Groin Pain

Almost 2 years ago, when I was ramping up my training and had hit 30-40 miles per week for about 6 weeks, I developed a sudden groin pain that would not go away, even with rest. I eventually had hernia surgery, but even after the surgery and patient healing, nothing had changed.

My right groin had a weakened feeling, not a sharp pain, but strong enough to deter me from trying to run, as I felt any exertion would bring back the pain.

Finally after over a year, I did the Beachbody P90X extreme home fitness program. I lost weight, gained strength, and was able to start running again. I was unable to explain why, but it seemed that the P90X workouts had cuted me.

Well I recently found this post and this post on a running message board answerred by Dr. Nilesh Shah. Both posts seem to indicate that groin pain in runners may be caused by a core imbalance, or a weakness in the core area.

Since P90X certainly strengthens the core, this may explain my miracle cure!

Junior High Cross Country and Yoga Booty Ballet

Tonight after work I drove out to Norwalk to pick up Luke. I got there in time for his pre-season cross country parent's meeting and also the coach allowed me to tag along in practice.

We started with a warm up of about 1/2 mile, then stretching, then several "drills", toe walks, skipping, butt-kicks, and such.

Then she broke the team into groups and sent them out for a 2-mile run at staggered intervals, with the slower runners starting first with the intent that the kids would work on catching the group in front of them.

I ran with 2 boys in the first (slowest) group and they kept up ok, one girl from the next group back almost caught them but that was it.

Then we did 2 "strides" and 4 "sprints" of about 75 meters, and then about 1/4 mile cool down, and then more stretching. Hopefully they will have a good season. Their first meet is in about 1 1/2 weeks.

Then when we got home, Victoria and I did day 1 of Yoga Booty Ballet. YBB is another exercise program from Beachbody, the company that distributes P90X.

Day 1 is watching a 15 minute video describing some basic yoga moves and poses, and then a 10-minute ab workout with a squishy ball. It was no P90X for sure, but the ab workout was ok and it's great to be exercising with my wife!

Scones, Smoothies, Sweet & Sour Meatballs

A while back I joined the "Team Beachbody" club ... besides increased website access and 10% off the products, you get a "free gift". Well the gift was a small cookbook called "Thin Kitchen"

I'm usually not a cook, plus I am a picky eater, but let me tell you, I have made 3 of the recipes so far and they are awesome! Very well received by the whole family, expecially my wife. (Or maybe she just likes me to take a turn cooking).

Anyhow first I made a batch of Whole-Wheat Cranberry Scones. I took these to a family picnic and everybody made a big deal because I had cooked, well they all got eaten.

Next (tonight) I had some time so I made 2 things. First was Chalene Johnson's Summer Smoothie - calls for OJ, Pineapple, Papaya, Mango, & ice (and optionally protein powder). Well my 3 year old won't touch fruit, but he drank his, calling it a milkshake. My 11 year old daughter is a vegeterian and I worry about her protein, we added the protein powder and she certainly enjoyed it.

The second thing tonight was the main entree - Sweet & Sour Meatballs. I made both the meatballs and the sauce (actually my 12 year old son made the sauce). The sauce was a little too spicy for some in the family, but the picky 3 year old ate about 4 meatballs (in ketchup) and my wife ate enough that her eyes were sweating from the sauce.

Anyhow, if you have the cookbook and haven't used it, use it! If you haven't got it, I'm sure there are other healthy recipes out there but we sure have had success with these!

P90X Fitness Test - Final 90 Day Results

Well yesterday was day 90 of my P90X routine. Way back on May 4th, before I started, I took the P90X Fit Test to measure my starting point. The table below shows my progress. As you can see the results are pretty significant!

Activity	Day 0	Day 90
Weight	205.8 lbs	179 lbs
Pulse	60	45
Pull-Ups	2	6
Vertical Leap	17 inches	19.5 inches
Push-Ups	26	48
Toe-Reach (flexibilitiy)	1/2 inch past toes	5 inches past toes
Wall Squat	1:40	3:05
Curls (20 lbs)	24	40
In & Out (abs)	39	66

P90X Week 13 & Trackwork

I am in week 13, the final week, of my P90X routine. I did Core Synergistics this morning which is a great combination of pushups, lunges, ab work, and other core exercises. It is one of my favorite workouts, I think.

My weight after today's workout was 176, down from 205 just 88 days ago. I am more than satisfied with the weight loss program of P90X!

Last night Luke and I went to the Midview track. He has new spikes for cross country which he has never worn. I wanted him to have a chance to try them out, so we went down and did a 6 lap warm-up.

The workout was 4 reps of 400m, I thought maybe he could run them in 80's but that proved to be ambitious. My reps were 90, 83, 78, 77 while Luke ran 102, 95, 90, 93. After the first one I gave him a 10 second head start each time so we would finish closer together.

The last 2 400s he wore his spikes (and I wore my racing flats).

Running, P90X, & Weight Loss

I ran in Oberlin last night with my brother Gary. Greg, Thomas, Orrin, & Whitney were also there but ran a little faster. It was nice to run with Gary. The weather was very humid.

I am now in my next-to-last week of P90X (for my first round at least). Last night's workout was Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps plus Ab Ripper X. I got on the scales at the end of the night and I was 179!

I haven't been under 180 in years! That felt pretty neat, and I have now lost 26 lbs. I doubt I have much more to lose, but we'll see.

Weekly Wrap Up (P90X, Running, Yoga)

Tuesday night I ran with the Oberlin gang and then came home to do my P90X Chest, Shoulders, & Arms, plus Ab-Ripper X. This was my most normal night of the week.

Wednesday I had a soccer meeting then plans to watch my nephew's band Darkhorse at the Red Iron in Wellington. Plus I would be away from home on Thursday & Friday so I decided to switch P90X Back & Biceps to Wednesday night. This allowed me to travel without needing to find a pull-up bar or weights.

Thursday morning I donated blood.

Thursday night I met my family at Gem Beach at Catawba Island. I brought my laptop and tried to do P90X Plyometrics on the beach, but the waves were too loud so I came back and did the P90X workout in the yard. I added Ab-Ripper X, which doesn't usually go with Plyo but I was due since I had switched nights.

Friday morning I went for an easy 2 mile run with my son Luke and then in the evening I did P90X Yoga. The neat thing was I was under the supervision of an actual yoga instructor (my wife's friend Jen). Thanks for the advice!

P90X 60 Day Photos

Wow. It is hard for even me to believe that guy on the left was me just 60 days ago.

Soccer and P90X Plyometrics

Brooke and I played soccer with the neighboring community kids (U13 or so) tonight. Brooke was a little tentative at first but then she found her groove and started playing well. I'm not much of a soccer player but I am getting there.

We played about 2 hours. About 1.5 hours after I got home, I did the P90X plyometrics workout. Man-Oh-Manischewitz! What a workout! Weighed myself at the end and I was a new low of 182. That doesn't count as I'm going by morning weight, not post-workout weight, but it's still a good sign.

My new goal is to get down under 180 by the end of my 90 days (Thursday is #59).

Running And P90X Week 9 Chest & Back

Tonight was my weekly run with my brother / nephews / friends. There were 7 runners tonight and I'm still at the back but I kept up MUCH better than either of the past 2 weeks.

Came home, watched a tv show with my daughter, and then pressed play for the P90X Chest & Back workout. I'm starting week 9 and it's hard to believe I haven't done that workout since week 3. If you haven't been following along, Chest & Back is pretty much full of nothing but push-ups and pull-ups for an hour.

As a testament to my improved strength, I matched or beat my previous max reps on ALL 12 exercises, both times through!

Finished the night with Ab-Ripper X.

P90X Yoga Modification, Plyometrics, & Bowling

I had a super-busy schedule yesterday and had to modify my P90X Yoga workout to get it done. I split it in half, doing the moving asanas in the early evening and then the balance postures later at night. Also I surrendered in a battle for tv time so I made space to do them in the bedroom. The only challenge to that was in finding a spot to stand where I didn't bump into the ceiling fan when I reached up.

Earlier I had done a partial P90X Plyometrics workout with 8 kids from our soccer league. We did most of the moves, but for 30 seconds each and only 1 time through.

And the bowling was on a date with my wife. I haven't bowled in years, but started out my first game with 2 strikes in a row. I ended up with 170, but it could have been even higher as I was awful at picking up my spares, and I rolled a gutterball on my 3rd ball of the 10th frame (after 2 more strikes).

My second game was more my speed with 123.

EIFB (Extreme Interval Fat Burning) Running

Did an extra cardio workout this morning. Was reading Mick's Seattle Racing thread on Beachbody and saw some talk of EIFB (Extreme Interval Fat Burning) running.Since this is my recovery week and today was my X-Stretch day, and I'm planning on a 5k tomorrow, I decided this would be a good day to add in an extra run.

From what I understand, you do this workout first thing in the AM:
0-2 minutes = 5 (level of effort)
2-3 minutes = 6
3-4 minutes = 7
4-5 minutes = 8
5-6 minutes = 9
6-7 minutes = 6
7-8 minutes = 7
8-9 minutes = 8
9-10 minutes = 9
10-11 minutes = 6
11-12 minutes = 7
12-13 minutes = 8
13-14 minutes = 9
14-15 minutes = 6
16-17 minutes = 7
17-18 minutes = 8
18-19 minutes = 9
19-20 minutes = 10
20-22 minutes = 5

I ran on my treadmill and started out at 6.0 MPH (10:00 / mile). I increased by .7 for every level of intensity:
5 = 6.0 MPH = 10:00 minute pace
6 = 6.7 = 8:57
7 = 7.4 = 8:06
8 = 8.1 = 7:24
9 = 8.8 = 6:49
10 = 9.5 = 6:18

It was a good workout in a pretty short amount of time and I was sweating like crazy. I walked to the end of the block and back and then took a cold shower and was barely able to stop sweating.

I think I will add it in a couple times / week during my final phase of P90X which starts next week, not sure what days, probably Monday (rest day) and Friday (yoga day) but I'm not sure.

Near-record 12 Runners

Brad picked me up tonight as Randy went early to run the course twice. It was nice to see Brad. I was hurt all last summer and Brad doesn't run in the winter due to wrestling practice (not to mention cold weather) so we hadn't run together in almost 2 years.

Randy, Brad, Greg & Laura, Brian & Casey, Orrin & Amber, Liz, Andy, Eric (Andy's roommate) and me. I don't think we ever had more than 4 girls before.

Amber never heard of the song Amber by 311. Can you believe it?

I ran out with Eric and then back a little slower with Kasey. Nice run after YogaX. Feels like I won't be as sore as last week.

Speaking of the X, this is day 1 of week 8 (my 2nd recovery week) for P90X. My weight yesterday was 187 so in 7 weeks I have dropped 17 lbs from my starting weight of 205. I'm doing Core Syngergistics in the morning on Wednesday.

Double Double

Tuesday after work I did Ab-Ripper X, then ran on the trail in Oberlin with Randy, Keith, Andy, Thomas, Orrin, and Liz, then came home and completed the Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps workout in the P90X program.

Wednesday I went to Lagrange for open soccer, and then I came home to do the P90X Yoga. This was a slight modification, moving Plyometrics to Friday this week.

My quads are pretty sore from 2 days of double workouts. The good news is I think that after an entire year post-surgery, my hernia-related pain is gone!

P90X Day 41 - Kenpo

I did Kenpo last night and Luke and Nathan (both 12) joined me for most of it. Today is my rest day of week 6 and my weight is 190. Almost halfway there time-wise.

Running With The Kids

The kids and I went for a run today ... Brooke wanted to take more breaks so we started with 4 minutes running and 1 minute walking, goal was to do 30 minutes total (24 running & 6 walking).

Well Luke only took 1 walk break around 14 minutes, he got ahead and then Rachel biked up to catch him and tell him to turn around and come back. He's starting to get in shape for 7th grade cross country in the fall.

I'm estimating we did about 3 miles. This was my 2nd "extra" workout this week, after playing soccer on Wednesday night. This morning I did the P90X Legs & Back workout, plus Ab-Ripper X. I'm 40 days into the P90X program and today I weighed 189 so I am down 16 lbs.

My leg/groin that has bothered me for a year since before and after my hernia surgery has not bothered me at all this week. I think I may start trying to run on Tuesday nights.

Doubles

Not really P90X doubles, but I did do a double-workout today. I did plyometrics in the morning so that I could go play open soccer tonight! Felt nice starting the day with the workout done!

Tomorrow also I need to do Back & Biceps early, as I'm driving pizzas Thursday night.

Weight at the start of week 6 was 192.

P90X Day 31 - Back & Biceps - With Pictures

I did the Back & Biceps workout today, lots of pull-ups and curls. My heaviest dumbells are 20 lbs which is not quite heavy enough for some of the curl exercises.

I took some pictures last night, here are my day 0 - day 30 comparisons. The lighing seems a little better in the 2nd set (red shorts).

But regardless of the lighting, you can see in this side picture that my gut is disappearing in just 30 days!

P90X Day 21 - Rest

I did much better at the Kenpo (boxing and kicking) last night. These are new moves for me so I'm finally getting a little coordination. Last night was the most I've sweat in anything besides plyometrics.

Today is my rest day so I'm 3 weeks in.
Week 0 weight 205
Week 1 weight 200
Week 2 weight 196
Week 3 weight 193

P90X Day 19 - Legs & Back

Luke did alot of the leg stuff with me tonight. I'm still rolling along. Need to sleep!