Thursday, November 5 – Durolane Injection Day. My right hip was a bit sore yesterday after running about 15k, but isn’t too bad today. My upper left hamstring on the other hand…. yee-ouch! Maybe I could get them to inject any leftovers into that.
Got to VGH Ultrasound a little early and slipped into my fabulous gown and got a thorough explanation of the procedure from just about everyone I saw. The doctor doing the actual injection is a Kiwi who said he ran the Rotorua Marathon and isn’t in a hurry to do another one (it’s nice that my doctor’s have all been through at least one marathon). After a surprisingly painless local anaesthetic, considering the size of the needle he’d pulled out, he injected the Durolane through the front of my hip and into the joint using the fluoroscope to guide him. The whole procedure might have taken fifteen minutes and I didn’t feel a thing. He also mentioned the Durolane injection itself might feel like a small balloon filling with air. Again, nothing. No pain. No discomfort. Just the odd feeling that I’ve got 3 ml of some magical elixir in my hip that may or may not relieve my pain.
Before I left I asked how long I should wait before resuming my usual activity. They pretty much gave me the green light to start tomorrow, but agreed when I suggested that I should probably skip the Haney 2 Harrison 100k on Saturday. Darn.
Friday, November 6 – Generally feeling crappy, but the hip felt pretty good all day. No run today so it’s obviously too early to say. Wouldn’t you know it, the latest Running Times has an article which includes a routine for strengthening your hips.
Sunday, November 8 – The first run on the newly-juiced hip. About 25k total for the day. Felt a bit sluggish but figured it was from those Running Times hip exercises. Didn’t have the jump I’d hoped for but the hip wasn’t sore. I wish I could say the same about that damned left hamstring. It was a strange feeling not knowing how the hip was going to react. It did started to tighten a little about 1:10 or so into the run, but it wasn’t painful. Iced the right hip flexor. I’d say it passed the first test.
Monday, November 9 – Right hip not bad. A little stiff across the front but not sore. Did the RT hip routine again.
Tuesday, November 10 – First night of speedwork. 4 x 1000m with 200m recovery. Didn’t feel completely smooth, but I wasn’t uncomfortable. The pace was manageable, but the hip DIDN’T HURT, even chasing Mattina around. None of the usual hip pain for the run home though I had plenty of aches in other spots.
Wednesday, November 11 – Relaxed 10k with the guys around False Creek. Could feel some tightness across my lower abs and hip flexors. I think the Durolane actually works. It’s almost disorienting: I’ve been so used to the pain in my right hip and subconsciously adjusting or compensating for it and all of a sudden it’s pretty much gone. My body seems almost confused by it.