Seriously?

Throughout September and October I faithfully went to PT, and after nearly two months of PT on my SI joint (did you know your pubic bone can dislocate?  it can!), I had no piriformis pain that couldn't be massaged out, and I was off and running, both figuratively and literally.

I'd put together a maintenance routine for myself, using advice from Ready to Run and the famous MYRTL routine, to keep everything limber and fluid.  I put blue Superfeet in my Kayanos.  I warmed up before my runs in the dark, during which I wore a headlamp and the most brilliant reflective shell for safety.  I increased gently to 30 miles a week.  Something flu-like knocked me out for a week, but I figured I'd use the time off to rest, and I still managed ~93 miles in November.

And two weeks ago I felt a twinge.  A slightly tight thigh.  Okay, so I rumbled into action.  Foam rolling.  The stick.  Mobility upstream and downstream. Couch stretches.  Smash!  Floss! Epsom salt soak.  Good to go!  Ran up some trails.  Ran gently and easily in the morning.  Noticed my pace was dropping off but figured it was due to the mileage increase.

Then I ran a Turkey Trot.  The local hospital joins with several local charities to produce this fun low-key race that covers the hills in the nearby neighborhood.  Entry is a donation to charity, and the timing is just a man with a watch who tells you your time as you cross.  It's charming, and there was also a two-mile walk, so the husband and the toddler got in some quality stroller time while I ran.

I was feeling a little tight so I just decided to pace it, hoping to come in under 45 for five miles.  The race stopped at 4.65 miles by my Garmin, and I finished in  41:35.  As the man running next to me quipped, that's one PR that will stand for a while.  I was happy to run relatively even splits.

I kept running, and then Sunday did an achingly tight 5 miler, then yardwork, and now I'm limping.   My guess is that it's my hip flexor.

Sometimes this sport is really annoying.

So, it's been a while

Six days until the race!  I've been wildly busy with work and life, and once I added physiotherapy for my creaky SI joint, I've had no time to blog.

Fortunately, I have basically negative two readers at this point, but for you, I apologize for keeping you hanging.

Training has been going well.  I never thought eight miles would feel like an easy, relaxing run, but nevertheless, there it is.  

Rehab's been interesting.  The problem is that my lower core is weak, despite my efforts, and my left hip rotates forward, and then my tailbone pulls out of alignment.  This makes everything hurt, and screws up my stride.

So, part of the work is for the nice physiotherapists to pop my hip back into place.  Today, that involved also realigning the symphysis pubis joint, which cracked painfully and loudly, like a bunch of firecrackers went off in my pants.    I saw stars, and then yelled, and then apologized.  But then, when I stood up, I felt lighter and straight.

This is apparently what normal feels like.

The rest of the work is retraining the glutes and core so they can stabilize my pelvis when I run.  Lots of marching bridges and variations on leg lifts, and lots of getting my tired hamstrings to stretch just a bit further.

I think it's helping, but I also think it will be a while coming back.  The PT says essentially we have to retrain my body to recognize normal as normal, instead of settling back into the misalignment that I've had for months.

The race is Saturday!

And the winner is....

... the SI joint.

So, I missed my long run this weekend.  My back was tight and spasming whenever I tried to bend over and after sitting for long periods, so ten miles wasn't going to happen.

I treated myself to new shoes!  Asics Gel-Kayano 19, for $50!  These are a stability shoe.  I'm trying something new.  I noticed that my Nikes had creases on the medial midsole, and so I think they have worn out.  If I am overpronating, which I think I might be based on the depth of the creases, while I may have high arches, I'm probably need the support.  I don't need a squishy feeling in my shoes, so I can run on a firmer surface.  It's worth a shot.

(Reasons to support your local running store:  end-of-season clearance sales.)

So, eventually, there will be a new review coming your way.

I began to feel better with a bit of rest, and so Monday I went out for an easy four miles with a friend.  Running along the river parkway was nice, and flat and stable.  My back and left glute were tight, but didn't seem to get any worse.

Tuesday I did six miles on the treadmill.  The only real problem with this is that my mental treadmill limit is about forty minutes, so it took a lot of Sportscenter on the TVs to get me through those last fifteen minutes.  I start mentally subdividing the tenths of miles into seconds.

So far, the new shoes are working out well.

And then in the evening I was off to the sports doc.  He treated my shoulder when I separated it a couple of years ago, and his first recommendation is almost always PT, which I appreciate.  Anyhow, after some fun confusing the newbie resident -- I'm flexible so it's hard to generate symptoms -- the doc determined that my pelvis is rotated on my left side, which is stressing the piriformis muscle.

It's about what I expected, given the location of the pain and my inability to stretch it out.  I'm just glad that there seems to be no disc involvement.  His guess is that the instability originates from having the baby, and that running has basically stressed it enough that my back clenched up.

I told the kid it was his fault, but he just grinned and tried to feed me goldfish crackers.  Toddlers.

I'm fine to keep running if I want.  The plan is more 'mill tomorrow, then an easy four Friday, and then thirteen on Saturday, and then I will be the happiest newbie that ever tapered.  PT starts Monday, and I'm hoping they can sort this out.  Once the race is done I have to rebalance lifting and running  -- because it's curious that as soon as I cut back on strength training, a nagging pain became a huge pain in the rear.

Literally.

Setback.

Last night I headed out after dinner for a quick four or five mile run.  This week's training has been going swimmingly.  I've knocked out the mileage, held good easy paces, and even had a nice run with a friend on Wednesday.

Those whom the gods would destroy, they first give a good week of running.

It was a warm night but nothing too uncomfortable, the route one I've run fifty times before, and the sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon.  I'm not great at running after a full meal, and so I kept the pace slow and even, just trying to get the miles in before today's rest and Saturday's ten miler.

Four miles into the run, my right lower back, which had been tight but not worrisome all day, began to get tighter, and tighter, and tighter.  I had to stop.  I walked the half mile home, where I realized something was not right.

None of the usual suspects hurt.  Right foot & ankle, fine.  Left hip-and-glute-posterior-chain-of-doom, fine.  But my lower back hurts, and while I'm fine if I'm standing or walking tall, sitting hurts, and bending or leaning over and straightening up is next to impossible.

There is no way I'm running this weekend.  I'm pretty confident that if I were to do nothing the rest of the month, I could finish my half, which is my first goal of course, but if I aggravate this I'll miss it completely.

Kind of bummed.  Trying not to cope by eating all the M&Ms.  And I have a doctor's appointment for Tuesday.

Protip: Don't faceplant!

I'm feeling much better after Tuesday's adventure.  My chin is still swollen and my jaw is still tender at the right TMJ, but it's getting better.  Yesterday I went for a walk and took it easy.  The schedule called for cross-training or a rest day, but I figured that my body had enough going on trying to repair my face that I didn't need to stress it.

So, first rule of injury prevention: don't fall down.

Second rule:  your hips are weak.

But I run fast, you say.  But I am healthy, you say!  But I've been doing this longer than you have, emmbee, you say!

That is true.

Still, your hips are weak.  Especially if you're female, and especially if you've had a baby.

I'm a new runner, but I'm an old pro at starting running programs and giving up due to knee and IT band pain.  I knew my feet were flexible, and that I overpronated moderately, so I bought motion control shoes, and, well, I still had pain.

Then I had a baby who liked to eat, and I spent many hours nursing and reading books about running on my Kindle.  And I learned that many of the aches and pains of runners can be attributed to weak hips.

Here's the deal.  When you run, you take about 3000 steps per mile, give or take.  Your body is a marvelous machine, so imagine any other machine you like.  A bicycle, maybe, or a stand mixer.  Now imagine a tiny problem with its mechanics -- maybe a slightly wobbly tire, or one tooth on a gear slightly out of position.  How would it last after 15,000 repetitions?

Why would your body be any different?

Now, this is not all to say that we need to have the same form.  Your personal history and movement patterns are stamped on your body.  But if something small is out of balance, it can lead to greater problems down the line.

Think about your hips and glutes.  If they're not strong, or if they're not firing, when you stride forward powerfully, as you do when you run, your leg will cave in slightly.   Assuming you don't fall down (see protip #1), some other muscle and joint has to compensate to absorb the force.  That means that your foot rolls in more, and your quad and IT band have to tighten to catch you.  Do that 15,000 times, and you stand a good chance of injury.

Often, it's not a matter of pure strength.  If you want the easiest, no brainer fix, just find a trainer and learn how to squat and deadlift.  Once you can do those, you'll have sorted out your hip and glute issues.  But you might not be into cross-training, nor might you have time or access for a gym, and the thing is, there is no savings account in strength training.  You have to work these muscles all the time.

So, what to do?

There are so many things, but here's what I like as a starting point:

1. Stand tall.  (If you do yoga, think of mountain pose.)  Stand with your weight equally balanced on your feet, with a neutral pelvis, tail neither tucked nor popped.  Your weight should be over your heels; check this by wiggling your toes off the ground.
2. Now, think of rotating your knees outward from the hips.  You won't actually move your knees --- you're just trying to find that little stabilizing muscle.*  What you're thinking of is moving your glutes (buttcheeks) together without clenching them, rotating your femurs outward without moving your feet.  
3. Now, notice what it does.  Pay attention to your body!  You'll notice that your knees separate a bit, and your legs are straighter.  Your arches will lift slightly.  

This is what you need to get your body to do while you run.  Obviously, you're not going to be able to concentrate on that, so you do strengthening exercises to get those muscles to fire.

Here's my three favorite hip strengtheners.  

• Air squats.  Standing tall, squat down to parallel or just below, and then stand back up.  Here's what you need to think about while doing this:
• Remember that little stabilizing muscle in your butt?  Think about it.  Feel it push your knees outward as you squat and rise.  You want to keep your knees from collapsing in, and you want that to happen from your butt.
• Power yourself back up with your glutes -- you want to avoid tipping forward.  Keep your weight over your heels as much as you can.
• I like to do these after runs, maybe 20 or so.
• Monster walks.  For this one, you need one of those stretchy elastic flat bands.  Loop the band around both legs, around your calves or ankles.  Stand with your feet about hip width and bend your knees into a high squat.  Then, keeping tension in the band, step sideways.  
• Do ten steps in one direction, and then come back ten steps the other way.  You'll feel this in your hip rotators, too.
• Three sets of ten should do ya.
• Roll-outs.  For this one, you need that flat band again, a soccer-ball sized rubber ball (like the kind your kids want at the supermarket), and a chair or a stability ball.
• The band goes around your legs just above the knee.  Your butt sits on the big ball.  The little ball goes between your knees, feet about hip width apart.  Keep your hands on the little ball.
• Think about that little stabilizing muscle, and feel it work as you roll your feet to the outside -- your legs will part, and you'll feel the band stretch.  Then, return your feet to neutral, and squeeze the little ball between your legs.  You're basically doing a clam shell, but while sitting, with a little added resistance.
• Three sets of eight should be good.  If you Kegel as you squeeze the ball, and lift your pelvic floor, you'll get a good workout there, too.  (Important for us mother runners.)

And you're on your way!  Bulletproof.  Just don't fall on your face.

* Technically, it's all these little muscles.  But they're hard to tell apart, and you're looking for a feeling of rotation.

(Standard sort of disclaimer:  I'm not a medical doctor, just a hobbyist, so think critically when deciding whether to listen to some loon on the Internet.  Ta!)

Well, hell.

Today's run was going to be great.  Sunday's rest day followed by an invigorating yoga workout yesterday primed my body to be ready for a good effort.  My various aches weren't feeling too bad, and I slept in a bit, but as it's cool (well, 75 degrees) and rainy, I figured I'd be okay with a later start.

Because of the rain I figured I'd hit the roads instead of the trails, and I set off for an easy seven.

First two miles were great.  The rain was misting gently. Warming up, legs feeling good, ready to push it a bit:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
1	8:58.2	1.00	8:58
2	9:14.1	1.00	9:14

Pretty cool, huh?

Then, WHAM!  I slipped while crossing a road and face-planted.  My chin hit the ground hard, and gushed blood.  Some construction guys came over to see if I was okay and offered me a towel and  a bandaid.  

I limped the two miles home.  Total time: 1:03.  No seven miles.  A tender jaw and chin, and various abrasions and contusions everywhere.

Not the medium length run I was hoping for!  I'm not the whiniest person in the house only because the baby has a fever.

I think I'm going to hunker indoors today, surrounded by soft pillows.

This is just unfair.

Yesterday after the gym I wasn't feeling well, but I chalked it up to ordinary tiredness and low blood sugar after a tough workout.  Today, it's pretty clear that I've got some kind of head cold and sore throat.

The usual rule of thumb is that it's okay to workout as long as the symptoms are limited to "above the neck."  But as I have swollen neck glands and exhaustion, I think I'm going to skip my planned five miles today and see if I feel better with a bit of rest.

Plus, I have a killer KILL THE COLD soup recipe:

• Chicken broth (Better Than Bouillon)
• Sriracha
• Powdered ginger
• Garlic powder

8oz of broth, smidge of sriracha, ginger, and garlic.  Instant rehydration, and I believe fervently with no evidence that hot sauce kills germies.

I had such a nice trail run planned.  Stupid summer colds.