My marathon training was going very well until just last week. I stepped on some uneven ground and felt a strange sensation in my left hip flexor/groin. It actually felt like a good stretch at the time, but began getting sore after that. I took a day off and reduced the intensity of my runs, but it appears that the injury has decided to linger.
I can't tell whether the pain is principally in my hip flexor or groin. Here are some characteristics of the pain:
- The pain hurts the most when I am pulling on my pants in the morning, and I am standing on my left leg and pulling my right leg through the pants. It does not really hurt at all when I am not bearing weight with my left leg.
- It feels better as a warm up, but does not get completely better. The first mile or two of my run is slow and uncomfortable (about a 4 or 5 on the pain scale) and I have a bit of a limp. However, after that, the pain moves down to about a 2 or 3. I don't limp during the remainder of the run, but my pace is slower than prior to the injury.
- It hurts more to run downhill than uphill (uphill does not hurt much at all). Uneven surfaces don't feel good.
- Walking sometimes hurts, and sometimes doesn't. If I've been sitting at my desk for a long time and get up, walking is awkward.
Has anyone had anything similar to this type of injury? Do you have any advice for dealing with it?