Well THAT can't be good...

My workouts proceed, coached by a genial demon (sorry, Carrie) who really seems to care that I get this right. We've been doing a program that balances strength training and cardio, using a lot of running (both out on the road, and indoors on treadmill/bike/elliptical machine) with weight machines/free weights added on several days each week. Oh, and core stuff (the pushup/situp type thing).

Here's the problem. I think I pulled something during my fitness test. And it's either an abdominal muscle, or an "oblique". It was quite painful after the test, as in it hurt whenever I needed to, say, get out of bed, but the pain dwindled.

Unfortunately, it's not gone. It's now limited to one very specific spot, and I only feel it when I do push-ups, sit-ups, or crunches, or similar exercises. But when I feel it, WOW, do I feel it. Almost a stabby feeling.

My first fear: hernia. Fortunately, I have none of the other symptoms. From everything Carrie and I discussed and researched, it's almost certainly a pull or strain or something of one of my obliques.

This isn't great, because, as you may recall, the test involves... push-ups and sit-ups. And so my training needs to strengthen those, but I can't do any of either right now. We're working around it, for now, doing all sorts of other core stuff, but this needs to get better.

We've decided to go very easy on the obliques for the rest of the week, don't do anything that even twinges, and then, on Monday, if there's still pain, I'll have no choice but to go to the doc.

And the doc here? That's ANOTHER story, I've been told...