Very sharp groin pain, possible injury? Please help

Don't take any chances with a groin injury. Take a few days comletely off. Start back slowly with 25% of your mileage, increase up to your over three weeks.

Never run in pain. Never run in pain. Never run in pain.

Do this every day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GLrKr54yA0

If your 5k time is slower than 15:30 you're running your easy runs too fast.

Sounds like a pubic stress fracture. I was sidelined with one last year. Get an MRI.

Meh, my PR is 15:58 but I'm not in that shape right now. I'm not running too fast though, I would argue..I'm not doing any workouts. I've also ran several summers and winters with 7:00/mile average runs, and they often feel easy. This is the first winter I've actually been ABLE to run (injured the past 2 with lingering IT band issues). Don't wanna start a debate but many of my peers run the same type of daily mileage pace and even faster than I do.

My goal, among others, however for this April/May was to go ~15:30. Hopefully this sideline doesn't ruin that. Thanks for the video. I'll take the weekend off now and rebuild next Monday and see how it feels I suppose.

At that level I'm sure you know what easy pace suits you. But there are 17.xx guys who run their "easy" runs at that pace too and I had no idea of your pbs (I now realize I overlooked your tempo at 6 pace). Just disregard my comment.

groinder wrote:

Don't take any chances with a groin injury. Take a few days comletely off. Start back slowly with 25% of your mileage, increase up to your over three weeks.

Never run in pain. Never run in pain. Never run in pain.

Do this every day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GLrKr54yA0

If your 5k time is slower than 15:30 you're running your easy runs too fast.

First part I totally agree with. Groin injuries can turn nasty very, very quickly. It is not an injury worth messing around with unless you want to risk a strong probability of long term injury or a viscous cycle of injuries. Just accept the time off and let it heal.

I will say I disagree on the easy runs too fast thing. 7:00 is very relaxed for a 15:30 5k guy. Anywhere 5k pace per mile + 1:30-2:00 is a pretty good guideline, especially if you are running by how your body feels.

As Canova said, his athletes have learned the difference between regeneration pace and general distance pace.

Groin injuries often pop up when runners want to "run on tired legs", for example in a marathon build up phase or when they run too fast the day after a hard workout. The muscles in the groin are extremely strong and when they're stiff, they need a good, long and slow warm up.

It's not about how fast you can run and still recover for your next workout. It's about how fast you can run without damaging your stiff and tired muscles. (And IMO 6:50 pace is a too fast regeneration/recovery pace for a 15:30 runner. But I guess it's best for the thread that we agree on disagreeing.)

OP: If you should try the exercises in the video, remember that the same rule applies, don't do them if in pain! You should also google pubic symphysis. It's not a pretty diagnosis...

This I would agree on with you totally. OP said easy run which to me means general distance runs. Maybe its just a semantic thing as I think of my regeneration runs as recovery runs and not as easy runs.

Do NOT try to run on a groin injury. They take for-freakin'-ever to heal. Bitter experience (as athlete and coach) speaks.

Anyway, with that kind of pain your need to see a doc ASAP. Don't screw around.

To be more specific I think it's my hip flexor. Sorry I wasn't clear in my initial post. I said groin but I realize that's a bigger region. After googling the hip flexor, that area seems to be where the problem is. Leg swings make me feel something clicking as I said before. I certainly can't swing my leg at this point. It's still very responsive to sharp pain. I accidently swung my leg inward to kick something on the ground a few minutes ago and I got the same pain. Definitely sitting down the rest of the night

That clicking is potentially a concern, especially if it feels within the hip...as clicking, catching, and locking sensations are common with Impingement.

Your illiopsoas is adhered to your illacus, causing the femur to pull up and into the body. After a while the adductor gets pulled into the entire mess, and you lose the ability to flex or extend or even adduct the hip. Long-term this can manifest as a femoral/acetabular joint impingement. So start doing your hip flexor and quad stretches really well! And avoid too much flexion of the hip itself until that leg/hip can extend well.

thanks, how do i avoid flexion of the hip? sorry i dont know the terminology at all so im not even sure. is this just regarding sitting down a certain way, or not doing any running or cycling that would cause the hip to have to move in a certain way? what is ok to do and not ok to do at this point?

i have been doing side leg raises everyday on each leg almost daily because of my IT band issues. i feel this in the side of my outer hip so i know its working something there. it doesnt affect this sharp pain problem though, although when i do my leg raises on the right side, i do feel a bit of the "clicking".

the clicking probably started about a couple weeks ago but there was no pain. and i want to say i even felt very brief clicking before in the past. but now im worried because of this sharp pain. what do i need to do to fix it exercise wise?

Try to find a good physiotherapist in your area to help you. Stay off the bike or the elliptical for the time being as that can and will prolong your issue.

Check your feet

Agree with slim. Sounds like a pubic ramus stress fracture. Get an MRI

When calling to schedule an appt with a specialist, should i say "I want an MRI" or what. Becaues I don't want to go in for an initial appt and then be told I need to come back again for a scan. That will cost me another couple weeks plus another like $20 office fee to visit again. How does it usually work?

brokenramus wrote:

Agree with slim. Sounds like a pubic ramus stress fracture. Get an MRI

Agreed. This is not something to mess around with. See a doctor and get an MRI, an x-ray or bone scan will most likely not pick it up accurately. Pelvic stress fractures are incredibly painful, take a long time to heal, and if not handled properly potentially career ending. I may be off the exact number but they account for something like .5% to 2% of stress fractures but have a very high recurrence rate.

The sharp pain has subsided. I took 3 days off and ran 5.5 miles on the treadmill today. I didn't feel any pain at all. I really didn't even feel the affected area moving much, although I think I could slightly tell.

There's still just something not in line in the hip flexor area. A slow side leg swing will make me feel things moving around and a bit of the grinding.

Are there exercises I can do to strengthen this? I am being careful in no certain sudden movements because I don't want the sharp shooting pain again.

SEE A DOCTOR. I had similar symptoms to yours, took two weeks off. My first run back I was pain free but the second one the symptoms returned. I ended up with a pelvic stress fracture that kept me from nearly all physical activity for over three months, followed by a few months of cross training, and a very slow gradual return to running. I essentially ended up out for over a year.