I wrote yesterday about having some minor back pain, and unfortunately its gotten slightly worse since then. I’ve narrowed down the symptoms as best as I can, did some research and based on what i’ve found so far, it seems like my hip flexor is the cause of my pain. I’ve had these types of issues before .. but never really found the cause (note that i’m not a doctor, but I will play one on this website..lol). I was supposed to get in 12 miles today, but ended up with a real easy 5.5 miles instead. I actually contemplated returning home after a quarter mile, but kept a short stride and slow pace, and got through.

The main symptoms are that both my hips have occasional throbbing soreness (with some shooting pais) .. I then sometimes get radiating pain over to my spine then sometimes I get a brief nerve pain shooting down part of my thigh (both sides)… that last pain down my leg only happens rarely, but thats something I wrote about a few weeks ago when it first started up (right before Baltimore). I’m not sure what has flared it up so bad this week, except for the weather and the increase in hill work.

So my plan for recovery is to take at least tomorrow off, if not Tuesday as well until the consistent pain is gone. I’ve been using the heating pad, ibuprofen and “Mineral Ice”, but i’ve also been stretching it out. I found some information on how to use different techniques to stretch your Hip Flexor muscles, because when it gets tight (which I think mine is), it causes the exact pain that i’m feeling. Its funny how the quads, the hips and the back are all tied together like that. If I’m not feeling relief by Tuesday, I may go to the chiropractor to get adjusted, I haven’t been to one of them for almost 2 years .. hopefully I can find one I like. I’m also going to keep active, doing some walking if I can when time allows ..

I’m hoping that with just 5 weeks to go (to the day) until the Philly marathon, that a few days of rest will get me well enough to finish off the season. At this point, I’m planning on focusing on the longer runs to keep my fitness up and not worrying about the speed and hills and all that stuff because I just really need to cut back on the miles. Maybe I didn’t take enough stepback weeks this summer.. actually, I only took a few days of lighter mileage this summer when I was on vacation. Other than that, its been 6 days a week of hard running since early May (averaging 55-70 miles per week).

I guess if this is the worst injury i’ve had all season, its not that bad, I know it will get better. I’m kind of sad though, I really am addicted to running and call into a depression when I can’t do it, but somehow i’ll have to get by..