February wasn’t a great month of walking for me. Niggling hip pain and atrocious weather slowed me down considerably. Torn between walking on the sore hip, or resting it, and not really knowing what to do for the best, I walked some days, and rested on others.
Some days I found that walking on it seemed to ease it. After 5 minutes or so, it would be warmed up, I’d feel a lot more supple, and the rest of the day would be relatively pain-free. Other days, walking appeared to ease the pain at the time, but I’d be completely hobbling by the evening and sleepless with pain through the night. On mornings where I woke up with a sore hip, and seeing storm conditions outside, the decision to stay indoors with painkillers and a hot water bottle instead was made much easier!
As a result, I only managed to get 38.9 miles under my belt during February, when I was aiming for 46+ miles. I’m frustrated, but being within touching distance of 39 miles is still a good chunk of mileage towards my end of year goal. Added to January’s sub-target total of 41.6 miles, I now need a total of 469.5 miles to reach my target for 2015. In the following 10 months of 2015 I need to average 47 miles/month to reach it. Roll on spring, and some more settled weather!
I was always of the conviction that my hip pain was a muscle/soft tissue issue, and not a hip-joint issue. I cannot describe how I came to this conclusion, it just didn’t ‘feel’ like a joint issue. I know I probably should have gone to my GP, and I would be the first to suggest this to a friend complaining of the same, but I think that my ‘take each day as I find it’ attitude with this hip has worked somewhat. I know I can barely feel a twinge now. I can walk a few miles, and not feel increased pain in the evening, and I think it’s finally sorting itself out. I dare say my GP may perhaps have been able to fix it more quickly, but perhaps she might also have simply said rest it and take painkillers. The last few days have been mostly pain-free, for the first time in over 6 weeks! Hopefully I can get back on track and hit my monthly targets now 🙂
The Curvy Hiker 
Keep going but don’t forget, health is more important. Take it easy & hopefully when the weather improves so will your goals and your aches & pains will ease. Keep us posted & go careful. Good luck!
Thanks Nick – resting can be so frustrating, especially when you’re raring to go in every other sense 🙂