So in my 3rd week (which is about 7 weeks ago) of officially training for the Pittsburgh Marathon, I pulled my left hamstring. I refrained from doing any sort of physical activity for about 3.5 weeks but would stretch it and apply ice and heat when needed during that time. When I felt it was better, I started running on an elliptical to ease back into it. I did that for about 3 weeks and had even gotten to the point where I ran 16 miles in 2.5 hours on one this past Saturday. I finally ran on a trail for the first time in 6.5 weeks on Tuesday. The hamstring felt a little awkward prior to the run, even after stretching and even during the run. I ran slow and made it the planned 6 miles, but it just doesn't feel right. So the question for the runners/athletes out there that have dealt with hamstring injuries, is this more due to the time off and I just need to keep running on trails to get this back to normal or is this something to slow down with and just continue using the elliptical for a bit longer until this feeling goes away?
Being new to running and new to having a hamstring injury, I'm not quite sure what to do. I want to play it safe since I only have 6.5 weeks until the marathon and I want to be prepared for it, but I also know that while an elliptical is useful, it isn't the same as running on a trail/road and I don't want to put that off much longer. Any insight would be helpful!
Have you seen a doctor or physical trainer about the injury or was it mild enough that you didn't need to? I would have to recommend talking to them if the discomfort persists. It would suck to really aggravate an issue you may not even know about.
You can kill a fly with your slipper or a cannon. Either way, the fly dies. -Ramzy
It wasn't all that bad. I probably had a limp for 2-3 days and by day 4 I was walking normally again. It was a slow progression and not an instant pain. I originally thought I was just tightening up a little bit because it was cold and snowing the day it happened.
I figured I might need to see a doctor about this, but was just trying to hold off. I'm not sure why, but I prefer to just let it heal itself if it can. I think I just dislike going to a doctor's office. You're probably right though...it might be time to just suck it up and go. I have no discomfort on an elliptical so I may stick with that so that I can keep up with the training, but I need to get this taken care of.
At this point I'd be with ALHAN, it's time to see the doc. The time that you took off probably should have been sufficient.
Hamstrings are tricky- they feel better long before they actually ARE better, so it is easy to re-injure them by pushing too hard.
From my experience hamstrings are tricky. I tweaked my hamstring back in Oct playing football, I took a few weeks off to rest it. When I came back I tweaked it again, I finally decided to go to physical therapy. My pt had me doing exercise to strengthen hamstring, stretch it and also stretch hips. I am back playing football, but my hammy still bothers my doing everyday things sometimes
I'm not a doctor (but I am a lawyer so I always include disclaimers) but you know better than anyone else whether what's bother you is lingering soreness, continued pain or just plain rust. Always good to proceed with caution. I know you've probably paid an entrance fee, but don't over do it or try to hard to hit the race if you just straight up can't. There are other races.
Do what you can to keep in shape, if the elliptical doesn't bother it, I say keep that up. Maybe just mix in some shorter runs so that you are just easing it back into running. Definitely RICE it and stretch it. You can get some great stretches online, just Google it. Make sure to stretch not just the hamstring but the quad and the hips as it's all connected and you gotta keep it all in balance.
“Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect.” - Woody
One other caveat/additional information I would add- if you are tweaking your hamstring, there is an underlying cause. Hamstrings do not usually suffer overuse injuries.
If the underlying cause isn't "fixed" you are destined to continually re-tweak and injure the hamstring.
By far the most common cause is a strength imbalance; your quads being substantially stronger than your hamstrings. Hip flexor strength or gluteal strength can also be causes.
Physical therapy for hamstrings almost always focuses around strengthening the hamstring while stretching the overly strong muscle. It seems counterintuative that performing strength exercises on a hurt muscle would work, but it is the way to prevent future injury.
That's why i say to see the doc. Likely he will provide you some sort of physical therapy you can do own your own to strengthen the hamstrings. Perform those exercises religiously.
Also consider sometimes, when you run, running backwards for a bit. Backwards running works the hamstrings more than the quads.
It's worth a trip to the doc, and that advice is from someone who only sees the doc as an absolute last resort.
**edit- and one other quick tip with that, don't spend lots of time "stretching" the hamstring. Stretching actually lengthens and weakens the muscle. You want to stretch whatever alternate muscle (probably the quad) is too strong and you want to strengthen/shorten the hamstring.
Agreed, stretching is among the most over used remedies for injuries. In fact there are many studies that show it doesn't decrease the likelihood of injury. Also if you are stretching before you run, stop!!
Massaging it may help a little bit too, while it might be painful it can occasionally help loosen up scar tissue and speed healing in a way that stretching can't.
Thanks, CPlunk
Just to answer a couple of your points...
I wouldn't say that any part of my legs are definitively stronger than another. I've done P90X 7 times and it does a pretty good job at working all the necessary areas in one given workout. So while my quads might be a little stronger, I don't know if it's that much to throw that off. But it could be. I'll just have to see what the doc says.
I would run backwards on the elliptical on occasion but I definitely didn't last week (even though I originally planned on doing it for an additional half mile to mile after a run). It's something that I'll need to remind myself to do in the coming weeks.
As for stretching, I don't spend too much time stretching on the side. Usually it's just a quick stretch if it feels tight. On occasion I'll do some yoga stretches, but I'll stretch the various muscles in the legs and not just focus on hamstrings or any other area of concern. Also, prior to a run, it's more running in place a little bit to get the blood flowing and then some real quick quad stretches and some bent over stretches for the back and hamstrings. That doesn't last more than 2 minutes and that includes the minute of running in place. I wouldn't think that it's really causing too much of a hindrance when running.
At this point, it doesn't hurt. There is no pain with it. But it does feel awkward. I don't know if it's a tight feeling or if it's just not fully healed. I was able to run 6 miles on Tuesday, but it was at a much slower pace than I was running prior to the injury (nearly 1 min more per mile) and I felt if I tried to pick up the pace that it might pop. Maybe it's me being afraid or something might still be wrong. I don't know; that's is why I should just go to the doctor (I was trying to find a local sports physician prior to responding to your post).
So thanks for the help again!
Gotcha.
Keep in mind on the strength issue you're talking about would be a strength variance you won't even be able to really notice....except when the weaker muscle hurts. You won't feel like your quads are overly strong or see anything when you look in the mirror.
Think of it this way, last time you ran 6 miles, how many steps did you take? Well every one of those steps is a strength rep for the quads, but doesn't really work the hamstrings. Now how many alternate reps did you do of a hamstring exercise? Likely none. Hence, overtime you develop a strength imbalance.
Not saying that is what it is, but that's a common issue.
Somebody else mentioned stride length- that's a good point too. A lot of distance runners shorten their stride to maintain energy. From the side it looks like a shuffle step and not a running stride. That motion completely removes the hamstring from the equation. It won't take long of doing that to aggrevate any strength imbalance.
I'd say doc is still your best bet. You want to be sure what you're trying to fix before you start doing much fixing.
That's a good point in terms of actually working the hamstring. It's not getting a lot of work, if any at all. I'll need to add something into the routine to work the hamstrings at some point.
I responded to a guy below us here as he had mentioned the stride. I know I shortened my stride length for that very reason. I was able to maintain energy in my long runs by having a shorter stride. When I did the longer strides in this last run, I felt less discomfort than I did the shorter strides. So that makes total sense.
But anyway, I found a good doctor who knows my family well and will be setting up an appointment for sometime (hopefully) in the next few days. Hopefully it's nothing too serious and more or less just needs some strength excercises.
And thanks again. You've been incredibly insightful.
Cool. Good luck! Injuries suck when you've finally started to be in shape and want to stay there or hit some new goals.
I had one where it kept acting up over a 6 month period so I finally went to physical therapy, and they said that it seemed that there was scar tissue built up in there. They did deep tissue message and ultrasound and it really helped.
I've been injured quite a bit as a runner. Depending on the type and severity of the injury, an injured location can often feel a little 'funny' for awhile once you get back into training. I believe that is because of the new tissue that is present in the area. That said, you could also have something wrong still, so be careful.
The longer you run, the smarter you will get about injuries, but you will always have problems crop up where you are not sure if it is an on-coming injury, or an ache you can run through, etc. I have a heel issue that has bothered me since August. It can hurt like hell just walking around the house, be fine running 50 miles in the mountains over a weekend, then hurt again the next morning.
EDIT: Good luck at the marathon!
Thanks, LA
Have you had anyone knowledgeable (like a HS or college running coach) analyze your running gait? There may be something in your stride that gets "loose" when you are not constrained on a treadmill ... Just a thought.
I actually have not. I have thought about my stride being a possible issue. I've noticed prior to the injury that I was taking shorter strides, but felt like I had more energy when doing that. On Tuesday I felt like it was better when I took longer strides.
I'm new to running. It's not something I ever did prior to October. I spent a large portion of my life not doing much of anything physical until I started P90X 3.5 years ago. That's been my source of losing a lot of weight and getting into great shape. So having a test like that done wasn't really anything I ever thought about or even considered.
I do plan on doing more runs after this. I'd like to do a half marathon a year if I can swing it. So it might be something to consider down the road.
I haven't had hamstring issues, but I dealt with a similar nagging injury type situation last fall. My calf had some fairly significant discomfort following long runs (I was training for my first 50-miler), and I had a morning where there was actual pain. I called a sports medicine joint that day and scheduled an appointment the following week. At that point, I was about 6 weeks out from the ultra, coming up on peak training.
I took a week off of running before I had my appointment, got some x-rays, and was prescribed PT visits to pinpoint the source of pain. Started training again once I knew I didn't have any stress fractures or anything 'serious'. The therapist said my pain was due to a lack of range of motion in my ankle, and we'd strengthen the ankle to compensate. Kept training, figured I was going to at least try the race. Ran the race and my leg held up just fine (it didn't hurt more than any other part of my body hurt, at least).
I scheduled PT in the days immediately following the race, with an appointment with the doctor that week as well. This (aside from going to the doctor in the first place) was the best thing I could do. PT was just two days of massage sessions, and the meeting with the doctor was great, because during the race I developed foot pain, which was subsequently diagnosed as tendinitis and I attended another 2 months of PT for.
This all has nothing to do with hamstrings, but I think is instructive: I put off going to the doctor (I too loathe going), but sucked up my pride and went. I improved my leg strength, and more importantly found a doctor and physical therapist that I really, really liked. They helped me recover from the race, along with finishing.
You may end up going into the race slightly under-trained, like I was going into the 50-miler. Having a support system of trained folks to help you prep and recover is invaluable. Plus, actively healing the hamstring with professional help will do a lot for your psyche going into the race.
Either way, good luck. And have fun. 26.2 can be awful and it can be delightful but when you've finished it's an accomplishment that nobody will ever be able to take away from you.
ETA: I completely agree with what CPLUNK has said. Just adding my own input based on experience as well.
Taquitos.
We should make this the workout thread. If you have a question, ask it here.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
Weird enough I've never had one that goodness. My issues have always been hip/knee related. I'm old school though and do what needs done to finish then deal with it afterwards.
That's what I wanted to do, but the hamstring just isn't cooperating. Time for a doctor as my time is running short and I've put too much into this to have this end any chance of running.