National Running Day

    I have spent a lot of brain power on my run training. Brain power because running has not been an option for nearly a year, due to injuries and arthritis. Today is National Running Day, at least according to a running friend of mine, so I decided it would be the day I needed to lace up the latest pair of running shoes and give them a test. I don't know why I keep holding on to the hope that if I can just find the right shoes, or the right combination of food and supplements, or the right strength training, or the right flexibility exercises, or a combination of all of the above, that I will manage to get past the intense pain I have when I run. Anyhoo, so I laced on the newest shoes, Adidas Lite Pacer 2, and headed out the door. First off, let me say, these have more cushion than most of the shoes I have been running in over the last few years, about the same as my Saucony Virattas. Next, let me say, these are damned comfortable shoes for power walking.
    So, I headed out the door, with the plan of just hitting the closest farm road. I just wanted to see how my right hip was going to behave, since it has been the problem child since about February. I didn't have a lot of faith. Even though I have been diligent with physical therapy, strength training, plyometrics, and stretching, my right hip hurts most of the time. It feels pretty delicate and easily tweaked. It also hurts enough that it makes it hard to sleep sometimes. Regardless of all this, I decided to see how running would feel. Yeah, I'm a bit of a masochist. I decided to walk at least 10 minutes before even trying to run. I wanted things to be decently warmed up. Power walking went well, as long as I paid close attention to technique, it only hurt a little. Then, the moment of truth, I broke into an easy run, short strides, higher cadence, good technique, mid to forefoot strike. And holymotherofgod! It felt like someone was stabbing a red hot ice pick into my hip. That is not normal. Hell, after all I've done to try and rehab my hip and knee, that kind of pain is just plain mean. I want to cry "foul" at this point. So, I backed off, back to a power walk. Much better. I walked a few hundred paces. Maybe it was just my stride? Core tight, abs in, pelvic girdle clenched, I broke into a gentle run. Okay. Better. Pain not quite so stabby and red hot. I switched to a near flat foot strike. Better. Still not great, but better.
    Over the course of about 2 miles I tried to run a half dozen time. It wasn't too bad as long as I was wildly conscious of all aspects of technique; soft foot strike, foot alignment, pelvis forward, abs in, core engaged, knees in tight and yet flexing. As soon as I would relax a little, maybe let my feet pronate, or knees turn out a hair, I would feel it either in my right hip, or high up in my left adductor. But no matter what I did, how I ran, the pain in my right hip was too sharp and deep to be ignored. Despite all the hours I have spent I can not PT this problem away. I have to come to the conclusion that it is not an injury that is going to heal given enough time, it is a chronic issue that will likely only be remedied with medical (aka surgical) intervention.
    What did I come away from this with? The knowledge that it is likely I will never run another race. But you know what else I came away with? That I can damned sure still power walk one. Time to start training to speed walk.