Monday, October 27, 2008

BACK TO BACKS.

Years ago, when I was running and training with a group, we often did back to back workouts. We might have an evening 5k or 10k race, and then meet again in the morning for a long slow run. I was always amazed at really how good that felt--after a hard run at night, a nice slow long run felt relaxing and was actually a good recovery workout.

But I'm not talking about back to back workouts. I'm talking about back to back trials here in the office. Its almost ridiculous how this happened, but suddenly I realized about mid-October what the end of the month and the beginning of the next month would be like--working 10 hour days most days, and constantly being in high gear.

Somewhat like training for a big race, where you do all your prep work (training) up to two weeks before the big event, the same thing happens in trial prep. Unlike training for a big race, where you taper the last 2 weeks before the big event, in trial prep you gear up more the last two weeks. Lucky for me I only have a small part in both of these, so that shows how much more is required of the attorneys. Everything is so technical now in court also that you have to get the techies on board to work along with you, and that's not always an easy task. They have a totally different idea of what "I need it now" means. The usual no help from the helpless desk.

Anyway, such has been my life the last few weeks, changing my running plans for the next month now. Which actually might be a good thing since this hip thing is really getting to be a nuisance and a mystery at the same time. I suspect its a tight hip flexor muscle, but none of my usual therapies are working.


Saturday, after the deluge of rain stopped, it cleared up enough for me to consider getting outside. It was brisk and partly sunny, requiring me to bundle up a little more than usual. But it felt good to be outside again after spending all week inside or not doing anything but working. The plan was to just do my 3 mile loop, and if all went well to go longer on Sunday.

All did not go well. It started out okay however. I have 3 checkpoints on this route, where I check my time to see how I'm doing: if I hit my average times, I feel okay with that. If I'm slower, I know I'm not ready to be running. And if I'm faster, then woo hoo, I'll take that. I was only slightly faster than average so felt okay with that. I was having no hip tightness or pain. There was one scary moment when I saw something dangling from a tree and realized it was a huge spider dropping down from its web! It was Halloween horror, for sure.


All I could imagine was what if I'd been running in the dark like usual through here??? It would have gotten in my hair!! Shudder.
But I was still good on time at the next checkpoint and was really enjoying the day, especially since the all day rain predicted was not happening.
Right around 2 miles it happened--suddenly that hip flexor muscle tightened right up, almost like a vice grip, and I had to stop and start walking. Then it was sore and stiff and I ended up walking the rest of the way home. I could not run any more. I was actually limping somewhat and off balance. Using the foam roller when I got home was excruciating, actually taking my breath away, making it impossible for me to tolerate that torture for only a few minutes. Then I iced.
It was sore all day, achey sore, and Sunday I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and it was fine. Today I did a spin class and it was fine. So I have to figure this thing out. I do not want to have to stop running for any length of time and rebuild my base--again--but I may have to take a week or so off. Any ideas will be welcome, but I've probably tried everything!
Hope everyone had great weekends!

10 comments:

jahowie said...

I hope that work slows down for you. That is a wicked looking spider!! I'm worried about your hip. Maybe it's time to see a doctor.

Marlene said...

Oh man, now I'm going to be paranoid every time I run under a tree! EEEK!

Unknown said...

Thank goodness you saw that spider. Makes me shudder!

chia said...

Oye! If you want a new massage guy to try out, the dude that tended to me after my 20 miler is amazing. He's a lot more new age than I think you may be used to but he's a brilliant healer.

Good luck :-)

Unknown said...

I understand what you mean about work stuff. It happens to me sometimes too. Ick.

Not sure what is going on with your hip, but I hope you get it figured out. I'm taking more time off running again while I undergo knee treatment, and it's frustrating!! I hope you don't have to take too much time off.

Calyx Meredith said...

The spider gave me the hee bee jeebies. Good luck with the ramped up work goings on and the sore/tight hip.

Anonymous said...

Dangit! Injuries suck. I hope this hip thing gets better for you soon. Rest seems to be the best option for a while...good luck :)

Scary spider!!

Sunshine said...

I don't have bright ideas for your hip recovery.. but I certainly send you my best wishes... and my cheers. You are an inspiration to me.

Anne said...

I've had some scary encounters with spiders from running in the dark. I know: gross!

My husband does IT part time for a law firm in San Diego. I hope your firm's partners are much more amenable to actually buying modern equipment...people here seem to believe computers and servers and printers last forever and refuse to invest a dime in upgrading until, of course, they die at a critical time and blame the tech guy instead of the misers with the newest Mercedes.

Black Knight said...

Sometimes it is better to meet a spider instead of a "human". I listened too many tales in these latest times.