Facing the Facts

ANOTHER running injury. Tons of big races and big goals on the horizon.  I've been thrown quite the obstacle, but it's time to face the facts and get back on track!

So what's wrong with me THIS time? My hips have been super tight, barely any motion left in them. And I've been suffering from some pretty bad groin pain. With Hood to Coast in just a few weeks, a 50k at The North Face Endurance Challenge Series-Wisconsin, and other full and half marathons yet to tackle this year... I figured it was time to stop guessing with Dr. Google and go see a PT!

I went to OSR Physical Therapy and asked the specialist Shaun Palmer to give it to me straight. There was no sugar coating. For starters, he compared my flexibility to that of a 70-year old grandmother. And apparently I have a slight leg length discrepancy (one leg shorter than the other). All this had led to my hip/pelvis slowly popping out of alignment. Thankfully, he was able to do some funky move that popped it back in place.  It felt like when you hit your funny bone, not pleasant but not painful. But it DID already start feeling better after that!

The other news... the groin pain. It was my real problem that I was afraid to hear the answer to. But based on what Dr. Palmer told me, is I have Iliopsoas Tendonitis. Nothing completely debilitating, but concerning. He said if I don't stretch and strengthen, I'm going to run into the same problem on my other side. Ideally, I'd need to rest but he thinks with a strong stretching regimen and going slow I should be able to make it through Hood to Coast. 

I'm thankful for Dr. Palmer for giving me the facts so I can get on the fast track to recovery. But I was worried about my 50k! I need to be tackling some heavier miles and I'm having trouble just doing 3 miles at a time! 

So I went to my online running coach, Larry from SweatTracker, and after we chatted a tough but smart decision had to be made. I will need to step down from the 50k. 

Although a sad one to make, there's still a happy ending to this decision. I'll instead be running the Marathon Relay with good friend and BibRave community manager Julia! And by taking the 50k off my plate for now, I'll be able to focus on getting stronger and recovering so I can still tackle my full marathon 3:30 goal and the other half-marathons I have sprinkled in for now. 

I've learned my lesson in the past when it comes to making smart decisions versus "toughing it out". And while my injury will set back a few of my goals, I know I'll be a much stronger runner at the end of it all. Plus, I'm positive that by tackling this head first early on, I still have time to salvage my 2015 and still make it my comeback year! :D 

Thanks for reading and happy running folks!  Tell me, have YOU ever had to give up on a running goal, because it was the smart thing to do? 

UPDATE: I've been on the stretching routine for a week and managed to get quite a few small runs in! I'm not at a full 100%, but definitely feel like I'm now on the mend and well along the road to recovery.