I decided not to run Saturday. I actually took all week off running for several reasons:
1. Why bother if no race?
2. Hamstring still tight, no clue why, time to see MD.
3. I'm not really into running right now. I am into these ballet workouts that make my legs feel like jelly.
I'm going back to Dr. McNulty today, and I'll ask him his opinion on my hamstring (and my MCL, which is 100% better, but I want to know if he thinks I'm putting strain on it because of too-tight hamstrings).
And then, depending on what he says, I'll decide if I'm on a long running (and therefore blogging!) break, or if I'm going to get back into to it. I don't know where my motivation has gone, but I think it's a combination of both being slower and not running with any groups anymore. Track with a group was very motivational, and I miss that. There's no one to push me now...and no one to hold me back from silly speed or mileage decisions.
I'm still into running enough that I rushed home from church to catch the end of the men's race at the NYC marathon, though! I love watching finish lines!
Anyone else watch? I missed most of the broadcast, but I saw the starts for the women and the men and the men's finish.
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As a runner with super tight hamstrings like daily, I stretch like no ones business... They couldn't find anything wrong...you'd think something was wrong.. I'm curious to hear what your doctor says.. let me know what you hear... positive thoughts!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, he didn't seem to think it was really a problem! He was like, "Chronic hamstring pain...pretty common."
DeleteGood luck with the dr! I hope you find out something helpful. I've had some major motivation issues too, for similar reasons. I used to do all of my training and racing alone; now I'm spoiled and need company to drag me off the couch.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand how much difference running with a group can be for your motivation. Hopefully you'll get to a place soon where you can get back to running with other crazies.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get an answer to the tightness you are feeling. You were smart to not race! It is hard to stay motivated when you are running alone! The ballet style workouts sound great though! I will be activating a barre groupon in Jan and look forward to doing those workouts as they work muscles that don't normally get worked!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry. It is actually more frustrating no knowing what is "off" than to have a clear cut injury. At least with an injury you know how to deal with it.
ReplyDeleteThe ballet thing sounds interesting. I might like that, if they had anything like that here. Dancing is incredible exercise!
Is there anyone here in NOLA that does a "gait analysis?" Maybe you have wonky running form that's causing issues? For the past 3 years, I've repeatedly blown up my calves. In March (when I still lived in D.C.), I finally went to a PT who specializes in endurance sports, and she filmed me running and figured out that I was a massive forefoot striker with poor hip extension, so my calves were literally doing ALL of the work, I spent 8 weeks changing my form and doing various drills/exercises to get my glutes working. Besides a hiccup in May (from ramping up my mileage too quickly and doing too much speedwork), I've been really healthy.
ReplyDeleteAre you talking about Pure Barre? Those sound awesome. You should do a blog post about it. I'd love to hear more.
Oh, and one more thing. I remember going to see my PT after I started doing speedwork and I told her that my hammie was bothering me. She said hammie issues are a lot of times related to overstriding. Next time you do speedwork, try to pay attention to your cadence. Another thing I've noticed that as I've gotten healthier my steps per minute have increased. My stride rate when I first moved out here was 179ish. I know that they say "180" is ideal, but I'm now around 185ish, and I feel like there's something to that as far as staying healthy. Definitely takes the load off of the hamstrings if nothing else.
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