Rookie mistakes

It's actually pretty funny, but I wasn't laughing yesterday. On Sunday, I woke up and checked my email. I got something from Active.com with some interesting articles. One of the articles discussed how to improve your stride (see previous post). This really caught my eye as I have been working on making my own changes for the past month or so. I haven't read up on Chi Running or the Pose method, but after viewing the Newton running videos and reading a few associated articles, I have been working on shortening my stride and landing on my midfoot. Basically, I am attempting to avoid heel striking as I think that has played a role in my hip injury and problems with plantar fasciitis.

The article suggests doing "Giant Walking Lunges" and "Single Leg Running," or better known as "hopping." :-) I didn't get in my weekend long run, so I thought I could do these simple exercises as a way of at least doing something helpful. Time was limited and I really needed to be getting ready for church. I decided I could do these quickly in my bedroom, barefoot. I did 10 lunges and hopped 10 times on each leg. Then I quickly followed this up with 25 crunches, 10 pushups, and 5 bridges. While I was doing my crunches, I noticed some sharp pains in my hips and groin. I ignored them and finished so I could hop in the shower.

I felt okay for most of the day, but by the evening, my legs and glutes started stiffening up. Oh, I also forgot to mention that during the afternoon, I helped my sister move into her new house. That meant I was carrying boxes up and down stairs for about an hour.

By Monday morning, I could barely get out of bed. Walking was near impossible. Even sitting was painful! My glutes and adductors were on fire with each step. I thought it would get better as I moved around, but not so. Okay, you wanna laugh? Picture this...I had to keep my back slightly arched as I walked with extremely short strides. Normally, it would just be my kids and husband seeing me walk funny, but I taught cello lessons last night which involves quite a bit of walking back and forth to meet my students in the lobby. I felt like I had to explain to everyone why I was walking so strangely. If I had just run a hard race, I would feel proud to explain. But saying that I was dumb enough to follow advice I read in an article the day before was hard to admit. So, I simply said, "I did a silly workout yesterday and am feeling the effects of it today."

I woke up today feeling a little better so I decided to go for a short run. I only made it out one mile before I had to stop to walk. And, that was going at a 12-13 minute mile!! I turned around and ran (or jogged very slowly) and walked back home.

Now, remember, I've been running for over 10 years and my husband is a running coach. So, why would I think that I've come across a simple answer to my problems in an article I read online? All I can say is that I guess I still make "rookie" mistakes now and then. Let's hope this is just soreness that will go away with a little more rest and I've not caused more injury. I'll keep you posted!

Final thoughts: An article may provide some good information, but it's best to play it safe and start slowly. Less is more!!