On Saturday morning I struggled through a tough race at the Fifth Third River Bank 25k in Grand Rapids. My left hip tightened up on me in the second mile and continued to hurt the rest of the race. The pain was manageable at a slower pace so I cruised along at 5:10-5:15 per mile for the final 2/3rds of the race.

Fixing this hip pain is now my top priority. Its hurt off and on since 2005, and cost me countless opportunities to race well and train effectively. I believe the pain is a result of my pelvis being out of alignment and causing one leg to be effectively longer than the other leg. The leg isn't actually longer, but since the pelvis is tilted, one leg rides higher and is shorter. I got some great advice from my new friend Derek Kite in Grand Rapids. He suggested a variety of core strengthening exercises to balance out the lower back and hip muscles, along with some chiropractic adjustments to straighten out the hips. Without the strength work the adjustments will be worthless because the hips will fall back into their old alignment. From what I've read, it shouldn't take too long to see some results from this approach. Hope it works...