January Running: starting the New Year on the right (and left) foot

[OakLeaf]

Nice work Kat! Congrats!

Hope the motor cop will be okay. What a thing to happen today when so many of us were out running MegSMiles.

Six mile tempo run, plus warmup and strides for a total of 7.5. I'd been pretty well dreading it after last week, but the weather was SO much cooler, pretty much perfect for running. It was hard but not horrible.

[skhill]

Good job, Kat! There are several blindingly fast women in that age group here, and I'm hoping for a sudden increase in speed in about 7 years now!

It was all of 15F this morning so back to the treadmill. It should have been a long run but I honestly don't have the mental fortitude for that, so just 5 miles. And I learned a valuable lesson: it's good to pack the gym bag the night before, but not good to put it in the car. My shampoo was frozen solid, and shoes and socks were painfully cold to put on.

Maybe I'll run outside tomorrow, if it's as warm as predicted. In hope of staying healthy I'm avoiding running outside in frigid temps. Still have to walk the dog though, and have been bike commuting as long as it's at least 20F.

[bluejellybean]

Ran 6 megsmiles first thing in the morning. It was dark, peaceful and quiet. Thought of everyone taken by drunk drivers...

[rocknrollgirl]

I get to exercise today! Our mt bike group is going to do a super easy local ride, very flat, so my husband and I talked it over and decided I am well enough to go. I have not coughed in 3 days, and I am feeling very, very much improved. Everyone knows I have been sick so we are going to take it easy. The guys all did a hard group ride yesterday so they go their fix. I will report back.

[yellow]

Have a good ride, RnR.

Hubs and I had a very nice run yesterday on a snow covered (packed) road. We are (once again) in a pollution inversion cycle in the Salt Lake Valley (ick), so we went up to Park City to run. Gorgeous up there, no smog, and my lungs were much happier. 8 slow miles, with a few walk and stretch breaks (I am still dealing with the high hamstring garbage a little and it was a pretty nice day to just scan the hillsides for elk). My hamstring is a little cranky this AM so I am going to take a day off, although I really want to go skate ski given that we are quickly losing our cover; the skiing is what has kind of fired up the hamstring again, though

[Catrin]

The pollution inversion doesn't sound like fun, glad there is somewhere you CAN go. Your comment about the high hamstring problem caught my attention, are you doing anything for that outside of not running? I am dealing with a bit of that right now myself. It is getting better, and I try running occasionally 0 getting further and further before it starts acting up so it seems to be working itself out. I am doing some hip mobility work to help encourage this to pass so I can get back to my running conditioning work.

Have a good ride, RnR.

Hubs and I had a very nice run yesterday on a snow covered (packed) road. We are (once again) in a pollution inversion cycle in the Salt Lake Valley (ick), so we went up to Park City to run. Gorgeous up there, no smog, and my lungs were much happier. 8 slow miles, with a few walk and stretch breaks (I am still dealing with the high hamstring garbage a little and it was a pretty nice day to just scan the hillsides for elk). My hamstring is a little cranky this AM so I am going to take a day off, although I really want to go skate ski given that we are quickly losing our cover; the skiing is what has kind of fired up the hamstring again, though

[yellow]

Catrin, I typed a big long response and then my internet crashed and I lost it. I will paraphrase it here.

If your hamstring pain is new and not the result of trauma, then I suspect that it will resolve on its own if you don't run or stretch it for a while. Once it's not hurting, have your trainer show you some hamstring specific strengtheners. Don't stretch an angry hamstring. Just don't.

I think my case is a little different in that I have high hamstring tendinopathy (aka rotten tendons, according to my doc) that mostly stays at a specific pain level. I use one of these, massage it, and do some strengthening exercises that my PT gave me. I choose to keep going with mine, and thus far have not used cortisone (I quit using NSAIDS late last summer). Mine is the result of a hamstring tear at the end of July 2012, which I injured 2 more times in 8 months. For the most part it is manageable, although I did take a couple of months off of running in the fall to give it a break (didn't seem to make a difference, though). It hurts a little when I run but mostly when I sit on it and it is often painful in the morning. I usually ice it right after running if I can. In other words, I do what I can to keep it from getting worse. I did PT for months last year and it had no effect (extremely frustrating). At least it didn't get worse! Skate skiing currently seems to be making it angrier than running, which was not the case least year (last year skate skiing was really all I was doing since I reinjured it in Oct '12 and Jan '13).

It's an odd injury, and I suspect everyone reacts differently to different treatments. Give it a few weeks.