Got my MRI results back after having a fun time with the campus health center.
It seems I have inherited my father's defective hip joint(s) (don't tell him that; he will think it is his fault and that he ruined my running "career"). I have a cam-type infringement, which means my femoral head doesn't fit neatly in the socket and there's some pinching that is causing the pain. The bad news is it is congenital; the good news is it is cogential--nothing new, but the problem was always a potential, hiding and waiting.
The trainer said to knock myself out running if I wished. If I expeirence pain, I can continue if that is what I want to do (in hindsight, this is not great advice given a hitch in my gait could cause other problems). So I just need to be sensible about my running. Even though it may not be bad exactly, flare ups could lead to downtime, making for inconsitent running. I pushed pretty hard to cross this threshold, so hopefully it takes the same amount to cause it again (which would mean staying under threshold, which is easy to do and I can still excel).
A few ideas: cutback weeks are not optional, no matter how good I feel. Make peace with cross training. Run on the treadmill as necessary. LOTS of hip and glute work (this should go without saying). Be weight conscious, but not obsessive (getting back to the low 160s would mean a lot less force on the joint).
PM: Club Newtone - 6.5 miles in just under 50 minutes, averaged 7:37. Felt really good. Talk to me in the morning though. Walked a mile there, and probably 1.5-2 back. Stopped at Tri-N-Run to get a backup pair of 2XU compression shorts.
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