Trying to better my health. . . resulted in injury.

How does one summarize an almost 8 year hip pain journey?  

This will need to be broken into multiple posts, that's for sure! 

As of this writing I am 30 years old and experienced my first hip symptoms starting in 2007 at the age of 22. Major weight gain after my divorce at 21 prompted me to want to become active again. Maybe I was even a little too gung ho about it?  I found myself working out 6 days a week 2-3 hours at a time at the gym doing yoga, running, the elliptical, and swimming to name a few activities.  Within a few months I had lost about 35 pounds and decided to start running 5Ks to keep my weight loss goals in check. 

By my 2^nd 5K in April of 2007, I felt a major groin pull on my right hip during the last quarter mile of my race. I kept running; this was sheer stupidity looking back!Having to  manually lift my leg to get into the car and hobbling around for quite a while should have been a sign something was wrong and should be evaluated! I’m not sure why I never went to the doctor, that part is a bit fuzzy at this point. Later in 2007 I was laid off and began contracting. Contracting his its perks but of course without medical benefits until 2010 when I was hired full time with my current company. Between 2007 and 2011 I ran countless 5Ks, did 3 sprint triathlons, attempted the 3 day - 60 mile for Susan G. Komen (only managed to do 40 of the 60 miles), and did a couple of American Lung Association bike ride fundraisers in the San Juan Islands. I attributed my hip, knee and back pain to being “weak” after a bunch of weight gain and needed to suck it up. 

Between those 4.5 years I was being treated for a hip strain/groin pull. I tried physical therapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, and massage. It never really occurred to me that I should see an Orthopedic doctor nor did anyone else suggest it. On my last fundraising bike for the ALA in September 2011, I screamed out in pain while biking up a major hill in the San Juan Islands. That old familiar major groin pain was at its highest level and unbearable. I proceed to take myself out of the bike event and knew that I needed to be seen, properly this time. 

Here are some pictures that make me happy even if it was a huge struggle and resulted in injury! I have many of my race bibs on a wall for motivation!!