Sore hips...

Hi Folks,

I'm training for a 20 mile adventure race. (Rat Race Dirty Weekend to be specific). I've recently upped my running mileage to 8mi each session. Last time I went out it was snowy/icy and I pushed myself fairly hard. The following day (yesterday) and today I've had fairly sore hips. It feels like the pain is coming from deep within actually at the location of the hip joint. It has eased off a lot today and I plan on doing another 8mi session.

What's peoples oppionions on recovery times/next training session while you're still sore?

Hi, 

I can't answer your questions....However, I have had exactly the same problem!

I ran 10 miles last night and the pain would come and go. Only on the right hip, but deep in the lower back / glute. I tried running on it today but gave up due to pain.

What have you been doing (apart from resting) to ease the pain?

 

Firstly, how odd - we appear to have the same surname, Robert!

Thinking back now, Monday was my run. Rest day Tuesday and a 90min cycle ride yesterday.

My pain seems to be equally spread between both hips. I've tried not to rest too much so avoid stiffening up but apart from that, not a great deal. 

I do wonder if it was to do with lack of traction in places putting extra strain on supporting muscles to stay balanced. Most of the snow has melted round my way so I'll go for a steadier pace tonight and see how I get on.

Have you both been stretching properly after your runs? I did find that my hips felt slightly stiffer than normal after my long Sunday run (either because it was a LONG run or because of the extra effort of maintaining stability on the snow and ice), but I also did more stretching to compensate as soon as I got back. Sorry if that sounds obvious, but both of you only mention resting and not stretching!

Yeah I did stretch pretty extensively (or at least I thought). Maybe it's worth a go doing a bit more then. I went for another 8 last night at a slower pace. I was certainly stiff/in pain for the first couple of miles and it gradually eased off. I was still in a bit of pain afterwards however. 

To be fair, this morning I'm a bit stiff/painful but not as bad as I was. It certainly felt muscular and the pain seemed to be more apparent in the groin yesterday. Definitely worth more time stretching then it seems. I'll give that a go on Sunday.

 

Cheers.

Joes box, Finally a thread where I may be able to help! I have had the same issue for years and after seeing various specialists (massage, osteo, chiro, physio) I was recommended to a sports therapist for torn ankle ligament. During the treatment I told her about my hip and she gave me some exercises to do. I did them every day for two weeks. Within a week I was running 10 miles without pain. Now I do them nice a week and no return of the pain.

What you may have is a simple weakness of some of the muscles within the hip, which is exacerbated if you increase distance or start doing lots of hills. It feels like its deep within the joint and it's really uncomfortable.

The exercises involve living on your front, back or side and doing straight leg lifts, controlled up and down motion and holding the lift for two seconds. Also plank and reverse plank. Start with 10 reps and work to 20 and then 30 if you can. Should take you 20-30 minutes. Also work on your core. It's boring but it works. I was also advised to get a float and do lengths in your swimming pool with legs only, swapping between scissor kicks and frog kicks. I do about 20-30 lengths like this in a session and it's hard work.

I'm not a doctor, but this really worked for me. I'm doing my first ultra in 3 months and I couldn't have contemplated it before. And even if it's not the answer for you, you're not going to do any harm trying.

Also, if you're local to Surrey, I can put you in touch with the physio. Feel free to ask me any questions and let me know how you get on.

Apologise for auto-correct cock-ups, and obviously I'm not going to be doing lengths in YOUR pool...