It’s a freezing February day and I’m sitting here with an ice-pack strapped to my groin.  Now, before you make assumptions, let me make it clear that this is not something I picked up in Fifty Shades of Grey and is definitely not recommended as a means of beating the winter chill!

Groin Strain – What a Pain!

I have managed to strain my groin – again.  This time it happened while attempting to leap ‘gracefully’ over a puddle.  The short, sharp shock in my groin soon put a stop to that and all attempts at grace were abandoned as I doubled over in pain and shouted several pain-relieving expletives.  Next time I’m just going to walk around the darn puddle.

The thing about straining one’s groin in public is that all instincts are telling you to grab the painful area and squeeze, rub, press and hold on for dear life, except that you can’t.  What might people think?

Apart from the pain and inconvenience, I am feeling very frustrated. I cannot exercise.  And my new plan to be Fit and Fab by Fifty has not got off to a good start.

Fit and Fab by Fifty

Let me backtrack a little here.  About a week ago I decided that it would be a good goal to be fit by fifty, and so my Fit and Fab by Fifty plan was born. I’m turning forty-eight this year, so I have just over two years to lose a bit of weight, get fit and most importantly, lose the tummy flab!

A friend of mine says that her goal is to be able to enter a room boob first instead of tummy first and that is my goal too.  But being rather flat-chested means that it’s going to be a little harder for me to achieve it.

My Plan: Pilates, Yoga and High Intensity Interval Training

As part of my plan I have started pilates/yoga classes once a week with the lovely Shereena Nain to develop core muscle strength.  And I also decided it would be a good idea to start run/walking using HIIT principles – High Intensity Interval Training. So, during my usual 3 mile walk I’ve been using the second mile to run for 30 seconds and walk for a minute.

Things were going well and last week I managed to do my HIIT training three times.  It was tough at first – I’m not used to picking my feet up off the ground and my thighs are not used to bearing my weight.  But after while I started to push myself in my 30 second running bursts and instead of jogging along I sprinted.

Too Much Too Soon

And that is probably why I now have groin strain.   I pushed myself when I should have allowed myself time to ease into the programme. I sprinted when I should have jogged. I did too much too soon.  And now I can do nothing at all.  Just rest.  Silly me!

I sigh in frustration with myself.  It’s is not the first time I’ve been in this situation.  So many times I’ve pushed myself too far, I’ve leaped into a new project or exercise routine with great enthusiasm hoping to see almost instantaneous results.  The result has been burn out, or the realisation that I’m on the wrong track, or in the case of my body, early injury.

Lessons Learned

So, let this be a lesson to me.  It’s okay to walk before you run.  It’s good to take your time and ease into something.  And, when beginning a new exercise routine, do NOT push yourself.  You know it doesn’t work and will just backfire. Be gentle. Go slow!

Time to remove the ice-pack.  My groin is now numb.  There’s still time to be fit and fab by fifty.  I’ll start again next week.