How my Ouch Landed me on the Couch

I'm seriously feeling old here with my achy, creaky body. Last Tuesday, I did my tempo run and had a little trouble with it. I couldn't get my breathing regulated. I couldn't keep and maintain my speed. That sort of thing. On Wednesday, I went and did my regular 4 mile run with my running group (in 106* - holy moly it was hot!), and couldn't run very far. I thought it was just the heat, but the further I went, the more my left hip started hurting. Boo! On Saturday, I headed out to do my "easy" 10 mile run. And easy it was not. My hip hurt SOO bad. I ended up walking most of 8.7 miles and then called it quits. I stopped to do some stretching at the end of my run/walk, and when I went to stand back up, it was painful to stand on. I shuffled back to my car and drove home.

Once I got back home, I took some naproxen, took an ice bath, and then iced my hip and thigh on and off for a few hours. Luckily, my mom and step-dad were here, so they helped me keep the kids entertained for the day. We went to the pool for some easy swimming/playing and then made a trip to Mecca. Er, I mean Toys R Us. We were trying to find Danny a skid steer. The kid is obsessed with skid steers for some odd reason. It might be because his new favorite show is Mighty Machines (on Qubo Channel at 10am here in Texas). Toys R Us showed that they had it on their website, but we couldn't find it in the store at all. So instead, Danny got an encyclopedia of Cars cars. As Derek called it - it's a catalog of all the Cars cars that he doesn't have (Mom! I need that car, that car, that car, that car, that car, etc, etc, on for infinity). It is kind of cool because it gives some back story of all the cars and also includes the characters from Mater's Tall Tales, Cars, and Cars 2. If you have a Cars lover - this would be an awesome Christmas present. Piper got a giant ball with Dora the Explorer on it. That girl loves her Dora! After the kids got their new toys, we headed back home to meet my sister and her boyfriend for some delicious, healthy supper and board games.

By supper time, my leg was killing me again. I took another naproxen and was alternating heat and ice while playing board games with the family. I won two rounds of King of Tokyo, and then my mom won once and then it was midnight and I was falling asleep in my chair! This morning I woke up and my hip hurt still. I took some more pills, more heat and ice, and have just basically sat on the couch all day (other than a quick trip to Run On to try on some new shoes and get some gels). I guess it's a good thing this week is a taper week because I am pretty sure I am out of commission for the next week. I'm really hoping that I'm not in too much pain to run the Hottest Half on Sunday. It's very disappointing to be injured.

From everything I read on the interwebs, it sounds like I have a hip abductor strain/tendonitis, which can be caused by an increase in distance, speed work, and hill work. What? Your aren't supposed to increase all three of those in the same two week period?? Ugh! I am awful at biting off more than I can chew when it comes to running. It's just so addicting and makes me feel so good - yet at the same time, if you overdo it, it can hurt SO bad. Anyway, from what I read, it said that I need to just stay off my leg, rest, ice/heat alternately, take ibuprofen,  and do some light stretching. So that'll be my week this week. Along with play dates and grant writing and starting cheer/tumbling classes for Piper. When did my little girl grow up?

Speaking of little girls, my friend Erin that I've mentioned in previous posts is in Ethiopia right now (!!!) picking up her little girl that her and her husband are adopting. They are actually taking her out of the orphanage tomorrow. I am so, so, so incredibly excited for them and am now praying that their "cocoon" period goes smoothly and that they make a seamless transition from a family of four to a family of five.