It seems as though I always have to learn the hard way before I make a change.
On May 28th 2007 I was running in a 10K race and even though I had run the Country Music Marathon four weeks earlier, I was feeling pretty good and was setting new PR's (Personal Record) in every race I entered including this one. Other than the usual fatigue, I hadn't felt anything out of the ordinary during the race and finished second in my age group, (55-59).
I mingled around after the race for a couple of hours and was happy with the new PR, again feeling tired but no aches or pain.
The race was local so the drive home was short, probably about 15 minutes. After I arrived home, as I was climbing out of the car, I noticed a light but sharp pain in my left hip at the top of the hamstring. As the day progressed so did the pain. By evening, it was painful to walk and very painful to sit for even a few minutes but, if I was up and standing still the pain would go away; lying down would also help.
I still wasn't too alarmed by the pain because I've had sudden aches and pains come on before that would go away after a few days. Even if pain lasted a week or two I would always run through what I was feeling, so I was determined to do the same with this episode as well.
I knew all the rules about rest and recovery; cutting back on training, eliminating it all together when feeling pain other than normal muscle soreness, giving your body time to repair. I knew all the rules and advice but I hung on to the stubborn run through anything, no pain, no gain mentality. I continued my training with the pain.
After all, I reasoned, I'm a hard core runner, I love to train, I love to race and just plain run so I wasn't about to back off now. I had come so far.
Pushing through workouts, grimacing in pain but not willing to quit until the workout was complete, I continued my training. Afterward I would hobble back to the house, pop some Alieve and sit on a heating pad hoping for some relief.
My goal was to Boston Qualify (BQ) at the Chicago Marathon that year but, after a couple of months of limping through workouts my goal was slowly fading away.
Finally, desperate for some relief, I went to a sports medicine doctor and his diagnoses was a severely pulled hamstring. He prescribed a few weeks of therapy and of course, no running for a couple weeks.
Staying consistent, I didn't obey the no-run rule completely but would do some walking and jogging. The only smart thing I did was use an elliptical trainer (I hated it) two times a week and incorporated the stretches the therapist gave me to do at home. After the therapy sessions I was seeing some improvement and by then the Chicago Marathon was just a few weeks away. Without any decent training, still not feeling well and knowing my BQ was out I was still determined to run realizing even then, it wasn't a good idea.
It just so happened that on the day of the 2007 race Chicago had record-breaking heat and the windy city was very calm, not even a light breeze. That circumstance coupled with the injury gave me the slowest time ever for a marathon. I finished but, in sorry shape.
After the marathon, my pain and condition quickly worsened. Still not willing to take a complete rest I actually tailored my workouts to accommodate my pain. When I hit a 10 on the pain level scale of 1 to 10, I would call it a day. Due to my stubbornness, I was not able to achieve any quality training time and was losing fitness rapidly. After weeks of declining performances, I went to another sports medicine doctor and he diagnosed some hamstring problems but the more serious problem was an inflamed upper hamstring tendon, (tendonitis) where it attaches to the hip. My physician suggested a cortisone injection in that spot and said it may or may not do the job. I went with the shot, over a three-week period, the pain was completely gone, and I felt great.
I was once again looking toward the Chicago Marathon so set another goal to BQ. I went crazy with the training working harder than ever. The workouts I scheduled were grueling and exhausting but, mentally I was on top of the world.
Unfortunately, after about a two month period the pain was coming back and almost overnight I was right back where I started.
I went back to the doctor and he suggested one more injection and told me it would be the last one because too much cortisone too soon may cause the tendon to weaken.
Again I was desperate to be rid of the pain and received another shot but, this one did not take; no relief whatsoever. My hopes for another chance to BQ were gone and I gave up the idea of running Chicago at all.
I was hurting, tired, depressed and desperate to find out the problem. By this time I was finally, willing to do whatever it took to have my running legs back.
Over the next five months I went through weeks of therapy, x-rays, two MRI scans and a electromyography which involves testing the electrical activity of muscles and also included sticking needles into the muscles of the leg. It was extremely uncomfortable.
After all that, the problem was still not completely determined. Piriformis Syndrome, a condition in which the piriformis muscle irritates the sciatic nerve, causing pain in the buttocks and referring pain along the course of the sciatic nerve was ruled out. The tendon was still inflamed but not severely and the hamstring was better due to the therapy but, I was still feeling some sharp pain in the hip area and sitting was still very uncomfortable.
I wasn't able to do anything but long walks and short jogs. After the therapy and no training to speak of for many weeks except for some time on the elliptical, I was able to shorten the walks and extend the jogs.
At this time since my training had all but come to a stop I decide to have a hernia repaired that I had been putting off for a very long time and some other medical problems that needed to be addressed.
Between the end of October to the middle of December, 2008, I had three surgeries that literally kept me from doing anything but a slow walk for seven weeks and most of that time I was in the recliner not wanting to move at all.
When the healing process was complete I was more than ready to start training again but was very apprehensive.
After January 1, 2009, I started a new, non-aggressive training cycle. I started as if I had never run before (a sure sign that I had hit rock bottom) and alternated short walks with short jogs and gradually increased jog time while decreasing walk time until I was jogging and running only.
It has been 8 weeks now and I am not anywhere near where I was two years ago but, I'm running 6 miles now without any problem and best of all I'm pain free! My fitness is improving and my goal is to run the Country Music Marathon in Nashville on April 25. I don't expect to do well because my training isn't what it should be yet and I have had too much down time but it will be a good test run or should I say jog and will DNF if I feel any pain coming on at all.
I'm convinced that if I had taken a complete rest when I first noticed the pain I could have avoided a lot of pain and misery and who knows, I may have qualified for or even run Boston by now.
I'm still a hard core runner who loves to train hard, race and run the road but now I train smart and listen to the warning signals. There is no guarantee that it won't come back but with what I have learned over the last year and seven months, I have a much better chance of continuing my love of running pain free.
I'm now a firm believer of balancing training with recovery and making sure of full recovery after a hard workout even if it means taking an extra day off. I also include plenty of daily stretching and strength training 2 or 3 times a week early in a training cycle.
I believe I had the classic case of overtraining resulting in a pulled hamstring and inflamed tendon that would never have repaired itself unless I quit doing what I was doing. So, the next time you have an unusual ache or pain don't shrug it off. Almost everyone can tell if it's normal muscle soreness but, if any pain lasts for more than 3 days then stop what you are doing and take a break. You have a lot more than a few days to lose if you don't.
So, train hard to provide the stimulus for improvement, balance that with rest and recovery to allow your body to adapt to a higher fitness, eat nutritionally and get plenty of sleep.
I am back up and running and with these training rules in mind my goal for running Boston is achievable once again.
Enjoy Every Step,
Al
