With the sound of my alarm this morning, my two-week transition period came to an end. It’s back to regularly scheduled training after two weeks “off.” While the last two weeks did include some rest days, I got some runs in as well.
The first week I babied my hip a bit, taking three days off after my final snowshoe race then did a strength workout meant to target the left glute, but I actually ended up aggravating the glute med and TFL more. So I took five more days off from running, while I hit the gym and rode the bike.
A trip to see my massage therapist and chiropractor ended up doing wonders for my hip. My massage therapist was able to target the some of the attachments of the hip/leg muscles. She seemed to think it was the vastus lateralis, the chiro thought it was deep TFL (tensor fasciae latae…or as my hubby calls it the “Starbucks Muscle”). Whatever it was there was some painful trigger point massage and noticeable release, and then when I got the chiro he did a lot of ART on the area and broke up some scar tissue and then there was a big “pop” when he adjusted my hip. Since then I haven’t really noticed it when running.
I’ve also been really diligent with my stretching and strengthening routine. I think if I’d been more diligent with this routine in the weeks between snowshoe races, I probably wouldn’t have had any issues in the first place. But I have a tendency to slack off and then when a tweak or discomfort presents itself, get super paranoid of getting injured and get back to it.
Stretch:
This stretching routine is a dynamic routine I’ve been doing after each run:
Strength:
I’ve been doing this quick routine only on the left side. In the past I was told by PT’s to do equal reps on both sides, but recently listened to podcast with the Gait Guys where they mentioned that performing the same exercises on both the weak side and the strong side perpetuates the imbalance. So I’ve simply been targeting the weak side. I haven’t run this one by my PT yet, but it makes sense to me so I’ve adopted it as my norm.
Here are my left side strengthening moves:
2 x 15 reps each side
Single leg bridge lift, with band above the knee
Clamshell with band above knee
Side lying tabletops with band above knee
I’ve been doing this 3-4 times a week.
All of this enabled me to get in four runs at the end of this week that felt pretty good. Here’s how last week shaped up:
I’m looking forward to a challenging week ahead!
-Sarah
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Ugh, Tight TFL and glute med issues can be tough. Those muscles were extremely tight when I had my back injury. Glad you got some relief at the Chiro and massage therapist. I could use a good massage. Can’t wait to follow your mountain running adventures!
Thankfully it has loosened up, but now its my hamstring that’s feeling weird. Sigh. Never ending.
I need more of this in my life right now. I have always toyed with going to a chiropractor but never have. I’m actually scheduling an appointment for acupuncture so we’ll see how that goes first! As usual, stunning views!!! I so wish I could run that beach just once a month…
I think chiro and massage in combo is what keeps me running well. Acupuncture sound interesting! I’ve had dry needling, but never acupuncture.
I like the idea of a transition week between training cycles. Glad your TFL is feeling better! I slack on stretching to until something pops up, and then I panic and stretch religiously. The views on your runs are stunning!
It is a totally new concept to me! I’ve done step back weeks in the bast, but never entire weeks of down time and unstructured training between cycles. It’s mentally a great break!
Appreciated this post- I’m also dealing with a unilateral issue, and so I’ve been doing stretching on one set of muscles and activation on the opposing ones, but only on one side of my body because the other is problem free. I’ve been doing this for a few weeks now, and my issue (overactive & lengthened piriformis) is getting better all the time!
Sounds great! I really think that is the way to go!
You always provide such thorough and informative information on stretching and strength routines! Hoping your training is off to a strong start again!
So far so good! Glad this was helpful!