Injury Update: I Saw the Doctor Today

This morning I saw the doctor.

I had a lot to do at work today, so I didn’t expect to have time for a doctor appointment.  I didn’t even know if I could get an appointment on such short notice.  I was lucky.  They had an opening at 8:00, allowing me to see the doctor and still get to work at a reasonable hour.

If I know exactly what’s wrong, and I already know how to treat it, I have no problem with treating myself.  In this case, I was making an educated guess, but I didn’t know for sure.  In situations like this, I tell other people to see a doctor, so I took my own advice.

My doctor is a physician assistant with a background in sports medicine.  He used to be an NFL trainer, so he has experience working with athletes.  He knows how often I run marathons, so I can talk about my upcoming races without getting strange looks.

My self-diagnosis was correct.  It’s a groin injury.  Before reaching that conclusion, he did some tests to rule out other possibilities, such as a hernia.  As far as treatment is concerned, he told me to keep doing the things I’m doing, but he’s also sending me to physical therapy.  My first PT appointment is tomorrow.  I’ll have to take the morning off from work, but I got a lot done today.

He thinks I have a good chance of recovering in time for the Comrades Marathon.  When I asked him about doing the Ogden Marathon on Saturday, he advised against it.  I asked if there was a chance I’d be OK doing the race if I went slow and wore a compression wrap.  He thought that was possible, but I would be taking a risk.  If I run it, I should leave my watch behind and be prepared to walk half of the race.

Today was my third straight rest day.  I haven’t even done any cross-training.  In another day or two, I’ll probably try a short easy run wearing a compression wrap.  I’ll see how that goes before making a decision about Ogden.