The new year brings an unexpected pain in my right hip. It is just a twinge, and it bothers me when I start up. On the second run of the year the pain increases, now focused on the groin. I am wondering if I hurt it while flowriding on New Years Day. Flowriding is a surfing activity on a simulated continuous wave. A cross between surfing and skateboarding – I should have given it up to avoid injury but I really enjoy it……
I take Wed, Fri and Sat off that first week and run my long run on Sunday of 23 miles, for a total of 41 miles in the week. The leg was really in pain at the end of the run. I give week two a go, running 31 miles through Thursday, but I head to PT Thursday night to see what is going on.
Groin is a problem. PT suggests an iliopsas issue and a lack of mobility in the hip, something about my glutes not doing any work, forcing the adductors to do more and then they get tired and the iliposas does more and now there is a tendonitis of some kind. I take a week off, at the worst possible time.
Three pt sessions, and lots of stretching of the adductors and trying to strengthen core and getting glute to activate (doing all this at 9pm at night or in the morning, or sneaking in some stretching in my office when nobody looking during my 60 hour work weeks…..). Start running again Jan 18, six weeks to go before the Tokyo Marathon, things don’t look great….and I haven’t even done one marathon yet.
I finish 31 miles Thursday through Sunday (Jan 18-21), with a 16 mile long run. The new normal is tightness in groin, but bearable. I’ll take it if I can run and as mentioned it loosens up when I am running. Any doctors out there with a diagnosis, would love to get one.
Week 4 of January, decide to mix up cycling and biking. Sunday (Jan 28th) is exactly 4 weeks from the marathon, when I do a 26 miler. I need to know if I can run a marathon, so I sign up for the Miami Marathon on the 27th, a few hours before the expo closes. I had run 15 miles at the beginning of the week (two sessions), then biked another 30 miles toward the end of the week, take Sat off and run the marathon Sunday as a training run.
The Miami Marathon was windy and warmer than usual, in the 70s (humid of course). I am very consistent through the race; about 8 minute miles until 23 where there is an out and back to McArthur Causeway with wicked headwind – drop to about 9 min miles since I don’t want to push anything, finish with 3:37 and a sense of accomplishment that maybe with 4 more weeks of PT and tapering I can handle the Tokyo Marathon.
Totals for January: 160 mile
