Abdominal Tendinopathy

Since taking up running about six years ago (interrupted by a two-year stint in

martial arts), I have achieved little to brag about. My last marathon (2019) 

took around four hours and I have never run longer than 30 miles on trails. I

realized that what I have gained was experience, especially in injuries.

 

A muscle at the right inner thigh started to hurt early Mar, enough to make me

grimace but not scream, during squats, getting up, or with the right leg leading

in a lunge. The anotomy of the area suggested it was one of the adductors

(pectineus most likely) that connect the pubic bone to the femur. I thought it

had to do with the flu. But it persisted long after the latter was over.

 

I talked with L, my ultra-marathon friend. It just happened that he had the same

problem which he called "groin pain" when we ran at Marin Headlands last Dec.

(He got it in Oct.) From him, I learnt the term abdominal tendinopathy. He first

tried to tough it out but had since stopped running for two entire months. 

Meanwhile, his wife and sons had made good progresses in their own long-distance

pursuits. The lady just finished a 50 mile race and the second son, M, a

100-miler. It must have felt torturous for L to sit on the sidelines.

 

I now blame the switch to Merrell from Xero shoes. The added cushion allowed me

to speed up in descent. Early Jan, I discovered the Mill Creek Rd which extended

one downhill run to about six miles. Things seemed to add up.

 

I have more things to worry about than not being able to run. The injury does

not cripple me but has made exercises involving the leg less enjoyable. It also

threatens to worsen if I insist on heavy-lifting or piling up milage. The timing

cannot be worse as I have grown more aware of the importance of strength in the 

wake of coward attacks on Asians throughout the past year.

 

My solution is to work the parts of the body unaffected by the injury. I have 

seen some progress in military press and the 48kg two arm swings have become

crisper. Jack Dempsey's book has led me to a neck muscle exercise. Stretching

throughout the day also gives a sense of progress. I have started to see the affliction

as an opportunity to take care of the neglected areas of my physical training.