Week two is off to a very chilly start! Thanks to the MLK holiday I had Monday off and spent the morning hanging out in the Lego store with my nephew. I spent the afternoon on the couch watching the inauguration and soaking in my rest day. In addition to laying around and being lazy I decided to have a little stretch-fest.
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Our various torture devices.
"Big Nasty" is Rob's roller in the background,
mine is the cute, petite orange one! |
Since half marathon training a year ago, my hips tend to get achy and stiff when my miles increase. Dr. Tristan Burton at Focused Health Chiropractic in Brighton became my go to guy for massage, stretching, cracking, overall support and good advice. Dr. Burton worked with me through the late summer and early fall to get me through my back to back half marathons last year. When I made the decision to commit to marathon training I knew Dr. Burton would be along for the ride. I met with him last week and reviewed my training plan. I was feeling guilty that I met with him to talk strategy, even though I was feeling pretty decent. I was relieved when he said he would rather see me when I am doing good to do preventative work, instead of work when it is too late. Phew, he didn't think I was some crazy ART(
Active Release Technique) groupie! He recommended some stretches and strength training exercises and worked on my right hip. The next day when I ran, my left hip really started to bug me and it has remained tight and stiff over the last week. I have been really good about stretching after my runs, and have even lengthened the amount of time I stretch, but I think it needs professional help. Good thing I'll be seeing Dr. Burton next week!
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| Get those doggies rollin'... |
Now I'll leave you with a little photo montage
of tonight's CHILLY run!
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| If I commit to people on FB, then I can't back out! |
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| Chilly, don't worry I only photograph while in Park! |
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Pretty (cold) in Pink
Molly (She's back from the plague), Laura & Me |
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| HOT chocolate with caramel. Yummm. |
My favorite hip tool is a tennis ball. Stand right next to the wall, holding the tennis ball between the wall and your hip (slightly above & behind your hip bone). Lean into the wall and mush the ball around until you find a tender spot, then stay there and keep mushing. I like this because the tennis ball is small and specific enough that it can help you find small, tender spots that you might miss with the roller alone. Hips are the "female runner's Achilles heel" - good luck keeping them in working order!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! That is what I use the lacrosse ball for, but I think the tennis ball would be a little bit more forgiving, haha. I was really hoping it would be something I could just get fixed and it would go away, but it looks like the pain is here to stay. At least I can manage it, I'm curious to see what happens when I go past 13.1.
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