One of the most common early running momentum crushers is injury. I should know, as several of my past efforts to get back to running consistently have been cut short by an overuse injury that turned into another several month long layoff from running. The worst was in 2009 when I strung together a few good weeks of running 2 miles at a time, with a day of rest in between to allow my body to start to re-adapt. Then I got stupid and went out and tried to run 5 miles on the NCR Trail. Unsurprisingly, I woke up the next morning with a sharp pain just below my kneecap that lingered for a week. I went to a sports medicine doctor and she quickly diagnosed runner’s knee. That kept me off the roads for several weeks. I’ve also had this happen with shin splints.
So, this time, I’ve been determined not to repeat the past, all the while accepting the fact that until my body really gets used to running consistently again, there will be aches and pains here and there. Earlier in the week, I felt my ever-tight right hamstring was slightly overtaxed. But it felt fine after a day. However, yesterday, after I walked to work (it’s about 1.5 miles each way), my right adductor muscle (along the inside of the thigh) tightened up and has been slightly achy ever since. Nothing horrible, but enough that I know it’s not 100%. My hamstrings and adductor muscles have been constant aches for some time now, despite stretching regimens. But suffice to say I will be increasing the intensity of those stretches from now on.
I was tender again last night after walking home (more uphill than the trip to work) thanks to the hills of Baltimore, but foolishly did not ice it down. I let it be and went to sleep, hoping it would resolve itself like my hamstring seemed to earlier this week. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, although thankfully it did not get worse. But it was pretty tight when I got out of bed this morning to go run (I took yesterday off). But it didn’t hurt badly enough that I thought I wouldn’t be able to get in my very short 1.5 mile run. I spent some extra time this morning stretching to try to warm it up enough to prevent a catastrophic injury and that seemed to work.
The combination of the short distance and short warm-up helped. I didn’t feel any discomfort during the run and hasn’t felt worse since then. I spent about 20 minutes icing the area and that also seemed to help. I wish I could have iced it while at work, but I think that would have been awkward. I’ll ice it again for 20 minutes when I get home tonight. I’m doing strength training tomorrow morning, so I won’t run on it until Sunday morning. I’m hopeful that will be enough time to help it feel better (with icing throughout that time).
But this morning’s run was most interesting to me because my minor injury didn’t get worse despite running on it, albeit very carefully. I was always aware of how it was feeling and whether there was any discomfort there that would tell me I was risking a more serious injury if I kept going. Increasing my stretching and icing routines will also help long term, as adductor injuries can take weeks to heal properly, longer if you keep running/playing with it and re-aggravate it every few days. The strain is a very minor one, to be sure, and I would likely not have run on it if, for example, it had hurt to walk or go up stairs. As it stands, the muscle just feels tight when I walk (mostly after having been sitting at my desk for some time) or climb stairs and loosens up considerably when I walk any distance. So, the situation is not serious to begin with. But I’m heartened that I made it through the run today without any problems. As I increase my mileage in the coming few weeks up to 5K distance, I can hopefully get these “re-acclimation” injuries out of the way and strengthen my body for when I move into the next stage of building my mileage.
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