Leventhal: Half Iron - Week 10 - Nagging Injury Question
Patrick,
Next week I'm going into week 10 of the HIM training. The last six weeks I've been dealing with some nagging hamstring issues when I run. I keep tweaking them - this week it was the left hammy (it's been the left twice & the right one time). I'm getting ART and working to strengthen my glutes (which they say is the root issue of the hammy strains). This is the third time this has happened in the last six weeks. The cycle goes like this: During a run I tweak my hamstring. I rest it for a week or 10 days by not running (biking & swimming have felt fine to me). I start running and within two weeks it happens again. Very frustrating.
I'm leaving on Sunday for a week long family vacation. My intent had been to continue my workouts while we were out of town. But with this latest hammy strain I'm considering taking the entire week off and not doing anything - no running, no biking, no swimming. Just to completely give my body a rest (I've been going hard for about 10 months straight with no real breaks). But...I gotta be honest - the thought of doing no training for a week scares me a little bit. I feel like from a fitness perspective I'm in a good position - I believe I could muscle out a HIM today if I had to (well...except that my left hamstring hurts!)...it'd be ugly but I think I could do it.
Thoughts on taking the week off altogether to rest?
- David
Comments
* Check here for good foam rolling outside of ART: www.athletestreatingathletes.com
* What is is about your stride / posture that's causing this? Do you have gait issues?
* When you do come back it's ZERO INTENSITY for like 2-3 weeks...just running for time...you have to re-integrate slowly.
Patrick
I'm sure I've got issues with my gait - but I don't know enough to self diagnose. I actually had a gait analysis scheduled back in June and then I got the flu and had to cancel. Probably time to reschedule that.
I do participate in the foam roll butt-whoopin'. I have a love/hate relationship with the roller. My IT band is incredibly tight.
I also talked to a friend who is a certified physical therapist and he's going to point me to someone in Dallas that works with triathletes to try and dial into exactly what's causing this and what's the best course of action for long term success.
Taking off next week and 2-3 weeks of no intensity running will put me 6-7 weeks from my HIM in Austin. I think I should be fine from an intensity perspective...of course, if I'm hurt that's irrelevant. I'd rather finish with a slower HM time then not be able to participate at all.
Thanks for getting back with me.