Happy runner, interrupted.

I met with my doctor today to go over my MRI. 

The good news: No fracture. 

The bad news: Two tears and hematoma. 

My gluteus minimus and tensor fascia latae are torn. The hematoma is just from the internal bleeding (from those tears). The doctor said he could aspirate the hematoma but recommended letting it resolve on its own. Otherwise, the treatment is just rest.

Rest for 4 more weeks. As in, no running. No. Running. For. Four. More. Weeks.

I'm to ice the area and rest. Avoid stairs and hills. If I don't have pain, I can walk (wooo!) and I can try out biking, if I'm so inclined. Honestly, I'm not all that inclined given that a) I don't own a bike and b) I'm about as spastic a bike rider as they get.

But, I might be tempted after another week or two of inactivity. We'll see. 

In the meantime, I'll do my best not to mope.

Yup.

If this blog gets too mopey, feel free to give me a virtual kick in the shin. What can it hurt? I can't run anyway.

Wah, wah.

Impatience is not a virtue.

I have been very good about resting my lame hip for the past 2+ weeks. Very good.

So on Sunday, when I went out for a walk, I thought I might live life on the edge just a little and run a few steps. To try out the hip. See if the rest is doing anything at all.

Apparently, my impatience was a bad idea.

After about a half mile walk, I ran maybe 5 steps. That's it. Five lousy steps. The pain was quick, searing and unbearable. I had to stop immediately and limp home.

Crushed.

It was not a good idea. I know this -- in hindsight. At the time, though, it didn't seem like such a bad idea. In fact, it seemed totally fine. Go for a walk. Run just a little bit to test things out. Walk as necessary.

I go back to the doctor tomorrow. Obviously, I'll be resting until then when he'll tell me . . . what? To be patient? Probably. He'll probably tell me to be patient. To rest. Let it heal.

Yeah. I'll get back to work on that patience thing! 

Have a good week, everyone -- 

Rest, rest, and more rest.

Day 13 of no running. Boo! Hiss!

My hip still feels off. It is still swollen. I've been to the doctor and had x-rays and an MRI. On Tuesday, I go back and, until then, I'm not supposed to run. At that point, I will have been resting for over two weeks.

Gah!

I keep telling myself that this time off is important. Obviously, since I'm injured, I can't run. But more than that, this time off is giving the un-injured parts of my body a rest as well. It has also been a chance for me to do some more concentrated cross-training. I'm a little limited in what I can do, so I've been focusing on weight workouts that don't stress my hip. Strong upper body, here I come!

I believe -- I have to believe -- that this forced rest is positive. After my hip heals and I return to running, I'll be back feeling stronger and refreshed from the rest. As I think back over the past few years, I see that I've basically been training with little-to-no-rest since two weeks after my son was born, two-and-a-half years ago.

Sure, I've had weeks of reduced running but I haven't truly taken a running break. An injury was bound to happen, I suppose.

So, here I am now. Injured. But looking at it as forced rest. A necessary evil.

It had better yield good results!

Have a good weekend, everyone. Thanks for reading.

Who needs a ride? (giveaway winner!)

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway for a copy of Jennifer Graham's book, Honey Do You Need a Ride?

I used random.org to pick the winner from the eligible entries and the winner is . . .



Amy Glass



Congratulations, Amy! Send me an email at felicehalf [at] yahoo [dot] com with your address and I'll get your copy of the book right out to you!

Enjoy the day, everyone!