Long Run and Hip Flexor PAIN

Goal: 2 hour run on the beach which would cover ~10 miles
Actual accomplishment: 2 hour run at Reed Canal park and surrounding subdivisions, only 8.2 miles which ended up as a 14:16 min pace. I think it was much faster the first 4.1 miles. But, that doesnt' matter in an endurance race.

The first 45 min, I covered 4.1 miles. I took a quick break to go to the bathroom, and ran another half mile to get precious water and fuel in the form of raspberry-flavored Gu, before jetting off for another hour and 15 filled with nothing but hip flexor pain. It was more walking with bouts of running, with lots of stops for psoas and hip flexor stretching.

I came home and did some ab work, stood on the Vibe, and got advice from Coach Steve to do lunges and strengthening exercises for my weak and irritated hip flexors. Then, I sat in an ice bath. Steve thought I was nuts. I hadn't soaked in an ice bath since I played high school basketball. Well, the purposeful swim workouts in the outdoor pools in winter don't count...they were workouts, not soaks. The ice bath sucked for the first couple of minutes, then if felt great on my calves, hamstrings, and those plagued hip flexors.

So, my NEW goal between now and race day is to do 2-4 sets of 15 hip flexors flexes while hanging from a pull-up bar. Also, to do 50-100 lunges a day. I've GOT to strengthen those buggers, and I have about 1 month to get some results so I can run the race with a significantly decreased amount of pain.

So, I still have to cover 10-12 miles in a single run prior to race day. So, I'm shooting for a 1:30 - 1:45 long run next Saturday . . . whatever I have time for. I'll do a longer run again in 2 weeks. It's crunch time. I have to taper 2 weeks prior to the race.