It’s
been a week since I saw the doctor about my groin injury. After
one week of rehab, I’m feeling optimistic.
I’m not there yet, but I’ve come a long way.
Last
Monday was my third consecutive day of complete rest. On Tuesday, I started physical therapy, and I
was encouraged to begin cross-training on the stationary bike. I was also given a few stretches to do three
times a day. Later that day, I did 15
minutes on the bike. It was surprisingly
tiring, reminding me that that I’ve been neglecting the bike for too long.
On
Wednesday, I increased to 20 minutes on the bike. I also did a short core workout. My core workout is a circuit of three exercises
that I do three times. I didn’t have any
trouble with my sit-ups or my leg raises, but on my first set of side-to-side
twists, I noticed that it stretches my groin a little too much. On my second set, I did that exercise sitting
down. That helped, but I could still
feel the stretch. On my third set, I
made a point of keeping my knees together.
That felt OK. I probably wasn’t working
as many muscle groups, but I wanted to be careful not to overdo it.
In
general, I was feeling a little bit better each day. I was also noticing a difference in my
stretches. After a couple days, I felt
perfectly normal doing one of my stretches.
By the end of the week, I had doubled my range of motion on another
stretch.
On
Thursday, I ran for the first time in six day.
I started with three miles on the treadmill. I wore a compression wrap on my upper thigh
and ran at a slow pace. I didn’t feel
any discomfort in my groin, but I did feel some discomfort in some of the other
muscles in my thigh. The wrap was kind
of snug, and I think some of the muscles were too constricted.
On
Friday, I ran outside and increased the distance to 3.5 miles. I wore the wrap again, but it wasn’t as
snug. Again, I felt no discomfort in my
groin. I still felt a little bit of
discomfort in other muscles, but not as much.
I
was originally scheduled to run the Ogden Marathon on Saturday, but I cancelled
my travel plans rather than risk a setback.
Friday’s run made me wonder if I could have done that race. It’s just as well that I didn’t try. On Saturday, I started seeing posts from
friends that did that race. They all ran
fast times, but they had to endure heavy rain and cold temperatures. At least three friends commented that they
couldn’t feel their arms. I regret that
I lost an opportunity to go for my second sub four hour marathon in Utah. I don’t regret missing an opportunity to
suffer from hypothermia.
Instead,
I ran another 3.5 miles, but this time I didn’t wear the wrap. I didn’t have any discomfort, although I was
going at a pretty conservative pace. Saturday’s
run gave me a total of 10 miles for the week.
I’ve run at least 10 miles every week for more than 10 years,
so I was happy to be able to keep that streak going.
I
took a break from running on Sunday, but did a few different cross-training
workouts. In the morning, I did another
core workout and 25 minutes on the stationary bike. In the afternoon, I did weight training. It was my first weight training workout since
the injury, and I was long overdue. I
had been afraid to do weight training.
My big concern wasn’t the exercises themselves, but all the other
movements I go through getting weights and bars into position.
As
it turns out, I was right to be concerned, but moving weights around wasn’t the
problem. Where I really felt tension in
my groin was moving myself into position. Each time I had to swing a leg over my weight
bench, I could feel the stretch. I got
through the workout, but it made me nervous.
After
being home for the weekend, I was back at work again, which meant much more
walking around. I noticed a real
difference. A week ago, I could only walk
by wearing a compression wrap and taking teeny tiny steps. I’m still wearing the wrap, but now I can
walk normally with no discomfort. I’m
walking more confidently and more comfortably.
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