A.M. - 15 mile route. Triangle in reverse.... Mayday, mayday, mayday! I started noticing some tightness deep in my left glute sometime after Tuesday's run. It wasn't bad it all and I didn't think much of it. Noticed ever so slightly at the beginning of yesterday's treadmill run, but it subsided after a couple of mins and I had a good run. Felt fine all yesterday. Woke up this morning and it was a little tight. Started to run and it was almost immediately "uncomfortable." It stayed that way pretty much most of the way, a little more so when going downhill. At about the 11-mile mark, I started to feel a little pain around the left kidney area. I didn't notice my form changing, although I'm sure I was compensating. Tried to be careful about not running on the crown of the road. I finished running, showered, and hurried off to work and then right into a couple-hour meeting. The left glute and left lower-back (kidney area) were super sore (almost debilitating) after the car ride and meeting. I was pretty much walking like an old man; slowly and with a limp. About 10:30 I resorted to taking to Excedrin. It helped take the edge off, but it remained sore all day.
Since I've been home, I've been doing hot/cold treatments with heat pad and ice pack. I've been poking around on the internet and it looks like it may be piriformis syndrome. That seems to explain the deep glute and lower back pain (piriformis putting pressure on the sciatic nerve). I've found some release and stretching techniques that I'll do over the next few days and am trying to arrange a sports massage ASAP to find some quick relief.
Running tomorrow morning is looking very doubtful. This blows because I feel like I've been rolling pretty good lately and want to keep it going. But I really don't want to train through pain. So if it means backing-off, losing some fitness, and adjusting some goals, so be it. I'll see how it feels in the morning when I get up and probably head down to the gym with the intention of running, but if its not there, I'm not going to force it. Committing myself to that right now. I think I should be fine to continue cycling.
Who knows what the cause is. My running routine has been similar for the past several weeks, maybe just a little more consistent intensity on the TM runs, and a little higher average weekly mileage. Admittedly, my cooldown/core work/postrun stretching routine has been terrible lately because I'm usually in such a hurry in the mornings to get to work. That's probably led to some tightness and muscle imbalances. Got to work on giving that more attention.
Anyways, sorry for the long soapbox. If anyone has thoughts/suggestions, I'm all ears. | 