minimize the pain -- unless it gets really excruciating. I am having a lot of sacroiliac joint pain in the same leg lately that I am now suspecting is related. Hrmph. Stupid right hip! Stupid right hamstring! You have always been the fatter, less muscular one (a DEXA told me that). Having something specific to blame my crazy hips on at least gives me a good excuse to skip a few miles here and there.
Strange as it sounds coming from a girl, one area I have found to be lacking lately is my backside. Despite my pregnancy efforts to put on some muscle as part of my weight gain, I have found that my previously large gluteus maximus area is not quite as maximus as it used to be (not that my pants are complaining). Ah ha! That's where the 2 or 3 pounds I've dipped under pre-pregnancy weight came from. This is probably due in part to the weekly mileage of my bike rides being about what my running is, but I need to start making an effort to strengthen that area, as well as my lower back. The latter takes a beating in daily baby walking; the bending over to hold little hands is a back breaker. It could be my floor sitting posture as well. Hunter has the straightest little back when he sits; he is setting a good example. Surely strengthening here can't hurt the hip problem.
Another target area is the abs, which have been deceiving me. They have definition, with a little extra separation going on, but they are still lacking their pre-pregnancy strength. And I know know know how important these muscles are in those oh-so-minor things like keeping my upper body upright. I am so glad I did not hear before I had a c-section that nobody ever has a flat stomach again (it is not true, btw), or I would probably have been too depressed to ever try. And while I do find them too relaxed, I also still find it kind of icky to work on my transverse abdominus. I mean, I see the scar on my skin from the incision and can only imagine what the inside of me looks like.
I really had expectations of coming back to running quickly after having a baby. I based this off my crazy sister and her epic hill running starting when her baby was 10 days old. That was my idea of a normal return to running. Apparently when you are cut wide open, expectations go out the window. Since I was not even standing up straight for a week after the surgery, much less walking around the block, returning to running took a little while. I had to slowly increase my walking from 2/3 mi per day around 10 days out up to 25 miles a week at 3 weeks. Then when the baby was 4 weeks old, I got up my courage, headed out with the stroller, and ran 3 miles straight. If you can call 11 minute miles "running." I still had pain and an uncomfortable stretching feeling in the incision area for a while, but at least my legs felt great. It was a lot harder than I expected. Of course, I never expected a c-section!
It has been good for me to have this last year plus to do steady paced runs and really enjoy every workout. But now do my legs remember how to pace a race? I keep looking at the website for a nearby half marathon in a couple of weeks, but I have NO idea how to run one anymore. It's been almost 3 years! I guess I should get back to it sometime, and as they say, there is no time like the present.
Where was this picture taken?? I have to go there. We can run over Thanksgiving--yay! Although I'm pretty sure my efforts don't count as running in your (log)book.
ReplyDeletePoint Lobos State Reserve just south of Carmel CA. It was so cool!
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