Lazy-leg-swagger

For several runs, I've had a lingering dull pain near the upper part of my thigh - borderline groin but it's been hard to pinpoint.

I first experienced this pain during the San Tan Scramble last February...hobbling and humbling, it resulted in my only DNF. Ever.

It has recurred (seemingly randomly) in various situations and distances and despite all my stretching, strengthening and icing I have never been able to figure out what was going on. Until now.

During my run on Saturday, I noticed that as my distance got further and further, my stride changed. Specifically, my right leg got lazy. Instead of pushing my foot straight out in front of me, my lazy leg started to push my foot slightly out to the right. This causes my hips to open up just enough so that my hip flexor and groin have to work a tad harder each stride to propel myself forward and then straighten my hips, knee and foot back in line with each other.

Over several miles, the strain on my hip flexor and groin just caused my right leg to seize up. I really wanted to run some more but it basically said, "No way sucka".

So I conducted a little test for my theory.

My run this morning was focused on keeping good form - throwing my leg straight in front of my knee and limiting the lazy-leg-swagger.

Guess what. No issues. No pain.

I was able to knock out 6 miles with a pretty good pace considering I put 20 in the books the day before.

We'll see if my theory holds up this week.

A little perspective

Granted, I know there are horrible things going on in the world that are far worse than the week I've had so don't think I'm ignorant to the fact that despite my issues, things could be much worse. Perspective is key and something I'm trying to maintain as I work through this rough patch.

The knee is still bothering me.

I went for a run yesterday morning (having not run since last Tuesday) expecting things to feel pretty good. Turns out, the same feeling cropped up at the beginning of my run. Determined to figure out what it is, I started messing with my running form a bit. Quicker steps rather than longer strides. Leaning forward just a bit more.

That go me through 4 miles nearly pain-free but obviously, the aches are more apparent once the run is over. I iced my knees for about 20 minutes to keep the swelling down. That felt good. I then put some e-stim on them for about 1.5 hours. I have to say, the pain subsided throughout the day and around dinner time, felt like I hadn't run at all.

That was encouraging going into my long swim workout last night. Except for one thing. I wasn't feeling so hot. You know how you get that feeling/sense in either your throat, eyes or ears that you're coming down with something? Throw in some achy shoulders/neck last night after dinner and I was fairly discouraged. I bagged my swim knowing that (a) it would not be a good workout and (b) even if I did get anything out of it, I'd be that much more likely to get sick.

Fast forward to this morning - my right knee is slightly tender. Not like I'm limping or anything. I can put my full weight on it. It just bugs the hell out of me more than anything. I am struggling with whether to take time off from running completely or to work through it with therapy and a modified running schedule.

I also don't feel great - not full-blown sick but I can tell that something festers. Discouraging to say the least. But with less than 60 days before the race, I guess it's better to get this junk out of the way now, deal and muster everything I can to finish (that ultimately was the #1 goal).

Thanks for reading.