The past couple of days my hips, groin, and butt have been flaring up. It was getting increasingly difficult to sit at work because burning sensations have been coming back to me. I got home last night and knew it would be a bad idea to run or do anything too intense so I opted for a walk. As I started the walk, I started to feel a little bummed. My legs were tightening up, especially my left hip and thigh and groin. On top of that, my right foot started to feel like it did when I had plantar fasciitis-a poking in my heel which might have also been because I wore a new pair of flats yesterday. As I saw all the runners, I started to feel a sadness come over me. I thought, “I want to run!!!”
There is no use in feeling bad about an injury so when I got home and googled piriformis, sciatia and hip pains so I could try to learn more on what is wrong and how to fix it. One of the more helpful sites was Spine Health on sciatica. There are pages upon pages of information that I am going to scour through and get educated with. I know it can be risky to research online about injuries, but so far I have been pretty good at finding enough resources to find which ones might be more accurate to my case. It seems like I am having a piriformis and sciatica issue, which makes sense after all my back pain at Lollapalooza and other events. I also talked to a friend who has similar issues and she has a pinched nerve. She said she has just been focusing on doing a lot of yoga to stretch and strengthen.
One of the important pieces that I read is that complete rest may not be the best. It is good to rest after the initial flare up but it is important to get back to strengthening so that the muscles can help support the back. It is important to strengthen your core and back muscles to help relieve some of the sciatica pain. So it’s good that my friend and I are keeping up with yoga! We need to keep up the good work with our lizard pose and other great poses that help open and stretch our hips and groin.
Lizard Pose
I got home from what started as a walk to make me sad but ended in me being even more motivated and determined to strengthen myself. I did the P90x ab ripper workout followed by yoga stretches, foam rolling, and a few push ups here and there. I can’t find the ball I used to roll my foot on so I asked my friend to bring a golf ball to work for me so I can work on my foot. I am also going to try really hard to get motivated to swim because I am probably starting to lose some of my aerobic fitness.
Hey body-you can’t hold me back!! I AM going to run another marathon! I was actually thinking if I weren’t already signed up for NYC 2013 it would be fun to run Chicago Marathon again as my comeback race since it was my first marathon! Oh well-next time! 
Me Kim and Rachel after our FIRST marathon!
Has there been a time you have been injured and got a little bummed out? What made you get motivated?
I definitely get bummed out every now and then. But when I do, I try to think of all the other athletes that have been injured and how they have persevered because of their passion and dedication. I also think of how this will make me be more appreciative of my health and also a better athlete overall. Mental strength is just as important as physical strength!
What is your favorite core workout?
I’m growing to love P90x ab ripper x, but I am going to make sure to mix it up!
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Hey! First of all love your blog! I’ve followed it for quite a while, you are definitely the reason I bought my bike. Anyway, I am just getting back into my running because I had been on a bit of a hiatus for a while due to time constraints, but I did want to give you some encouragement. A couple of years ago I was training for my first marathon and ruptured my L4/L5 disc. I was at the end of my run when it finally went. It had been bulging for a while I believe, and I had very similar complaints as you. Sciatica pain, thigh pain, once it ruptured I had it all the way down my calf with numbness in my left foot. Short story, I finally ended up having a microdiscectomy and had immediate relief and was able to get back to running relatively quick. The biggest thing I learned which maybe would have helped me prevent it rupturing is having a strong core and stretching. Both of which you are doing an excellent job at. Not me though, both of those things had taken a backseat to my running workouts. Take it easy, trust me I know the feeling of not being able to run, it will come back if you take care of you. Keep it up!!! Cheering you on through the healing process!!
I am so pumped that I inspired you to get a bike!!! How is biking going?!
AND most importantly, thank you so much for your encouragement! I find your story inspirational for me to keep up with my strength and core work. I'm bummed that you had to get better through means of a surgery, but glad that it was a quick recovery!
Thank you for being my cheerleader!
Ha ha! The bike is still on the trainer because I don’t have a riding buddy and I’m a bit nervous to go for a long ride for fear of getting hit by a car. Literrally the week after I got it one of my guy friends was hit during a morning ride. He is okay but it got me nervous. Funny how in college I would trust a 14 ft long fiber glass pole with my life ( I was a pole vaulter) but now I’m afraid to ride a bike down the road. I blame the fact that I’m a mom now.
I will overcome it though!
I definitely understand! I was very scared about getting hit by a car. We had a couple people get hit by a bus in Boston and unfortunately one recently died. It is scary and it is smart to have a buddy. I was lucky to have some friends who were getting into biking too and some who were already experienced. I hope you find a buddy soon!!