Friday, July 9, 2010

The leg bone connected to the.... knee bone!

You know that old song...

The toe bone connected to the heel bone,
The heel bone connected to the foot bone,
The foot bone connected to the leg bone,
The leg bone connected to the knee bone,
The knee bone connected to the thigh bone,
The thigh bone connected to the back bone,
The back bone connected to the neck bone...


Yeah I might be losing my mind a little. Give me a break I've been laying on a heating pad for an hour, I might have feverish hallucinations...

Anyway my running has been crap this week. I didn't stretch well enough before my 16 miler last Thursday and had some hip pain afterward. No big deal I thought... it'll go away. I ran a 4 miler on Saturday (really fast for my pace!) and had more hip pain afterward. No problem I thought, it'll go away. Unfortunately it didn't. I ran 3 miles on Monday trying to "loosen it up" and just made it so I was limping when I was just walking... not good.

Tuesday and Wednesday I rested figuring 2 days rest can cure anything. It didn't. Still limping when I'm walking. I made an appointment with my training group coach (who happens to be a sports masseuse) to see what she thought about it. Thursday morning (before my appointment) I ran (gimpily) 6 miles. Why did I run 6 miles? I don't know, maybe so I could make the pain excruciating so I could tell her EXACTLY WITHOUT A DOUBT where it hurt. Who knows...

When I finally got to the appointment she took one feel of my muscles and told me (surprise!) it WASN'T my IT band OR my hips that were the issue. That amused me. Those were the two things I was focusing on stretching figuring the pain either came from tight hips or a tight IT band pulling on the hips.

She asked me to lie on my stomach and poked around my back (which I thought was weird) and then all of a sudden she pokes a certain spot and OH MY GOD!!! PAIN IN MY HIP!!!

I say.... "OH MY GOD THAT'S THE PAIN!"
She says.... "yep that's what I figured"
me: "really?? why would you figure that?"
she: "when your lower back is really tight it pulls your pelvis up into a tilted position when you run which puts strain on your hips which then pulls on your IT band, let me guess, you're having IT band problems too?"
me: "yep"
she: "do you stretch your lower back?"
me: "you can stretch your lower back??"
she: "yep"
me: "oh... well no then I've never stretched that before..."
she: "okay well then, this should be an easy fix for you, that's the good news!"
me: "cool!"

She then showed me some lower back stretches and recommended I get a heating pad to lie on before I do the stretches and at other random times to loosen up the muscles back there.

Results?: I'm already walking without pain today! I have a long run tomorrow so we'll see how that goes but I've been given the green light to run (as long as I'm not limping).

Yipeeeee! I will no longer look like THIS when I run!

14 comments:

  1. Nice. What a great quick-healing solution you got. I wish that would have the case with my Achilles, but it's fine now, just wasn't the quickest solution.

    Lower back stretches... who knew??

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  2. Your post had me a little scared there...BUT I am happy to hear that you are already feeling better...so great to have your Coach...also good to know that maybe I should be doing some of those Lower Back stretches my Yoga instructor is always suggesting! Good luck on your long run!

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  3. Awesome that you got your problem pinned down and diagnosed so quickly and with barely a hiccup in your training!!!

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  4. Dang girl! Stay healthy. Glad is was somewhat of an easy fix!

    PS - I gave my favorite treadmill lover a shout out today! :P

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  5. What kind of stretches - can I ask? Awesome to get a solution to problems isn't it?!

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  6. I often do some belly dance movements during my runs! They help my hips stay painfree.

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  7. I'm glad you're feeling better! Good luck with the long run!!

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  8. Sorry to hear you were hurting!!

    Stretching is the way to go. I think often times we are pressed for time or eager to get the run in and do not stretch enough. I'm trying to be more mindful of this lately.

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  9. OMG I'm having sick lower back pain too! I skipped two of my runs for Bikram yoga and that seemed to help a bit. Care to share these lower back stretches? Glad to know that you're all healed and back on the saddle again! Run, run, RUN!!!

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  10. Man, I would have just chalked it up to ITB issues and bemoaned my pathetic life. What a lucky break! Enjoy stretching out the lower back!!

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  11. Lower back stretches are key yet so many of us don't do them regularly. I'm glad you can walk/run without pain! That's major progress. Hope everything settles down for you. Have a great weekend!

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  12. Wow that's awesome she could pinpoint your issue so quickly. The foam roller has proved to be life changing for me and my IT bands.

    Definitely, definitely don't push it though if you are in pain. Resting is not lazy in that situation. It's smart. Always better to listen to your body than be sorry.

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  13. Sooo glad you found some relief (and answers). We need to talk more about this. Curious. Missing ya'! Haven't seen you on the road lately, between your gimpiness and mine. Ouch. Love and HUGS. Planning a meetup for locals soon.. hoping you'll be there! :)

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  14. Today I woke up sick and thought it would still be a good idea to run 15 miles. I ran 12 miles, had to walk three, and then laid on the floor for 45 minutes when I got home. This kind of reminds me of you running 6 miles to your coach when you couldn't even walk. :) Don't push it if you're injured. You want to be running for a long time, not just until Chicago.

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