Sports bras, half marathons, hip pain, and Dr. Google.

I know I say this every time I start blogging again, but I really mean it this time:  I am going to post more regularly from now on.

Even if it's just a picture with one stupid little sentence from the deep recesses of my brain, like this pic from yesterday's 16 mile long run in the heat:

When the dog slobbers all over the front of himself during the run just as much as you sweat....


So expect a lot of what you just saw on here kids.  My sanity these days depends on having some sort of fun and creative outlet, and, unfortunately, you all are going to bear the brunt of my bad sense of humor just so I can maintain the blogging habit again.

But I do have a bit of a longer post planned for today, seeing as some recent running things have happened in my running life:

• I ran a half marathon race in a sports bra and shorts, and
• My right hip has been nagging me with soreness for the past two weeks.

The half marathon was last weekend, and of course it was on a day where we had dangerous heat.  The course had very little shade and, even though it was well-supported, I knew that trying to use the race as a tune-up half to run marathon pace just wasn't going to happen.  So I made my goal just to run my first race in a sports bra instead.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.  Really.

I kept the pace slow (ran it in 2:18...a very slow race for me), but not just because of the heat--I was also running slow because my right hip capsule has been sore for weeks.  And by "sore" I mean "a deep pain would happen trying to hold the gas pedal down while driving" type of soreness.  A soreness whereby I was testing daily to see if it was really a stress fracture in my femur level of soreness.  A soreness where sitting down in a regular position on the couch was painful.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that my hip was really really sore.  And it was very concerning.

But of course I kept running on it, and then complained about my hip being sore.  I finally did what any other normal runner would do to see if could get some relief from the discomfort--do some research on Google. (What, did you think I was going to go to a doctor? Crazy talk.) After exhaustive and extensive research on the internet and a lot of jamming my thumb into various parts of my hip and glutes to see where it hurt the most, I diagnosed myself with a pain in the piriformis caused by weak hip and glute muscles.  This made sense to me, especially since during my last marathon training cycle I did absolutely no lower body strengthening whatsoever.  It seems that the muscles in my glutes and hips responsible for motions other than forward propulsion got all weak and stuff and then all of a sudden it's hurting to drive a car.

Since I made my own expert diagnosis using Dr. Google and my thumb, I have been trying to strengthen those weak glutes and hips with these exercises from Strength Running:

And by doing these plyometric workouts from Cathe because they involve a lot of squatting and lateral hip exercises: High Intensity Interval Training, Plyo HiiT 2, and Crossfire.

Are they working?  Well, remember that 16 mile run I did yesterday?  My hip didn't bother me once.  And while it was a little sore when I woke up today, I am happy to report that I can sit, walk, and drive a car normally.

Now if only I can get that nagging pain on the top of my right foot to go away.  So, if you'll excuse me, I have to go consult Dr. Google again.  Until that time, enjoy the non-learning learnings meant to summarize this post but really are just a list of nonsensical random thoughts I couldn't find a way to coherently put into the post above:

• I do really mean it this time - a pic a day at least on this blog.  Contain your excitement, kids.
• Feeling like someone is grabbing the top of your femur and squeezing while you're driving is a weird feeling.  Very weird.
• Cathe's workouts are full of jumping, and jumping is fun, ergo plyometrics is fun. 
• I'm glad my hip didn't bother me yesterday on my run because then I could really focus on just how miserable I was in the heat and how much my bra was chafing.  Good times.

Upcoming workouts: More plyo and some weights today, and a crazy amount of 1200s for tomorrow's speed session on the 'mill.  Even more good times.