Will one week completely off ruin my cross country goals?

No. One week completely off will not ruin anything.

Yep that's right.

There are a lot of reasons why taking a week completely off will help you more than hurt you.

The sooner you do it, the better. Would you rather miss a week in June? Or September? (Or three weeks in September because you turned a pull into a tear by running on it for too long?)

hopefully it clears up in a week, but groin injuries can last a long time

Taking time off now to heal an injury won't hurt your XC season. Fighting through it now and not letting it get better will 100% come back to bite you in the fall, and probably at the most inopportune time.

OP wrote:

I've been battling an on off groin injury for the past 3 weeks. I thought it healed completely last week but pulled it again. I've done some easy running with not much pain but it hurts when doing some stretches or intense action. What route do you suggest I take. Goal is to stop the injury but not lose fitness for cross country.

I totes understand and relate to your love of xc and enthusiasm and excitement for xc glory, but this is the wrong question. The question is, have you solved what caused your groin injury? Like I say to everyone, consult a pt. Don't just try to troubleshoot it on your own. Rest of course is always an essential piece of training and sometimes, you simply can't avoid having to rest. But let's say your groin injury was caused by underdeveloped calves, weak sauce feet etc. If one does not deal directly with such reasons, there is going to be heartache and confusion down the line repeatedly and for a long time. You still might have heartache and lows, even if you deal directly and do pt exercises, get rest and modify your running schedule, but

Much less so

And

Most importantly

you won't be confused, have false hopes, best around the bush etc.

That's especially going to be nice, as I'm guessing you are not a senior club xc runner but rather are in hs and college, and given that, there is enough confusion par for the course in your life with school, socializing, dating, sex, career, personal beliefs and values, figuring things out, etc etc.

Ok thanks for the advice, means a lot. I have another question, can I still be doing weights and core while I'm taking time off. I've had history with two previous hamstring pulls (one was chronic and I had to take off the entire racing portion of cross country). Will a good core plan be my fix?

Bump^

I would recommend taking it completely off. If you are taking rest to try and heal something it's best to take complete rest. Spend the time you would be training icing/stretching/resting.

Sah wrote:

Ok thanks for the advice, means a lot. I have another question, can I still be doing weights and core while I'm taking time off. I've had history with two previous hamstring pulls (one was chronic and I had to take off the entire racing portion of cross country). Will a good core plan be my fix?

Are you the OP? Core strengthening is almost universally a good thing, but I've had pts prescribe specific core exercises that I would not have conceived of myself. Your hamstring problem as described is very serious, serious enough to not dally around with makeshift weight room and core work , but rather, to base it first on professional physical therapy testing and advice. I assume your parents got you covered for health insurance and would not flip out over a copay for pt which is getting pricier these days. But even if not it is WELL WORTh it. If you are a scholarship athlete, even more so. Direct financial return on investment. Say 4 pt visits through your insurance results in a couple hundred dollars (copay, but also considering whole monthly premium to get the copay privilege). That is pennies compared to the money you might lose if your athletic department decides to do you dirty (because of injury and non performance).

really cannot say without knowing what your specific Weight lifting or core plans are. It sounds like you are already good at those things, and you want to do a lot and have the heart and desire. This is fantastic but sometimes heavy weights can also aggravate an existing injury especially if it is a major muscle/part, like the back or hamstrings. You'd be surprised how much major leg muscles contribute in the performance of isolation exercise elsewhere (heavy conventional arm work, heavy core work, etc)

The best thing is to try to diagnose and solve the problem scientifically. Nobody could do this over the internet. A pt would ask you your history in person and combine that with in the flesh muscle testing. There could be varying circumstances that led to your hamstring problem, which call for different treatments.

Maybe your quads have a specific weakness ;

It could be many things but there isn't a constructive alternative to the sound science of an excellent pt.

God I sound like a lobbyist / paid promoter for physical therapy. I'm not haha

Many variables: If you find out your body is in perfect condition and perfectly balanced, then you can have peace of mind and know you just have to adjust training and have more rest. Rest and training adjustments will always be important regardless, but I don't think there ever has been a runner who had no bio mechanical shortcomings.

I'm the op and thanks again for the advice. If this makes a difference both times I pulled my groin it wasn't while running. First time about three weeks ago I pulled it while getting dressed and second time last Thursday I pulled it while on the trampoline with friends. As with the hamstring problem that was September last year and I haven't had problems since. It was a huge knot in my hamstring and my mom already had prescribed relief cream so she would massage it every night till the knot eventually untangled itself. It hurt like heck.

Sah wrote:

my mom would massage it every night.

Your mom certainly does have magic hands.

Bump^^

Your posts have lots of alarm bells going off in my head! A hamstring pull, then a groin, neither while running. You probably have serious core and muscle imbalance issues. You need to get to a GOOD pt immediately to get exercises to rebalance yourself.

The good news is that muscle pulls can heal completely with time, but only if the underlying cause is fixed.

Good PTs will spend the first visit evaluating your strengths and imbalances only, and not just the lower body, and maybe even wait for the 2nd visit to give you a customized set of rehab exercises. A bad PT will ultrasound your hurt areas, quickly pull out some generic exercises from a list, tell you to stretch the hurt muscle, and possibly do acupuncture/dry needling, or some other quackery. And I don't know why so many PTs seem hung up on leg length discrepancies. Its like they think it's the only thing that causes a running injury. Bill Rodgers had one, but it didn't stop him.

Look them up online, and if they do dry needling or craniosacral therapy, avoid them. Ask your coach or other runners for references.

take it off, its much better. Do yoga the whole week and rest. You will be faster and less injury prone than if you do not take a week off.

Sah wrote:

I'm the op and thanks again for the advice. If this makes a difference both times I pulled my groin it wasn't while running. First time about three weeks ago I pulled it while getting dressed and second time last Thursday I pulled it while on the trampoline with friends. As with the hamstring problem that was September last year and I haven't had problems since. It was a huge knot in my hamstring and my mom already had prescribed relief cream so she would massage it every night till the knot eventually untangled itself. It hurt like heck.

Running may not be for you. Too fragile. Chronically injured runners should find another sport.

Not happening. Plus I've done two track seasons injury free.

If you are over 50....yes. If you are under 25, you could take a year off with no consequences.

Oh and guys this is really important. It's been a week since the pull. Should I start putting heat instead of ice? I've been icing the past week.