After Winston Salem Duathlon was cancelled due to snow, I switched my registration over to Charlotte Duathlon which, as a late February race, had just as much likelihood as weather crappiness as any other winter duathlon around here. Fortunately, the sun was shining, the wind wasn’t all that strong and the temperatures were above freezing by the time we started.
My primary personal goal with this race was to see how my bike speed and fitness was doing off of the meagre mileage I’ve done in exchange for that run focus I did for several months. As it turned out, I rode fine, although my speed on run #2 was the biggest indicator of my lack of saddle time.
This race, put on by Finish Strong, is a small event filled with people testing out their winter legs in a race format. As such, I was able to lead the women’s field wire to wire, but that’s not what I cared too much about. Of real import was the fact that I had to do it with a sore right hip and related tightness in surrounding body parts. This didn’t do wonders for my run stride range of motion.
Why do I have a sore hip? Well, it has nothing to do with all that run focus mileage. I got through that with no problems. The big error was running too soon after that debilitating VDay Massacre-My-Legs Relay. I didn’t notice specific hip problems after the relay, but that could just be because other body parts hurt more. Who knows?
All I know is that I must do something funky when I run fast that causes this problem ALMOST EVERY TIME. You wonder why I don’t do track workouts? Why? Because I would do even less training because I would have to spend so much time resting, icing, resting, stretching, resting and massaging out my right quad, glute and hip every time I try and run faster than moderately quick.
Do I sound frustrated? Well, I am and yet again I ask myself why I bother. I know why I bother, but I still ask it to be sure. So here I am at the end of February having done very little running the past couple weeks and plans to do zero this coming week. Here’s hoping I still gain SOME benefit from the big-for-me running base I developed over this fall and winter.
Oh well. I need to focus on my bike and swim any way. Things will work out. They always do.
Eh, we all need to whine now and then, and then figure out solutions to what is causing the whining in the first place. Hope things improve for your hip. I have to say, it’s taken me almost 2 weeks to recover from that race!
Sorry about your hip Alicia, I noticed you were having problems with it on that ride a couple weeks ago. I have issues with my left hip/glute, only bothers me when I run, of course! You have all those running miles in the bank so I wouldn’t worry about a little down time
Oh, no! Every time I hear about hip issues I cringe since my hip has now been bothering me for a full year. I hope you have a speedy recovery. Injuries suck.
Here’s a more interesting report from the Raleigh Running Outfitters team page – http://tri.teamraleighrunning.com/blogdetails.asp?id=302.
Great job at the early season du!
I completely understand your frustration. Have you had it looked at to see if it’s a muscle imbalance or if your form breaks down when you run faster? You are on top of all of this stuff some I’m sure I’m not suggesting anything new. The good news is that base will still come in handy even with a little time off. Maybe you can do a little water running (ick, ick, ick)? I think water running more than anything just mentally helps you feel like you are still staying in touch with your running.
congrats on the du! Sorry to hear about the pain. Hope you get to feeling better soon.
Ahhh, that sounds exactly like what happened to me after Disney! I didn’t even realize my hip was sore until I ran too far too soon after the race. Just give it some love (rest, foam roller, you know the drill) and you’ll be fine. All those miles you’ve put in won’t disappear and you’ll be back on top of it soon.
“…my speed on run #2 was the biggest indicator of my lack of saddle time.” Smartest thing I’ve read in a long time.