Trail Note
Ow. We have less than three weeks left til the Mother’s Day Classic, so the Snook and I headed out today for a much needed jog. (I basically took the whole week of the Garbericks’ visit off.) I felt a twinge in my hamstring as we started but disregarded it. Mistake. Half an hour later I was in pain with every step. I tried walking for a while, but it actually felt slightly better to jog (since my leg doesn’t straighten as much). So yeah, I’ve pulled the sucker. It’s not so bad that I can’t walk, but there’s definitely some slight swelling. The Snook gave me a massage and I’m trying to keep it elevated. I may see if I can get a compression bandage tomorrow. Runners, with a (relatively) minor injury like this, how soon can I train again? I don’t have to wait til it’s completely pain-free, do I? Will stretching and/or heating before exercise help enough to continue?
Anonymous
April 26, 2006 — 11:33 am
Kris Kris Kris! A 20 minute warm up and stretch before would’ve saved you some pain! Definitely some gentle stretching will help.
It could’ve been worse though, you could’ve strained your groin, can be extreemly painful and would stop you from doing lots of things…
Kris
April 26, 2006 — 12:53 pm
I knoooow! 🙂 Actually it wasn’t the jog that did it though. I think the injury actually occurred earlier in the day when we were walking back from Newtown. I think I was just pushing the pace a little too hard, and then I aggravated it further with the run. It doesn’t feel too bad today. I was fine moving around the house this morning; it was only when I stepped out to go to work and lengthened my stride that I felt any pain. So I will definitely take the stretching advice from now on…
Tricia
April 26, 2006 — 2:47 pm
Bad timing with the race coming up! I’d follow the RICE advice and take it easy for a bit. My source for all running wisdom is runner’s world; perhaps their website has helpful info.
Kris
April 26, 2006 — 3:34 pm
Hey, runner! What are you doing leaving comments on my site when the world is eagerly awaiting your marathon recap?! 🙂
ADB
April 27, 2006 — 7:27 pm
Hey, maybe you should go see a doctor, rather than rely on the internet for advice 😉
Take it easy – last thing you want to do though is push it for the race and make it worse.
Kris
April 27, 2006 — 11:13 pm
I’d definitely go if I thought it was serious, Andrew. But judging from the articles I read, this was only a Grade 1 strain. I decided against exercising last night to rest it further, and this morning I went for an *extremely* gentle jog/walk around the neighborhood, taking the time to stretch both before and throughout. I didn’t have any pain like I did on Tuesday, merely some slight tenderness.
At first I was worried about what this would do to my race training, but you know what? Screw it. It’s not worth injuring myself permanently for. I know I can do the distance and it’s more important for me to be out there with Rodd than to worry about my speed. I’d rather walk the whole thing than push too hard. We’ve already set our eyes on the next milestone – the City 2 Surf!
Tricia
April 28, 2006 — 12:55 am
Recap done. 🙂
Glad to see that the leg is feeling a bit better. It sounds like you have a very healthy attitude about the race.