Ran today out to Seven Peaks and back 8.6 miles, mostly hills. A wiser man probably would have avoided running and crosstrained or just taken the day off, but it was such an absolutely beautiful day and I could not resist. I did keep the pace very slow and easy. I thought of going with the guys but I knew my 9-10 min pace would be a bit slow and I didn't want to hold everyone up. Ave pace: 9:15. Ave/max HR: 145/165 So I went to the doc today to hear what the MRI said about my "condition". The official report had all kinds of medical mumbo-jumbo and jargon that was meaningless to me but the basic gist just confirms my suspicions. I do have Athletic Pubalgia or runner's hernia. Pretty much my gut muscles are "frayed" toward the bottom of my abdomen with tears around the area where the ab muscles connect to the pubic bone. I also have minor tears in the groin area near the same area. My options are pretty much 1) A dose of steroidal anti-inflammatories, rest (i.e no running or jarring activities for 4 weeks, biking/elliptical is ok), ice, physical therapy focusing on core strengthening exercises, 2) More of 1 but also with steroid/cortisone shots in the gut, 3) surgery. Doctor Rich suggested we try 1 first and I agreed. So pretty much no more running for me for at least 4 weeks. I would like to put in the same amount of time and effort into crosstraining but that will be tough. We'll try it the next week and see how it goes. Guess it will be time to try to build some mental toughness in the gym. At least for the time being Kim is in a similar situation so we can support each other and help each other keep from going bonkers. I plan on still blogging the crosstraining but probably not every day, maybe every week or so.
But I can say a part of me is thankful and looking forward to a rest from all the pounding of running and getting rid of (hopefully) these dang lingering aches and pains. November might just be the ideal time of year for both of us to get away from running for a bit.
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