Some of you, who might know me, knows I had an hip surgery on the right side when I was 3 years old. (I had a Perthes Disease: Legg-Calve-Perthes disease (also known as Perthes disease) is a rare condition in which the ball-shaped head of the thighbone (femoral head) temporarily loses its blood supply. As a result, the head of the thighbone collapses, and the area becomes inflamed and irritated.)
One of the reason I become a Massage Therapist is because I understand pain, as I have pain since my surgery, and also the difficulties what we are carrying with the years of scare tissue and undeveloped muscle problem.
As a kid I couldn't do any sport what is about straching and stress on the hip. Therefore I found a great sport what was concentrated of the upper body and that was Kayak racing. I loved it and did it till teenager age.
Then I came to The Netherlands and started running.
Running was so easy, cheap and gave me some freedom what I couldn't get with any other sport.
I started with 3 km and then 5 km and then up and up till the full marathon.
Full Marathon was a very good learning lesson. It showed me how weak and unbalanced I am around my hip and how small my mobility movement as well what in the end drove me to injury.
Took me a year and a half to heal my lower back and my feet injury. I know it's silly to say, that I am thankful for my injury.
That healing process was needed to understand where my muscles were over working and where were under working and how important to do my opening exercise.
For example my glutes Maximus and medius was more developed on the left side then the right side.
My right side piriformis muscle was over working and my Maximus and medius muscles were weak like hell :).
Also my right hip flexor - Sartorius and Pectineus was super tide. So all my right side was out of balance.
My left leg hip flexor was weak what was need it to train more.
All this showed me how important to do strength exercise next to the running routine.
After I healed, I decided to sign up again for a half marathon. I am not ready for the full one yet :).
I made for myself a new running schedule:
Monday: strength excursus and opening routine
Tuesday: Rest day
Wednesday: 10 km run
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: Interval running 6km
Saturday: Rest day
Sunday: Long run: 15km or 18km
My strength training was:
Squat
Deadlift
Singel Deadlift
One leg bridge
ABS workout
Hip flexor strength
Adductor chair Bridge
LOT OF STRENGTH exercises for glutes
Hamstring strength
Opening stretching: I am really bad with that, but I learned from a master, it is very important before and after the run.
I didn't do it before the Half Marathon very well, but now I am doing it and makes a lot of difference.
With nutrition taken I am still not the best, but this time I was defiantly taken more protein and ISO drink after each long run than before of any of my training, what I felt was very helpful.
Also I learned something after my full marathon. You don't have to run for the time, you have to run for the joy. I am 155cm so my steps are not as long as some people. I don't need to run 10 km in an hour.
My goal was for this half marathon to have energy till the end and finishing without pain and in the finish line I enter with joy.
I have to say, I complete it. When I saw the 18km sign on the road, I thought wow I have still a lot in my body, I can run even faster. So I did.
Again, I can't run 4.5 km\h or 5km\h, but I did my wish time what was under 2 hour and 30 minutes.
After this race I am already thinking where to do the next one. I am almost 43 years old and I am so happy I have so much energy in me and fitness that I am able to run long distance.
Oh, of course I do feel my hip, what I am used to. The important is how much. With the whole schedule what I wrote above and with the massage treatment I can reduce my pain enough to enjoy my run. With my lovely colleague of mine we scheduled all the massages before the race. Also in the morning before the race I did some own massaging what helped a lot.
This time I am not sharing anatomy pictures and videos :). I thought I will share more my long distance training development and me after the race :).
I am not a professional runner but if I can help with any question, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for your time and reading my running story!
Anita
