And now for some hip pain

Why does something always hurt?.

50 degrees and sunny outside and I can’t run. Well, I guess I could, but I shouldn’t. Towards the end of yesterday’s big race, my left hip started hurting. I ignored it and ran hard, and now today I am paying the price. Ouch! It hurts just to walk.

I’ve been battling a slight case of runner’s knee since December. The pain was on the outside of my left knee and would come and go. It was never so bad that I couldn’t run, but some mornings it really hurt and sitting for any length of time made my entire knee stiff. I found some runner’s knee exercises on the net and started doing them. By February, the knee was much better. Then the hip pain started. Just a little soreness after a long run, but worse in the morning and very stiff after sitting for any length of time. This getting old thing is a bitch.

Yesterday I was actually pain free when I work up and very anxious to run. I guess I ran a little too hard. It was worth it. That was a great race.

Just like with my knee pain, I have been searching the internet to pinpoint the cause of my hip pain and what to do about it. I’m quite sure I don’t have a stress fracture. I don’t think I have bursitis. It’s very possible I stressed my iliotibial band when I started running longer distances and yesterday’s race stressed it even more. It could also be a boring old sprained ligament or strained tendon or muscle. I’m 48, not 28. Aches and pains happen and take longer to heal. It could also simply be my shoes. I wore some rather worn out Sauconys yesterday. Not quite ready to test out the new NBs in a race.

I don’t do doctors because they are just educated guessers. No one knows your body better than you. The human body is not a mystery and there is enough information at your fingertips to figure out what’s ailing you. I truly believe you should know what's wrong before you decide to see a doctor. See if they come up with the same diagnoses you did. If I thought I was capable of giving myself a stress fracture from running, then x-rays would be in order. But I'm not that good or that fast.

I am prescribing myself rest and a few ibuprofen. I have also added five hip exercises to my half dozen knee exercises which I do every evening. I should probably also retire the Sauconys and get the NBs ready for next Saturday’s race. I think I have about 20 miles on them. If they had plans to hurt me in some way, they’d have done it by now.

Stats:
Resting