About 18 months ago I received my first major running injury. While running on concrete, considered high impact, I jolted my hip, causing the socket to tilt forward. This makes my bones rub against each other which hurts pretty bad.

After some physical therapy, my hip was fixed and life was wonderful.

Until about six months ago when I woke up the day after a good long run in pain so bad I couldn’t even go back to sleep. I went to the doctor, who did what every military doctor does. He gave me some ibuprofen, told me not to run for a week or two and sent me on my merry way.

Of course, that didn’t do anything for me and about a week ago I was running and my knee started to hurt. It seems all the problems with my hip have caused me to subconsciously alter my gait, which is causing my knee problems.

Unable to deal with the pain anymore (and the heartburn caused by eating ibuprofen like candy) I went to the doctor yesterday. Within five minutes of me explaining what was wrong and showing him where I hurt, he knew exactly what was wrong. Where the hell was this guy two months ago when I started hurting again.

Now, I’m on two different pain killers for day (neither of which are ibuprofen), heartburn medication, arthritis medication (to reduce swelling in the joint) and Vicodan. And I get to see physical therapy again. Oh, and I can’t even work out. In fact, I’m on such light duty that the eight months pregnant girl in my office can do more.

It’s things like this that make me feel like I’m getting old.