Ouch

This morning I decided that today was the day.  I hadn't run in two weeks since my half marathon, and it was now or never.  Believe me, I thought a lot about the never.  But I had worked so hard to be able to run the half marathon, and I didn't want all of those workouts to go to waste.  Besides, I hadn't gotten back on the scale and honestly I was afraid to.  With all of the holiday parties and food, I had stopped keeping track of what I was eating.  I hadn't weighed myself in those past two weeks and I was sure I had gained some weight. Exactly how much I was afraid to find out.  

So today was the day.  Ate my good breakfast of Kashi cereal, raspberries and unsweetened almond milk.  Fished my running shoes out of the closet.  Decided I would try for about 3 miles on my usual route around the neighborhood.  I started my playlist from my half marathon.  The first song is Ariana Grande's Focus.  It made me remember how I felt that day 2 weeks ago when I started out on the half marathon.  It felt good that I was able to attempt running 13.1 miles.  Next song on my playlist is Pharrell's Happy.  It  gets me up that first big hill in my neighborhood.  I was breathing hard, but I didn't stop.  Yay me.  Next half mile is flat / slight down hill.  I got to only .75 miles in and OUCH.  My hip flexor said STOP.  Noooo!  I hadn't even run 1 mile yet!  What was happening?

This was the same pain that had hit me in mile 10 a few weeks ago.  I walked for a bit, and tried to run again.  No go.  

So instead of running I walked back home.  It was a total of 2 miles for today.  Looks like I won't be running much for awhile.  I Googled my pain and found this picture.  That's exactly it.   Hip flexor strains can be caused by a variety of things (such as increased mileage, new running drills, or trauma).

A hip flexor strain can be felt in the front area where your thigh meets your hip. Depending on how bad the strain is, you may notice: Mild pain and pulling in the front of the hip; Cramping and sharp pain. It may be hard to walk without limping. 

Cause of action: Rest (from activities that cause you pain), ice, dynamic stretches (once initial strain improves). 

So I'm sitting here with ice on it.  Dang it. Anyone want to do a swimming workout tomorrow?