Oh, running injuries...
I write this on the morning (July 8th, 2020) of what was supposed to be a 15 mile run around Paris Mountain, here in South Carolina.
However, the clicking in my left hip has not been going away and there was a bit of soreness and pain there this morning, and I do not want my hip in pain if it doesn't have to be. Who does?
So after some research around the cause of hip pain (references* below) the best course of action is (unsurprisingly): REST.
I knew that even before researching but honestly needed the confirmation, and really the permission, to pause training and heal.
Thinking back...
I've been here before, coincidentally training for my 33rd birthday run two years ago. In that case I had continued to push through what I thought was just a bit of dull pain in my left big toe - WRONG! Ha! It ended up turning into bursitis. It was the worst pain I've ever felt. When the severe pain came on, I couldn't walk and couldn't sleep. Getting it checked out led to scans and the diagnosis. That injury then kept me from running for 6 months or more. So not something I want to repeat.
Coincidence at it's finest
The other coincidence is I was just responding to other fellow runners in an online group, two separate ones having different pains, and advised to both to seek a medical professional or PT.
As a running coach in training, to quote my UESCA Running Coach Training material, "Dealing with injury is not within your scope of practice, and aside from telling a client to ice a sore area, the advice should always be to seek a qualified medical opinion."
So the best policy, and really only option, is to refer out as I'm not able to make a diagnoses. So that's what I did for the fellow runners, advising to seek a medical professional or PT. I also gave out a PT that I came across from the A to Z Podcast, Mike Swinger, along with noting his "Runner's Fix" book (which I won through a giveaway along with a hoodie from the previous mentioned podcast). The book has been a nice reference to have on hand. (Note: No paid advertising here. I just enjoy both the podcast and the book, so want to give props when props are due.)
Conclusions for Myself
Also going through my mind, but I didn't specifically state it to these two runners, was REST.
That said, I found my mind last night already debating if a 15 mile run today was really a good idea or not. I meant to do a bit my research on it last night, but just left it to this morning, after already resigning the fact that I was going to forgo the run. Though I knew that was the best course of action. The added research this morning, having confirmed that decision to rest, put my mind at further ease.
Next Steps
The benefit of having a self imposed goal is that I can change the end date, in this case birthday run date. I was already coming to the quick realization that trying to get enough training in in two months was going to be a lot. This was after having reassessed my training plan in the last week and saw the need to push the run to the end of August, about 2 weeks after my birthday. We also have some family obligations at the beginning of the month that I knew would also impact things, so was going to reassess again at the end of this month (July).
The Birthday Run, what about the Birthday Run?!
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to move the run. However, I definitely do NOT want my hip (along with my heel/plantar fascia and Achilles all in my left leg) to get worse and then sideline me again for months, like my big toe did two years ago. So again, I would rather rest and reassess in the coming days, do exercises/stretches/yoga that will help it, and then reassess from there with regards to my birthday run.
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Happy Running! ✌🏻😊
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*References
First off, I can't diagnose clients as a running coach (currently working on my certification at the time of writing this in July 2020).
However, I admit I'm guilty of researching my own injuries, not so much to self diagnose but really to be self informed. This way I can at least get an idea of the likely cause and from that see what next steps are for resolving and recovery.
I also reference multiple sources and articles and then look for common recommendations and then go with the ones least likely to cause additional injury or prolong my injury.
In the case of this injury, and again, rest was the best course of action.
Especially when I started reading that if it is the IT band, in my case, then it can lead to bursitis. Again, I've been there with my left, big toe and have no desire to experience that pain again, ha!
So here are a few references and articles I used and came across:
Mike Swinger's "Runner's Fix" Book
This book has been a God send. I won this as part of a giveaway back in May (2020) from the A to Z Podcast, and it's been a go to reference guide on two separate occasions now. Mike wrote this book to be a guide for that in between period where a pain or noticeable irregularity starts to hang around for a while but it's not quite at the point of needing the attention of a medical professional (NOTE: Please use your best judgement and seek the proper medical attention if you are unsure). This book covers areas of the body from your head to your toes. So you can start in the area where the issue exists and see if the recommendations (may be stretches or other exercises) in the book resolve it, or can then work immediately up or down the body and read the chapters on them, along with their exercises and stretches.
Runner's Fix book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Runners-Fix-Guide-Running-Pain-Free/dp/173279250X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?keywords=runners+fix&qid=1563675647&s=gateway&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=runphys-20&linkId=72747b34042912885ce303b46a2ce0b0&language=en_US
Mike's Website: https://runphys.com/
A to Z Podcast episode #29, where Mike was a guest: https://www.atozrunning.com/episode29/
Sports Health Website
3 Types of Snapping Hip Syndrome: https://www.sports-health.com/sports-injuries/hip-injuries/3-types-snapping-hip-syndrome
Snapping Hip Video: https://www.sports-health.com/video/snapping-hip-syndrome-video
Snapping Hip Syndrome Treatment: https://www.sports-health.com/sports-injuries/hip-injuries/snapping-hip-syndrome-treatment
Runner's World Website
I don't think I'm quite here but this was at least a nice article to reference from Runner's World: https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a19576110/iliotibial-band-syndrome/