Hip Pain Is For the Birds!

Yep...you heard me right....I'm having hip pain...again! If you've been reading my blog for awhile then you probably remember that I had hip pain around this same time last year. Usually I associate it with needing new shoes. Well this time I've gotten new shoes...and still the hip pain. Grrr! Can you tell I am NOT happy about this???

Every year I run the Gulf Coast Half Marathon in Mandeville, LA. And every year I run it I have some type of pain or injury. Last year it was this same hip pain. I was really hoping this year I would be running it pain and injury free. :-(

I'm not sure why I get hip pain at this time every year. All I can guess is that all summer long I continue running but I don't run long distances. Then around August I start training and increase my mileage. I make sure to not increase too much. But maybe the increase just takes my body a little longer to get used to again.

Also...remember that super duper hilly long run I ran the weekend before last? I know hills are not good on your hips and IT Band. I was really sore after that run in my quads, IT Band, and calves....but maybe it hurt my hips more than I thought.

So what's my plan? Well...I decided last Friday afternoon to NOT run my planned 11 miles the next day. I decided I was going to rest. The last day I ran was last Thursday. So I'm planning to not run again until THIS Thursday. I'm taking a whole week off. And hopefully it gives the hip what it needs to get better.

So I am spending lots and lots of time with these things:

And lots and lots of time stretching.

It sucks. But I'm listening to my body and hopefully I'll be running pain free again soon.

QOTD: How do you handle being injured? Any hip injury advice for me?

The Weekly Chase #39!

Monday is here again! It seems like time is just flying by! Must be a consequence of getting older lol! Can you believe yesterday was the first day of Fall? Fall is my FAVORITE time of year!!! I love it! Of course here on the Gulf Coast it still feels like summer. But I'm hoping for some cooler weather soon!

I had a great weekend! Friday night me and the hubby went to a co-ed baby shower! It was really just a good excuse for the couples in our Sunday School class at church to get together! We have 3 ladies in our class that are pregnant...so we celebrated! One of them is my good friend Ragan! Look how cute that baby bump is!!!

Saturday the boys in my house did a service project for Cub Scouts called Coastal Cleanup. They went and picked up trash and debris along the bay! The weather was yucky but they had a good time! Here is my Sawyer with some of his Tiger Den! So funny! Thanks to Sawyer's Den Leader Mrs. Martha for the picture!

While the boys were working I headed to Pensacola with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for a Thirty-One Party. I LOVE Thirty-One bags and will admit that I bought a few more! ;-)

After the party the rest of the family came to our house. We went shopping, ate dinner, and hung out for a bit. I love getting to spend time with my family! And in preparation for the boys' first Cub Scouts meeting for the new school year...Grandma sewed on all of Sawyer's patches for him! Thanks Grandma!!! This is his first year as a Cub Scout and he is so excited to join Hayden in all the fun!

Sunday we went to church. Then we came home and had a lazy afternoon. I love Sundays for that! Later that afternoon we headed to the boys' Cub Scouts meetings. Andy is Hayden's den leader so they stayed together while I went with Sawyer to his meeting. Fun stuff!

Now it's time for another Weekly Chase! I'm ready to tell you all about my goals for the week! I hope you will join us in linking up your goals too!

We have a great challenge for this month! It's back to school time so Molly wants us all to learn something new or do something new each week!

Here's how I did with my goals last week:

• Goal #1: Run 3 times this week. I only ran two times. My hip started hurting after Tuesday's run and so I decided to rest on Saturday instead of doing my long run. 
• Goal #2: Try a new recipe (challenge goal). :-( I've not been doing good with this goal! I guess it's because I hate to cook! 
• Goal #3: Work on St. Jude Fundraising. I sent some emails out and got another donation! Yay! I still have a ways to go....so feel free to help me out and DONATE HERE!!! ;-)
• Goal #4: Roll and stretch daily. Yes! I've done great with this goal this week especially since my hip has been hurting.

Here's the goals I am chasing this week!

Goal #1: Rest and run on Thursday if the hip is feeling better. I'm hoping the rest will help my hip out. I don't like being injured!

Goal #2: Complete my monthly calendar for school. We have to turn in a monthly calendar with our activities and what we will be teaching each week. I need to get my October calendar done this week!

Goal #3: Get my Fall decorations up. Fall is my favorite season! I can't wait to get out all my decorations...pumpkins and scarecrows here I come!

Goal #4: Roll and stretch daily. I've got to get the soreness rolled out of my hip! Me and my trigger point therapy kit have been best friends lately and will continue to be so this week.

Goal #5: Try a new book (challenge goal). I'm not doing good with the cooking goal so I'm changing my challenge goal! I'm not reading anything at the moment and really want to find a new series to read. 

So that's it for the week! I'm hoping to be a little more successful with my goals this week!

QOTD: What are your goals this week? Have any book series suggestions for me?

16 Long, Slow Miles!

This morning I ran 16 miles!!! Last marathon training, 16 miles was NOT a good run for me so I have been dreading it all week. And then I get a warning on my phone yesterday afternoon that we would be under a dense fog advisory...it was super foggy on the 16 miler last marathon training too! Great! Just what I need...tons of fog when I am going to be running tons of miles! Yay.

The alarm went off at 4:30 AM. I got dressed and put on my Pro Compression socks for the first time (review coming soon). I was crossing my fingers these were going to help me have a good run!

I made a waffle with peanut butter and ate it while I stretched and rolled with my Trigger Point Therapy Kit. Then I grabbed my fuel belt, Gu, water, and Garmin and headed out the door. I was doing one of the water stops so I had to stop and drop the water off before I went to our meeting place. In the car, I sampled another item in my Kona Kase for October. It was the Gatorade Prime 01 and the directions said to drink it about 15 minutes before running. It tasted good but the pouch dug into my lip and it hurt. But the actual drink was pretty yummy..except for when I swallowed some wrong and had a coughing fit lol!

The first 4 miles of the run were tough...I'm never warmed up at this point. But once we hit about mile 5, I started feeling awesome! The miles started flying by! The sun started coming up around mile 7 and we could see the fog rolling in and the gorgeous sunrise!!!

Thanks Angela for taking this picture of us! I hate she couldn't get in the pic too.

The rest of the run was great. But around mile 14 my legs were super tired. I was ready to quit. I'm sure this is due to my body being so used to half marathons...it was telling me I was supposed to be done lol! But FINALLY I hit mile 16! I did it! And it was a MUCH better run than last marathon training!!!! Yay!!!

Slow for a lot of you but it works for me! I'll take it! :-)

After the run, I stretched and then drove home. I came in and grabbed my Premier Protein Chocolate Shake and took an ice bath! I haven't taken an ice bath in forever and I really think they help with recovery! My son Sawyer had a blast dumping the ice on me! :-)

The run is done and now me and Andy are headed to the University of South Alabama football game! Go Jags!!!

QOTD: Have you ever taken an ice bath? Do you think it helps?