“Dragging My Leg Behind Me Like It’s a Fat Labrador”

[PaulS83]

I'm proper, well and truly, abso-positively crocked. Brilliant.

So yesterday I was bleating on about "Me knee, ooh...me knee" but in actual fact it's my hip that's causing the jip. My right hip to be slightly more specific.

"Argh, flip. The tip of m' hip is causing me jip"

Yesterday I was convinced that I was going to gently push through and get my run done. I was going to take a stand against my body and let it know that I WILL NOT negotiate with terrorism (bad knee). It can send as many stabbing pain signals as it likes upstairs, but the boss ain't gonna listen. Now I'm suspecting a bit of espionage and there’s some shadowy cloak-and-daggering going on between factions as there's leaked information being passed from brain to body. Somehow my legs knew the plan and gradually throughout the day started pulling on my hip muscle like a bell ringer.

By the time I got home from work, I was dragging my leg behind me like it’s a fat labrador. I was correct in my first post when I suspected myself of being sewn together from the contents of a hospital dustbin. No wonder the last owner threw these legs away. The point I realised that it probably would be best postponing the day's run was when I had to lift my right thigh with both arms and flick my foot in front of me.

So I'm guessing that I spent the day subconciously shifting the weight from my left knee to my right hip with all the balance of a newborn deer. My hip evidently didn't sign up for the overtime.

So where did I go wrong?

Although I run and gym on alternate days, I haven't come out of a single session yet thinking that I've driven myself into the ground. Quite the opposite, I'm usually bouncing around like a kangaroo whose stubbed its toe on the door frame whilst running to mirrors desperately trying to track the progress of a physique that no longer resembles a school-dinner dessert.

Racking my brain, I seem to remember commenting to myself during the first couple of minutes of Saturday's run that the brisk walk had got me about as warm as a shaved polar bear. It was like running with sticks for legs. So I Googled that. Then Google called me an idiot, so I re-phrased it to, "What warm up routine would you recommend to a recently exhumed corpse who has had a recent whim to start running". This, I thought, was very aptly phrased and I was rewarded with some gem-nuggets of information.

Did you know that there's such a thing as a corpse wedding? The families of deceased, unwed people exhume the bodies of equally deceased and unwed potential partners and marry them off. That's a bit weird. I may be dead but I'm still married. Moving on...

Apparently...if you don't do enough to wake up your big muscles, like that roman general who lives in your backside (Gluteus Maximus), then your smaller muscles will end up compensating (i.e. knees, hamstrings, hips) and they're not geared up for the job. So a good dynamic warm up to wake the muscles up is key for me.

It tells me I need to do more pelvic thrusting. I've been telling wifey this for a long time but it's fallen on deaf ears - now look where it's gotten me.

Pelvic thrusts are good to build hips. Lay on my back, one leg up, one foot flat on the ground and...HEAVE! It's alright for the bloke in the picture. He isn't carrying half a buffalo around his waist. 10-12 reps each side. Great. I'll just go fell a tree with my bare hands too shall I?

OK, next one. Lunging.

Oh for the love of...

...I've been on at her for ages. Now I've got medical backing, we're going to have a serious talk when I get home.

Lunges are good for the legs. I stand there, hands on hips like someone's just stolen my taxi and then step forward and do some kind of one-legged crouch. Hmmm. Doesn't look too hard...

Legs swings are good too. Stand with a hand against the wall and jauntily flap my leg like I'm waving at someone with a hankie...I hope I can do these indoors...

If I pay a bit more attention to some of these, I may be able to get myself back on track and stay there. But I think I'm going to need a few days before I'm mended enough to tear up that pavement again.

Does anyone else find the brisk walk lacking? Any suggestion for further undignified flexing?

[happysouls Graduate]

I'm commenting here mainly in the hope that other suggestions appear and I get to read them! I'm currently struggling with hip problems too, the muscles around the front of my hip and top of thigh have been seizing up after every run despite the warm ups and great stretching routine afterwards which includes stuff specifically to appease this part of me.

I do a lot of general whole body mobility faffing before I leave the house for the warm up walk. But often when I set off running I still feel achy and breaky and take it very slowly as ankles, knees, hips and back all queue up to give me cause for concern! Your 'running with sticks for legs' reminds me that often my feet are so numb with cold that it feels like running on sticks to start with!

I do find that my aches have been worse any time I've tried faster running so currently during this particularly achy cold winter time I've just decided to slow down and work on distance and hills rather than speed.

Anyway enough of my waffle, hopefully somebody with something useful to say will be along soon! Wishing you a speedy recovery and errrm some more pelvic thrusting!

[PaulS83 in reply to happysouls]

I'm starting to wonder if hiring a mobility scooter is in the spirit of C25K

[SeeJillRun Graduate]

Sadly I have no words of wisdom, just wanted to say that I loved this post, it’s really funny. Thanks for brightening up my day 😂

[wobbles_when_runs Graduate]

Also no words of wisdom but you have gained a new follower in me. Totally hilarious post and has brightened my day 😂😂

Hope you find some useful answers

[Shelley2310 Graduate]

Again no words of wisdom.....could be cos I’m laughing so much my head won’t engage!! 🤣🤣🤣

[Irishprincess Graduate]

I've just typed this long reply to you and it got deleted before I could send it! Grrrrrr, anyway, let's try again.

You write very funny posts, love it. However, a hip pain is no laughing matter as it makes itself felt in all sorts of other places as you've found.

Ok. Try this. Stand in front of a full length mirror, relaxed and legs shoulder width apart. Stand on one leg and bend the standing leg slightly (kind of a one legged squat but it's a gentle movement). What is happening to your standing knee? Is it collapsing inwards? Wobbly? Does one side of your hip drop? Whatever your knee is doing that's what's happening when you run. So you might need to correct your stability. Many hip problems come from a weak core so a good starting point is to strengthen your core and, as you've found, your glutes too. If you can, do a Pilates class once a week.

Try these warm up exercises before you run. Obviously there are a few you can't do outside on a wet and dirty day but then again, maybe you can 😮

strengthrunning.com/2015/06...

Then work on your core. Try these and remember to breathe!

strengthrunning.com/2012/01...

Another thing. Have you had gait analysis done for your shoes? Proper shoes can make a big difference to aches and niggles.

Keep posting and making us smile 🙂 and good luck.

[PaulS83 in reply to Irishprincess]

Oh sweet lord! What is this guy? Some kind of contortionist? This will unzip my groins. There's a good chance one of my legs would fly off into a pack of baying dogs!

[ktsok Graduate]

Ouch. Again. Without having a clue, I reckon you are going too fast at the beginning of your runs. Even stretches, flapping your arms around and walking briskly and purposefully for 5 minutes doesn’t warm your muscles up for a faster run than you are fit for... as you (hopefully) run for longer you will probably find it’s about 10 minutes into the running part that things start loosening up... so I’d say slow down. Take a peek at this video of slow jogging (link below). If your inner kangaroo can take it, your hips might thank you. Worth a try! Plus I know you are on a regime, but the rest days are actually good for you... and you’ll get fitter faster if you stay off the IC...

youtu.be/9L2b2khySLE(Not working as expected?)