After Lake Sonoma, my hip did not bounce back like I hoped or thought it would.  Running was pretty much intermittent or non-existent through much of May and June.  In fact, I took three weeks almost completely off in early May, in an effort to coax it back to normalcy.

Not only did it hurt, but it didn’t feel right (yes, there’s a difference).  I decided to get an MRI and a consult with an Orthopedic doctor.   In late May, I walked out of my ortho consult pretty convinced that I was done running for a while.   Femoroacetabular impingement (aka excess bone on Femoral neck), torn labrum, and moderate arthritis.   Overall the prognosis was pretty gloomy.

Several days later I did the training runs at the Western States training weekend, which I had signed up for long prior.  Fifty miles in two days on the Western states course, very easy and mellow.  The hip did ok during these runs, perhaps because my quads got thrashed and quad pain blocked out hip pain.   These runs were maybe bad for the body, but they were good for the mind.

But in the weeks that followed (May into early June), the hip stayed bad.   I doubled down on rehab and rest, but it didn’t cause any improvements.  I started seriously considering surgery, and doubting my ability to run at all anymore this year.   Long term hip health started factoring into my decision calculus.   I want to run this year, but I also want to run for many more years in the future.

I was signed up for the Broken Arrow 52k on 15 June at Squaw, but I couldn’t run downhill, so a few days before that race I decided to pull the plug on it.   In parallel, I decided to pursue a second ortho opinion on my hip, to look into surgery as a solution.  The plan was to enjoy Tahoe and then possibly look into surgical solutions to my hip pain.

Then…. it started getting better.

We went to Lake Tahoe for 10 days.  Since I wasn’t racing Broken Arrow, I instead hiked and jogged much of the course in the reverse direction, so that I could spectate and still be out on the trail.  Over the next week, I went on light trail runs about every other day, mixed with mountain biking, and found myself running – even downhill – with minimal pain.  This was surprising, and uplifting.

These past two weeks I’ve done several trail runs, and the hip feels better than it has in months.  The best its felt since Jan-Mar.

I’m not sure what to attribute this to.  There are several possibilities:

– Time. maybe it just took two months to recover from Sonoma.  Seems like a long time, but maybe it got inflamed and took a while to chill out.

– Supplements.  I’ve been taking a pretty aggressive joint-focused supplement package every day for about six weeks, and maybe it’s finally making yielding results. Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM, Turmeric, Collagen protein, some stuff called Ligaplex I, plus some herbal stuff.  I’m willing to try Snake Oil.    I figure it can’t hurt (can it??).

– Anti-inflammatory.   I was wary of anti-inflammatories because all of them have side effects.  But after a Doc assuaged some of my concerns, I decided to give Celebrex a try, and I’ve been on it for two months now.  Tough to say if it’s making a difference, so I’ll probably cycle off it for a week in mid-Jul and see if that causes any regression.

– Running surface and terrain.   There seems to be one constant throughout all this:  When I run on pavement, the hip hurts later.  So all my running this summer will be on dirt.  The more technical and up-down the better.   Speedwork will probably take a little bit of a back seat, and I’ll get my intensity (high HR) work on uphills, the bike, or other cross training activity.

So for the first time in several months, I’m optimistic about being able to run my races this summer.  I have to balance this optimism with patience, and not overdo it and risk backsliding.  The uncertainty is not completely gone,  but I’m back running and training, and that’s all I can ask for right now.

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Several days after writing this (but before posting it) I got what felt like a cramp in my right calf while descending down Toro park at the end of a run.  If its a cramp, it’s a gnarly one and has hung around for a few days.  Probably more of a mild strain, since I can’t run on it four days later.  Frustrating, but if this is some sort of karmic tradeoff for a good hip, I’ll take it!

Uncertainty, Patience, Optimism.