I remember those first 4 exercises my physical therapist gave me to strengthen my adductors, glutes and deal with a hip fall during my running stride. No resistance, just working against gravity. I almost chuckled out loud. "I'm a personal trainer, triathlete, runner. I regularly perform all kinds of different strengthening exercises. These will be a piece of cake!" Boy was I wrong!
I couldn't perform even 10 hip raises without wincing and needing to stop. All I was doing was standing on a step, dropping my foot over the edge and pulling up through my hip to raise my leg back up. It was such a simple movement and I was having such difficulty performing it! "How could I have such poor strength in my hip? How could I have missed such a weakness? Oh, how this hurt!"
Here I am 4 months later and I can now perform 3 sets of 30 repetitions of the hip raise without batting an eye. We've progressed to exercises of greater difficulty. As I add in these new exercises and struggle to maintain my form, pushing for each rep, I'm reminded of that first attempt at hip raises. I know that with practice, I'll get stronger, better. At some point I'll look at those new exercises and think they too are easy.
We all have exercises or habits that we struggle with. We wonder how we'll get better, when will it get easier. You've got to keep at it. You've got to practice, daily sometimes, to get better. Sometimes its a struggle. Sometimes you wonder if it will work. That's why its good to know where you started. Knowing that I couldn't perform a single set of hip raises without stopping when I started and now being able to do 3 sets of 30, keeps me going with these new exercises I find challenging. At some point I'll look back at them and find them easy too.
I didn't think I'd still be here, recovering from an injury 6 months later. Having sat out an entire triathlon season. Not having run in 6 months. But here I am. Not much I can do about the past, but learn from it. Take stock in my progress. And prepare for next season. My new goal....to be able to start running December 1st. I'm working daily on my new and old exercises to strengthen my injury. Progress is being made and I'm hopeful that come December 1st, you'll see me out there running again with a smile!
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