What Happened To My Hamstring?

Thursday morning I got up as I have so many times for an early morning run. The run was going good, although very hard (must be all the food I have been eating lately that I shouldn't be) and as planned until the last mile.

My right hamstring started hurting last last 2 tenths of a mile and the last tenth of a mile I could barely walk it hurt so bad. I still had 2 tenths/mile to walk to get back home and it hurt with every step. By the time I got home it started feeling a bit better, but was still hurting the rest of the day.

I am still not really sure what happened but I have a thought. The only real thought that I could come up with was a muscle cramp brought on by a lack of hydration. I have not checked into this at all to see if this is a possibility, but I do know that muscle cramps can be brought on by a lack of hydration, and the way I have been hydrating lately it would be no surprise. The last couple weeks since the marathon I have not been drinking anywhere near enough water, and that coupled with the extra diet soda's that I have been drinking has left me quite dehydrated. I knew this was the case, but was not making the changes that I knew I needed to.

What are your thoughts? Have you had this happen to you before? What did you do when it did?

I have taken the last couple days off and plan to take at least a couple more days off. Following the first day my leg felt much better but is still not 100% and I can feel a twinge when I flex the hamstring muscle. I want to make sure I give it enough rest to resist long term injury, although it is hard because I really want to get out and run.

I hope this is not something that sticks with me for a long time..... :(

Tim Wilson - blog.262quest.com - subscribe - follow this blog - twitter-virtual4now

9 comments:

  1. Hi Tim,

    This happened to me a couple months ago after a hill repeat workout. I rested completely for about 5 days, and then ran sparingly for about a week. I also had some graston work done on it by my chiropractor and then got a theraputic massage on it. All of these things have helped a lot and I'm finally able to run again without any hamstring issues. I think if you take a few days off at first, and then take it slow (only run everything other day) for a couple weeks, you'll be back in great shape. As we all know, it's really just a matter of listening to your body. Good luck!

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  2. It could certainly be lack of hydration...or a number of other things (muscles in this cold weather tend to stain more easily, for instance). The hamstring can be sooo annoying so be sure to stretch it frequently and ice and rest it if it's really bad.
    Take care!

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  3. Teria você um profissional para acompanhá-lo nas corridas que fazes? ou pelo menos para orientá-lo.
    Meu conselho é que não se exercite sem acompanhamento anjo meu.

    Beijo redondo
    Sou autora do http://pedassimdimim.blogspot.com

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  4. I'm going with post-marathon fatigue... 26.2 really does a number on your legs and even after you think you're all the way recovered you're really not (at least from my own anecdotal experience)... I ran my first marathon 2 months ago and didn't get injured once during the training but ever since I've been nursing nagging injury after nagging injury.

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  5. Tim, Depends on whether this was a temporary condition that passed by the next day... or a trauma to the muscle (that persists). If the former, you might want to ensure you are getting enough electrolytes. If the latter, give it some rest and active isolated stretching. Watch it closely, and don't aggravate it. --Alex

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  6. I would guess cramps from post-marathon fatigue. The rule of thumb I read everywhere when I first started running marathons was "1 day of rest for every day of racing". It always seemed a bit excessive but after 15 I have found it both to be true - and also a good explanations why the vast majority of us only do 2 decent marathons a year. I find I need some down time, and then I have to start the training cycle all over again with 8 or so miles as my "long run". Good luck!

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  7. Thanks all for the great thoughts and comments. It was feeling a lot better the second day and by this morning I was feeling nothing. I may try head out for a short easy run in the morning to test it out..... we will see :)

    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I would guess cramps from post-marathon fatigue. The rule of thumb I read everywhere when I first started running marathons was "1 day of rest for every day of racing". It always seemed a bit excessive but after 15 I have found it both to be true - and also a good explanations why the vast majority of us only do 2 decent marathons a year. I find I need some down time, and then I have to start the training cycle all over again with 8 or so miles as my "long run". Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks all for the great thoughts and comments. It was feeling a lot better the second day and by this morning I was feeling nothing. I may try head out for a short easy run in the morning to test it out..... we will see :)

    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete