My Quest to Seek Answers!

Last Friday, I was up at 5:30am and on the 6:30 ferry from Nanaimo to Vancouver. I had worked until 11:15pm the night before, so I had very little sleep. Luckily I did catch up on some sleep grabbing about an hour on the ferry. 

I arrived in Vancouver to find it pouring with rain (yipee). I bussed it from Horseshoe Bay (where the ferry arrives) to downtown, switched buses and headed out towards the University of British Columbia. One more transfer until I finally arrived at about 9:40am. 

I found the Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Clinic right away, went in and filled out the required paperwork before the lovely secretary said she would hold my things while I completed an hour run before my 11am appointment. 

 

It poured the entire run. Of course just before I left the house, I opted NOT to take my visor. I regretted that as the water ran in my eyes throughout the run. I ran along side Pacific Spirit Park for part of it. I saw the trails go into it, but being by myself and not knowing exactly where those trails went, I opted to keep in view of the road. 

I arrived back to the clinic about 10 minutes prior to my appointment, literally dripping wet. A quick change of clothes (yeah I forgot a towel too, so had to use my already wet shirt) and shoes and I was in the waiting room for my appointment. 

I went in pretty much right on time. It was a tiny exam room, nothing at all fancy. Dr. Tom Green then entered (no not THAT Tom Green) and began questioning me and doing tests. In the end, I really do not have a lot of answers to tell you. I am pretty much in the same boat as before, left wondering. 

Dr. Green tested my hip and said the movement seemed fine. He looked at the Xrays I had taken at Pure Chiropractic and saw no stress fractures and decided that although my hips are misaligned, they aren't as bad as the xrays showed as the xrays appeared to be taken on a slight angel. 

His conclusion? My hip pain that comes and goes and can move all over from the back of the hip to the hip flexors, groin and down the hamstring and quad are due to a weak core. He figures that since I have been unable to do much core strengthening since the initial problem began in December 2009, my core has become weak. This in turn has caused my hips to act up as they are taking more load than they should. Makes total sense. 

As for the main reason for the appointment (the abdominal/groin pain) it is still a mystery so Dr Green is sending me for an MRI. He wants to look for a sports hernia. The symptoms fit the description and he couldn't find any other reason for the pain to continue this long. So now I wait.......... again. An MRI could take months unless I want to pay big $$$$ to get it done privately. I have no idea how long it will take. 

In the meantime, he has suggested I get some core shorts and begin working in as much core as I can tolerate. This will be a challenge as core has hurt for over a year now. I will have to start very basic and hope I can improve from there. 

I spent just over an hour at the clinic and then headed back out to the bus stop for my trip home. I took the same buses in reverse and arrived back to Horseshoe Bay about an hour before the 3pm ferry home. I grabbed some Subway and Starbucks, took some photos and then waited for the ferry. I ended up arriving home just after 5pm. 

The track next to the Clinic

 

Horseshoe Bay Park

 

My ferry

 Waiting to leave the Berth

A friend swimming in the bay just as we were leaving (can you spot him/her?)

 

Soaking wet shoes on the Right, New comfy dry shoes on the Left plus Starbucks Chai Tea Latte 

(I <3 Saucony Kinvaras)

 Coming home. Want to buy an island just off the coast of Nanaimo

Departure Bay (arriving in Nanaimo)

So you might ask, what does this all mean? I have no idea if it is in fact a sports hernia; however, I do know something is wrong, whether its a sports hernia or some kind of other tear. I rarely every finish a run without some kind of pain and I haven't been able to sit up from lying down without pain since December 2009. Sure I have been training and racing through it, but honestly, I do feel as though it is affecting me and holding me back a bit. 

This week, I have had different pain. The abdominal is still sore yes, but the pain I have been getting is in my glute and upper hamstring. I received some ART from Abe today and he states that it likely is a nerve getting irritated which is why it feels like a strong pinch and a slight weakness. It then affects my stride where I have to shorten it on the one side. Definitely not comfortable.