Distance Running & Ab Pain?

BostonStrong617

Hello Fellow Runners and/or Knowledgeable People,

I was quite lazy over the winter partially for personal reasons and partially from being really lazy, not wanting to run in the snow (or not being able to given how much we got here the sidewalks were covered!) and my detest of the treadmill. So it has only been in the past couple months, especially this month, that I've been getting back into it. I've been keeping myself around 4 to 6 miles with an average of 3.5 miles since January according to Nike+ . I haven't run more than 6.5 miles since October, I've never run more than 10 miles before yesterday.

Yesterday I ran almost 12 miles. Fairy easy trail. Quite flat. I did beat both my previous 5K and 10K times so it was a very good run. My legs are A LITTLE sore tore, but I went on a light short jog early and that actually helped loosen them up.

However, I noticed that my lower abs are quite sore. It was worse during my run to the point where I really had to slow down. I didn't do a core work out this week, I did a leg work out Tuesday that includes squats, which when done correctly can be felt in your abs, however this soreness didn't start until this morning, worsening after my run.

Therefore, I am attributing the pain to running although that doesn't really seem to make sense? Do you think perhaps my stride is off? I suppose I pushed myself a bit quickly almost doubling my distance in the matter of a couple weeks however my legs really aren't that sore and I felt great on the run itself so I don't think I did anything I couldn't handle.

I've never experienced ab pain from running before so I'm finding it quite odd. I have a split routine with one day dedicated to my core so my core isn't exactly weak...so it's odd that it was injured from something that I wouldn't really consider core focused. Anyone experienced this? Remedies? Way to prevent it?

I wear NikeLite running shoes if that makes any sort of difference.

contingencyplan

Lower abdominals assist in lifting your leg up. When you're doing anything that involves lifting the knee fairly high, the lower abdominals are doing a huge part of the work.

Chieflrg

I would think you would of noticed something from your squats either in pain or bad form if you injured yourself early in the week.

You might of strained the lower abs from doing a little too much of a jump up on distance on the run while hitting higher speed..

If you doubled your previous highest distance in the last half year. That kind of throws a red flag to me. Especially if you were pushing it and beating PB times.

I'm a believer if you are going to increase distance, you should never try to work on speed in the same day.

BostonStrong617

I would think you would of noticed something from your squats either in pain or bad form if you injured yourself early in the week.

You might of strained the lower abs from doing a little too much of a jump up on distance on the run while hitting higher speed..

If you doubled your previous highest distance in the last half year. That kind of throws a red flag to me. Especially if you were pushing it and beating PB times.

I'm a believer if you are going to increase distance, you should never try to work on speed in the same day.

The funny thing is I actually wasn't trying to go for speed and distance. It just kind of happened. It as new route, a flatter route, more direct, less crowded, less lights & less people. I'm from the city but I was running outside the city with the intention of meeting up with a friend so it as a different atmosphere then what I'm used to. It was also perfect conditions, not too hot, not at all humid, great weather so that made naturally run faster. I wasn't really winded and by miles 9 or so I did slow down to about a 10 minute mile pace as I started to get a little tired/sore but I was still about a mile and a half from the bus stop at that point hence why I continued.

I agree about the squats. I've been doing squats a while, I did just increase the weight but that's been a long time coming and I wasn't sore until after the run.

I've actually doubled my previous distance really just in the past couple of weeks. It was a VERY quick jump up but it felt right. But I suppose some parts of my body weren't quite ready.

I suppose I will have to focus on slowing down a little or just dropping my mileage a bit.