Brandon Fuller

Why Does My Butt Hurt

Got a tip via Twitter on my problem. Started looking it up and I think this sums up my issue. I have some Piriformis Syndrome.

Found a Running Times article on it. That article goes to explain how a common cause is tight hip abductor muscles (these are the muscles along the inner aspect of the thigh that pull the leg inward), which override the hip abductors (muscles along the outside of the thigh that pull the leg outward). Had me wondering if my ankle rolls were related although on the other foot. It sounds like it might also validate some of it. Meaning I am rolling my feet inward more often lately and on the left side, its causing the roll when I get the wrong landing.

Anyway, the recommendations were the usual list of strengthen and stretch. Oh and rest of course. You can run but they say:

Avoid speedwork; you should not run hills or on uneven terrain.

Um, yeah. About that. 14 days and hours till the start…

Frankly, my hips have been the thing that have limited me for years. After a hard race, I will feel like I have hip rotator issues. Almost can hear it grinding. Or it feels that way.

This article has more tips and talked about specific exercises as well as deep tissue massage. I am going back to the therapist tomorrow armed with this new information. It also mentioned other causes such as running on canted surfaces, long stride, and running downhill fast or too often. Not exactly sure what put it over the edge but its been present all of July. I remember it during my Indiana runs. Its just worse now.

Started looking for stretches and exercises and found a bunch of them on YouTube. I liked this one. I have watched it many times. Just to get it right. Ya know. Research.

For you ladies, there is this creepy guy in his hotel room showing you how to get it done too.

Like nearly any running injury, this seems like yet another imbalance that flairs up and you have to work through. That seems to be the deal. Possibly gaining strength in one area and tightness in another creates a weak point that you have to repair. But it usually rebuilds stronger than before.

So I took today off in preparation for tomorrow’s longer run. Might as well. Doing some exercises. Getting to the therapist in the morning. Icing. Relaxing. I am supposed to be in a taper anyway. This is one way to keep myself in check I suppose. Just hoping I have enough time to bounce out of it as needed not to jeopardize my race performance. There is going to be enough pain already without this added on top. But maybe it just won’t matter at all because I will be on a mission.