Hips don't lie

Now that I've started a little bit of speed work it is quite apparent that my hips are a major weak spot. I always considered my hip mobility and the flexibility around my pelvic joints to be pretty good. But now I have clear evidence that shows otherwise.

Last year, after my TWCM Half Marathon in Jan, I had strained my hip abducter muscles a little. I continued running without really attending to this "minor" injury. I then ran the Auroville Half Marathon, followed by the Marina Runnerz 10K, followed by the cool runner's 10K. This last one had my hip abducters singing! - which was enough to finally force my attention to it. I gave it adequate rest and after about eight weeks or so, it returned to normal.

I ran 5 more events after that - Pinkathon 10K, D2D Half Marathon, Dream Runners Half Marathon, CTM Half Marathon, & the Trivandrum Half Marathon. That last one there had me hearing the next set of protests. This time, I felt a heavy strain on the Hip Flexors where I wasn't able to lift my leg off the floor without wincing. Luckily, this event was the last on my schedule for the year and sure enough, with about 8 weeks sans running, things were feeling absolutely normal.

With the faster paced running I've been doing this new year, I've noticed the strain recur. Anybody can tell you that injury-rest-injury again isn't a good plan. The key to running injury-free (I hear) is to strengthen, strengthen, strengthen! The hips play a vital role in running - just look at the physiology of the running movement - and better its mobility, the better you run.

Here are some indications of how good or bad your hip mobility is:

1. Stand up straight with your feet flat on the ground. Then stretch one leg out at a time and see how high you can lift it off the floor without bending at the knees. Hips with good mobility would allow you to lift your leg up to hip height or more.

2. Stand up straight with your feet flat on the ground. Then lift one leg up, bent 90 degrees at the knee - the thigh should be parallel to the floor. Now try straightening out the leg. How high does it come up? Strong hip muscles should allow you to straighen the leg out completely (so the whole leg is parallel to the floor)

3. Try the three-legged downward dog pose from Yoga. Get into the downward dog pose. Then lift one leg off the floor - keeping it straight. Flexible hips should allow you to lift the leg high enough so you can draw a straight line from your palms to the heel of the lifted leg.

Clearly my hip mobility sucks. I have started doing some hip stretches & exercises to remedy this. Here is one article that I found really helpful and a video which I found to be very effective. In addition, my hubby & self-appointed trainer has been giving me tips & pointers to further develop my hip strength. All of which I hope will help me with my speed goals & to become a better runner.