Groin injury...to run or not to run?

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lml1042
lml1042 Posts: 121
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm halfway through marathon training (9 weeks in). Last Saturday I had my long run (15 miles), I ran way too fast and ended up injuring my groin. The pain didn't start until Monday evening. I ran 5 miles on Monday and haven't run since. I road the stationary bike yesterday just to get some form of cardio in. Tomorrow is suppose to be another long run (13 miles). I'm debating whether I should try it or not. The pain is still there, but minimal. I don't want to get too far behind in my marathon training, but I also don't want to further injure myself.

What would you do? Will taking a few more days off really hinder my training or will I be ok?

Replies

  • nickhuffman74
    nickhuffman74 Posts: 198 Member
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    Man that's a tough call. I wouldn't do the run and risk a more sever injury putting my training out two weeks or more. Good luck!
  • Saree1902
    Saree1902 Posts: 611 Member
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    If I were you, I'd give it a little more rest. How did it feel after your last run? If running made it hurt more, hold off for a bit longer.

    Taking a week off from the long runs won't hurt - in fact, a lot of plans recommend 2-3 weeks of long runs then a 'rest week' where you only do 6-8 miles. I followed this for my May marathon and it worked really well, especially when 'rest week' coincided with runners' knee flaring up!

    If other forms of cardio don't aggravate it, then stick to those for a bit longer...especially swimming if possible. Also, look for any stretches you can do to ease it (if there are any....not sure about groins) runnersrescue.com is one of my favourite injury trouble-shoooting websites.

    Good luck!

    Sarah x
  • lml1042
    lml1042 Posts: 121
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    Thanks :)

    Yesterday I tried a 4 miler, only made it 2 miles at a slower pace with lots of stops. I then rode the bike and had zero pain.

    I guess I should skip it, but I'm so nervous I'll get too far behind in training. This week is technically "step back" week, but 13 miles still feels like a long distance.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    If it hurt to run, as you say it did, and you can still feel it walking, I definitely wouldn't run on it for awhile. Serious groin injuries take a LONG time to heal and are easily re-injured. If you continue running you put yourself in danger of doing that to yourself and the marathon itself could be out of the picture. Keep in mind that a lot of the idea behind long runs is really to mentally prepare you for the race. Skipping a couple shouldn't really hurt you in the long run.

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