Keeping up the regime of going to the pool and stretching seemed to be making no difference to my groin and adductor, so I backed off for a couple of weeks at the end of January and doped up on some anti inflamatories, this seemd to make a difference, and eased things off a little, not sure if it was more to do with the rest than the drugs, but I was pepped up and ready to resume the road to recovery
By week 23 I was back in the gym and walking on the treadmill and out of the pool, putting more weight on the hip as the pool running was great for the action, but I need to move things on a little and try getting more weight on the hip, so this was the next step forward and it was fairly pain free, its all a bit trial and error at the moment, not following any prescribed protocol, im just using one guiding principle … make progress
Like most of us runners I have a long suffering other half who puts up with smelly running shoes at the front door and washing machines worth of training gear, she is more than aware of my passion and gifted me for xmas tickets for the January indoor international athletics quadrangular match between the UK, USA, Russia and RoW …..at the newly created Emirates Aren in Glasgow, the highlight of which for me was going to be a glimpse of the legandary Bernard Lagat, who would be running in the 3000m. At 38 he is still at the top of his game and was pitted against Augustine Choge so was going to be no procession, ealry pace was steady, but he “rolled back the years and moved through the gears” over the last 300m to run out a convincing winner, he followed this up with a humble interview and firmly instilled himself as one of my favourite athletes
With my half year post op looming large on the horizon the demons inside of me were telling me I was long overdue pulling on my running shoes for more than just a walk on the treadmill, I had tried some tentative strides on the machine (you cant help yourself) but never ventured outside, so on 21st Feb escorted by my wife on a balmy (32F) evening tried my first real attempt at getting back a part of my life that in my more meloncholy moments I thought might have gone for good … here are the results as bore witness by my Garmin …. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/276686964
Its a start, I am concious not to overdo it too early and my adductor and groin pain are still present, but I can run again, it feels good, not yet pain free but hope springs eternal.
Special thanks to Alistair for his kind and considered words.
Tony
keep up the good work and thanks for the information about the groin and adductor. I am 5 weeks post operation and i was thinking why is this pain still there. My physical therapist has been working on these two areas to get rid of my limp and i agree it does hurt. i just clicked on your garmin 12 min avg great job.
No problem Doug, it took me over 20weeks to get rid of the groin pain when walking and get enough strength in the hip to walk without the limp, give it time, it will come. You seem to be going about it the correct way.
Tony
I am going to try and see if I can post the pictures of the exercises my therapist is using. He has been targeting these two areas and it has made a big difference. Still sore the day after therapy, but range of motion increasing and the weight used increasing rapidly.
Doug
Congratulations Tony, it’s fantastic that you have run again. At this stage you probably have a very short stride length and run tentatively on your forefoot, try to keep it that way to avoid any undue impact.
It sounds like you feel ready to push ahead, have you tried walking with trekking poles? I was in your neck of the woods some years ago and from memory you have some great hill walks around there. I found that walking hills with trekking poles was a great way to transition to running as it quickly strengthened the muscles supporting my hip. It also allowed me to safely push hard, and control how much weight I put on my hip by transferring it to the sticks when I needed to (like on the downhills).
As I say, it’s great to hear of your progress Tony… and your optimism.
Hey Alistair, if I am honest I have never really considered walking/trekking, nor the hills, and there are a few, Isle of Arran stairs back at me over the Firth of Clyde. You are dead right, Im feeling ready to push on, too ready in fact and have taken a step back this week a result of a bit of overzealousness. Perhaps running out for the moment, need to remind myself to be realistic as well as optimistic. Your story looks “awesome” (quoting Tom, it never sounds the same unless its said in a US accent :)). Hope your going to post some more… a bit more about your runing background , you cant just do SW100 without some miles in the legs !
Hey wait a minute! I don’t have an accent! YOU have an accent! HA HA. Yes Alistair is right. The worst part about that first year was the wait. And you are doing a good job listening to your body. I never pushed through anything, but I did push the hip to its limits…..always listening though when it was time to back off. It has paid off…….patience! 🙂