Abdominal Wall Strain

Who knew? I’ve never heard of an “abdominal wall strain” from running, but that’s what Dr. V says, and it makes the most sense. My gut hurts when I come down on my foot but not when I’m pushing forward on that foot. Going up or downhill doesn’t make it worse. It hurts a lot, though, when I try to do a situp from laying on my back.

It’s the injury that comes BEFORE a hernia. Some of the muscle fibers are torn, but not most of them - the abdominal wall still feels firm, says the doc. He didn’t say that it would become a hernia if I didn’t let it heal, but I got that impression. Two to six weeks to heal, he thought, just don’t do anything that makes it hurt. A truss wouldn’t help. He did think that I might heal a little faster than most because I take care of myself. Hmmm. That would be nice - my next marathon is just four weeks away.

So here’s the plan: Tomorrow nothing physical. Wednesday maybe some upper body resistance training, but nothing that hurts, and I also have to climb some stairs before a 1:00 pm blood draw (to bring out the neutrophils). Thursday probably nothing except lots of driving. Friday maybe I’ll find some other aerobic exercise - biking, swimming, elliptical, whatever doesn’t hurt. That’s the first four days.

I doubt this would have happened if I had paid more attention to "core strength." Thoughts for the future.