The hip is angry

Well, I rested my hip over the weekend.  I felt like crap missing my long run.  It's hard to shake the voices in my head yelling "slacker!!" even when I know it's the smart thing to do.  Looking back over my training log I realized that because I missed a run when I went to CA to visit my sister a couple weeks ago (again, slacker!) I went from running a total of 10.7mi in week 3 to a total of 15.5mi the next week - an increase of almost 50% from one week to the next.  And by week 5 is when I started noticing a twinge in my hip.  Everything I read about training strongly suggests not increasing mileage more than 10% from week to week, so I suppose that wasn't very smart on my part.

I've been trying to think of everything I could have done to make my hip angry again.  It's probably as simple as coming back from an injury and pushing it too hard too fast.  I just had been feeling so good the past month with training, I was totally on a high.  It felt really good, and I finally felt like I was starting to get stronger and running better.

Could it have been switching out my orthotics?  Did that change my gait enough while running that it bothered my hip?  I somehow doubt it, but it was also these orthotics that I was wearing when I injured myself last time too (hmmm, my bad luck orthotics?)

Could it have been increasing my running interval time?  Maybe 3:2 is my magic interval.  It seems unlikely to me, but I had just tried 4:2 for the first time right before my hip really started to bother me.  Perhaps the extra minute per interval of high impact on my hip was just too much.  I hope not because I actually preferred the 4:2 intervals.

Did I do something wrong during spinning?  This also seems doubtful to me because I was definitely feeling a bit of a twinge even before spinning, but I did have a bit of a problem with my left pedal strap.  My first choice bike (decided after having it for all of 2 classes) was already taken when I got to the spinning studio.  It's a bike way in the back and directly next to a fan.  I'm actually surprised I was able to get it the first 2 times!  Anyway, the left strap on the foot pedal of the bike I had on Friday was super loose and I couldn't figure out how to tighten it.  I didn't think it was that big a deal until I realized well into the class that because my left foot was perpetually about to fall off the pedal, I definitely had a slightly uneven pedal stroke, but after I realized it I concentrated on pedaling evenly and didn't think it was that big a deal.

E suggested it's the crazy humidity that was bothering my hip.  Well, with these thunderstorms we've been having the last few days...maybe it's just another example of me already being a crazy old person whose arthritis acting up means I can predict the weather.

Ok, well, that's my slightly neurotic over-analysis of my hip not being happy with me at the moment.  Hopefully the rest I allowed myself, continuing to take it a little more easy than I have been (I'm thinking elliptical tomorrow instead of pounding pavement), and possibly scaling back a wee bit will allow me to ease right back into training and not affect me big picture.

A milestone day!

So my total logged training miles today entered the triple digits!  Woo-hoo!  I actually thought today's run kinda sucked, but now that I realized that I'm pretty psyched.  Although I just checked out B's, E's, & M's miles and they're lightyears ahead of me in mileage.  I guess they were pretty busy during those 3mos when I was injured!

Speaking of injury, my right hip has been bothering me a teensy tiny bit since my 8mile run.   It's not so much pain as it is just funny twitches all throughout my groin and especially my inner thigh.  My PT told me that when the hip is unstable the inner thigh muscles feel like they have to go into overdrive to help maintain stability.  Maybe I need to concentrate a little more on building the strength in my hips with some simple daily exercises.  Mental note: let's get on that Kate.

Guess who's back!?!

So it's been a while, but I'm happy (more like ecstatic!) to report that I'm back in action!  I can't say that I'm 100%, but I'm feeling good enough that I've jumped right back into training and so far so good!  The last few months have seen a lot of tears, a lot of temper tantrums (I just want to get back to the gym!  Wah!), a lot of physical therapy, a couple trips to my hip surgeon, and a lot of being impatient...

Good news (scratch that, FANTASTIC news) is that I got official word (after an MRI w/ contrast in my hip) that I absolutely did NOT get another labral tear - or any other kind of tear for that matter - in my hip again.  PHEW!  That would not have been pleasant news as my surgeon made it painfully clear that second surgeries for labral tear do not have a very high success rate.  So once again, PHEW!  He suspects that I just made the labrum "angry".  Ok, well, let's avoid that again ok?  Apparently my hip has a temper similar to this Irish hot head...  He also strongly suggested that I refrain from partaking in any more bootcamp classes because it's just asking for injury.  That's actually a major bummer because I absolutely LOVED bootcamp.  But if avoiding bootcamp = avoiding another hip injury then I guess that's just a smart decision.

I definitely did injure my back though, way back when I injured myself (Valentine's Day to be exact).  I've been doing lots of back strengthening exercises, and I was going to PT consistently for a while, but I haven't been lately (it's getting harder to fit it in the schedule!)  I still have some back pain and I still get some pain in my hip, but I think the benefit of training outweighs the pain, so I'm just going with it.  I definitely need to ice a lot though.

We joined a new gym for the summer (Cedardale) as a family membership that has a bunch of outdoor pools, wading pool, shallow kid pool, playground and sprayground for the kids and the largest number of cardio machines I've seen in 1 place, plus an indoor track and indoor adult only lap pool, so I'm pretty psyched about all the different ways I'll be able to cross-train, plus the ability to run around the track on my run days if the hubs is traveling and I have to run at the gym for the use of the babysitting room (instead of only having the option of treadmill indoors).  It also has a 2 bars, which I think pretty much rocks.

So today was the end of Week 1 of training (well, tomorrow is, but technically that's a rest day).  I did my "long" run for Week 1 today - it was supposed to be 1 hour ~ 5mi, but I'm definitely slower than that.  I've been following the 20 week Marathon Trainer Pro 26.2 for Pink training app on my iPhone, and I like it so far.  When I say "run," I really mean walking/running intervals, which is the way this training program is designed.  I don't want to run more than 3x per week because I think that will be too much stress on my hip, and I definitely don't want to run 2 consecutive days in a row.  This program right now has me running 2 shorter runs during the week and then a longer run on the weekend, 2 rest days (for now), and 2 cross-training days.  Pretty soon though (week 4 I think), one of the rest days is supposed to turn into another shorter run day (which will mean 4 runs/week AND running 2 days in a row every week), but I think I'll substitute that for another cross-train day.

I'm also loving my wireless headphones.  The hubs had a pair and kept trying to convince me to try them, but because they look a little ridiculous and I thought they wouldn't be comfortable while running, I totally resisted.  They're like headphones you wear around your neck instead of over your head and on your ears, and then there are wired earbuds that connect up from that.  I thought the part that just hangs around your neck would bounce too much, but it doesn't at all, and I'm a big fan of them.

So...Week 1 down...19 to go!

Just a little old lady...

So Tuesday night, bootcamp was pretty awesome.  Tom kicked our butts as usual, and I was feeling really good.  Then pretty much at the end of class, I felt a little tweak in my right hamstring/butt/hip doing squats and my hip started burning a little.  Injury is always a bummer, but this also happens to be my "bad" hip, so when I feel something in my bad hip, I get more than bummed - I get very nervous.

Before I started doing bootcamp last April, the last time I worked out on a regular basis was in 2006 (the year I got married).  I was going to the gym 2-3 times per week before work to try to get in shape for my October wedding, and I was also walking everyday at lunch.  I continued going the gym and walking at lunch even after the wedding, and some time in Nov/Dec (I forget exactly when now) I was doing cardio and felt a little twinge in my right hip, but didn't think anything of it.  I finished my workout, and felt totally normal.  During lunch that day, my hip started hurting so much I had to stop walking, and within 3 days the pain was so bad that I couldn't walk at all.  Long story condensed a little, after visits to more than several doctors, more wrong diagnoses than I can remember, pain meds that I hated (and stopped taking), hours and hours of PT, bouts of being unable to walk, walking with a cane for a long time, pregnancy, and subsequently caring for a newborn - FINALLY I got the correct diagnosis of labral tear with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI).  It only took 2 years...  Funny enough, the longest pain-free time I had during all that time was when I was pregnant.  The doctor who ended up correctly diagnosing me, explained that everything loosens up and stretches out during pregnancy, so that's probably why - I even got to stop walking with the cane (grateful for that!)  Although, if anyone was able to rock a cane and rock it well at Foxwoods for Jill's bachelorette party, it was THIS girl!

So in December 2008, I had arthroscopic surgery to repair the tear in my labrum and shave off the bump causing the FAI in my right hip joint.  Immediately following the surgery, my husband took a week off work to take care of our 7-month old (and me), but the week after that he had to take us to my in-laws house to stay for a week because he had to go to Sweden for a week for work.  The night before he flew home we had The Great Ice Storm of '08 and lost power for 10 days.  I was on crutches, we had a 7mo baby, I was supposed to be going to PT (but couldn't - I don't think even my PT's office had power), and we had nowhere to live because we had no power...so we were nomads for the next week and a half (after already not being home for the previous week).  Needless to say, that was one of the most difficult and unpleasant times of my whole life.  As a result of the storm, I was very delayed on starting my PT, and I really don't think that did me ANY favors with my recovery.  I had to be on crutches for 6 weeks, and I don't think I ended up getting any PT scheduled until after I was already off the crutches.

Even after PT ended, I kept living an essentially sedentary lifestyle because

• after 2 years of being injured, being sedentary was in my "comfort zone," 
• it was "easy" to be sedentary because I was exhausted ALL the time having a baby who would NOT sleep through the night, and 
• despite the fact that I wasn't "injured" anymore, physical activity was still quite uncomfortable and even painful still - probably from not getting my PT done when I was supposed to.  (Built up scar tissue?)  Oh and ps- the hub's grandmother fell from a bus and BROKE her hip during this same time, and she recovered better than I did!  (and probably complained a lot less too...She's kind of a rock star).

I was lazy, unhappy, and pretty disgusted with myself.  But - I ended up getting pregnant again (with Little) that August (2009), so that put a damper on any significant plans of getting back in shape.  I did join the Y though, and attempted putting Big in the babysitting room more than a few times, so I could walk on the treadmill, but he would freak out and scream and cry and have his pathetic little face pressed up against the glass door smearing snot everywhere, and they have a 10min limit on that, so I had to keep coming to get him and I finally just gave up on that.  I thought Big had been a big baby (9lb 10oz), but then Little was born at 11lb 2oz.  (It's kind of funny to call him "Little").  I really was quite ridiculous looking as a pregnant lady.  Anyway, you just don't "recover" from that...the belly will NEVER be the same.  But after a bout of post partum depression and just generally feeling awful about myself, I started going back to the Y and getting serious about working out again.

 One of my first days back at the Y, I met Tom, the Health and Wellness Director, and we started talking about my fitness goals and stuff.  He told me he was attempting to put together a bootcamp class as long as he could find enough people for it (there's a 4 person minimum or they cancel classes).  Well, he found enough participants, and I have now consistently been going to bootcamp 2x/week since last April, and it has had such a positive effect on my life.  I'm a much happier person, I have more energy, I feel stronger and healthier, and it's just been great!  In Sept/Oct my friend Sharon (who was my PT after my surgery and then became a friend) started teaching Pilates on Monday mornings at the Y (and then in January she also started teaching it Wed. evenings, which I've been going to also).  So since the fall,  I've added in Pilates and love it.

Then came the goal of running the marathon in October, and subsequently the half marathon in May, and despite the fact that I've made no secret of despising running - I've gotten SO excited about running both of those races and they've become such a huge part of my life (with training schedules set to last practically the entire year).  And I've even noticed some significant changes in my strength and overall appearance, especially since I added regular running into my routine.  I feel toned, I can see some muscle definition, and I just feel like I'm getting in shape.  Now I'm doing bootcamp 2x/week, Pilates at least 1x/week, and running 3-4x/week and I couldn't be happier.  It's amazing what regular exercise can do for your body AND your mood/attitude.  So now I feel like I NEED it, and the thought that an injury - and possibly getting the SAME injury as before - royally freaks me out because not only does it pose the risk of not achieving my goals of running the half and full marathons, but it also represents the possibility of no longer being able to live the active lifestyle I've come to love and having to return to the land of despair, self-pity, and self-loathing...NOT someplace I ever want to be again!!

Therefore, I'm taking a few days off to rest and recover, and seriously crossing my fingers that all I did was strain/pull a muscle and I'll be back to normal in a little bit.  I've been icing on a regular basis and taking a regimen of Advil for inflammation and pain.  When it comes to injuring my "bad" hip, I have to take it very seriously.  I just CAN'T go back THERE...  Ugh, I do have "old lady" loves - a wee obsession with Murder She Wrote, Matlock, Perry Mason, Masterpiece Mystery on PBS, chamomile tea at night before bed, cross-stitching, comfortable, unattractive braziers (much to the hub's dismay), one-piece skirted swimsuits, all things Angela Lansbury...but I do NOT love my old lady hip...