oye, my aching hips!

Long run was 5 miles on Sunday. I've not run that far since the Turkey Trot 10k that I did, where my IT band decided it hated me and I hobbled across the finish line. It was on the treadmill - which was more challenging mentally than it needed to be. Somewhere around 3.25 miles I was just so BORED. But, a half mile later, I was still flying, and feeling pretty good. I also huffed and puffed out loud during the last quarter-mile (sorry, dude next to me!). But, whatever, I finished. Then I went to lunch in Saratoga so my two running buds could finally meet each other! YAY! We were supposed to run a marathon relay that day, but none of us were really ready - or looking forward to it. It would be a bummer if one of us got hurt on a race we weren't really "feeling" while we're all training for something else. So we decided to skip it and just eat instead, hehehe. It was a fun afternoon with the girls! We're all running the Lake Placid Half Marathon together in June, so it was good everyone's met. I'm sure we'll be running many other races together, too!

Anyway, Sunday night there was a pain in my hip every time I stood up from a seated position. Not a muscle pain, a stabbing one:( I knew this pain. A few years ago when I first started to try to get into running this pain (that I tried to run through, after all, it didn't hurt when I was ACTUALLY running) sidelined me, for a while. So, I went into action. YAY FOAM ROLLER! haha. I love that thing. I foam rolled the crap out of my hips and IT bands. Then stretched, then i iced it a bit. The next day was a "rest" day, and President's Day. So I did pretty much nothing. Except read. I read a bunch about hip/IT/running issues. It seems likely, based on my past workout history, that my quads are much stronger than my butt/hip muscles. So, that may be part of the issue. Also, I've always been plagued by IT band problems - I over pronate something fierce (thanks Fleet Feet Syracuse!), and I know my left leg is a smidge longer. So, besides being BFFs with my foam roller, I found some new exercises to do! I tried some at home, to see how the felt - good. Until the morning! wow! those things worked. I also did speed intervals that morning. (got in 3 sets of 4, and a faster high pace woo!) So now my hips are ACHY! yesterday was tough. But today was xtrain - lifting and elliptical. I woke up late so I got to the gym late, so I didn't have as much time as I'd have liked. But I still got in a solid hour long workout.

My hips are still a bit sore - but muscle growth sore. So it's all good. The stabbing pain is gone. YAY! Hopefully I now know how to beat it if it comes back - which hopefully it won't as I work on my buns of steel! :)