If It Hurts, Stop Doing It!

That's pretty much the bottom line from my sports doctor today.  For more than two months I've been dealing with an injury of the right proximal hamstring conjoined tendon, at the point of attachment to the ischial tuberosity (i.e. where the hamstrings connect to the butt bones).

It seemed to be getting better and I had been running a little faster, without pain, taking 200m sprints at up to maybe 70-80% effort.  Then suddenly about two weeks ago some part of the tendon connection failed during a sprint like that. Big ouch. Since then I haven't been able to run without pain at any speed, even though walking is pain-free.  Instead, my girls and I have walked almost every day, about 25-30 miles per week.

I have not been able to find the injury by poking around in the area with my fingers, so my therapist (Katie) and I thought maybe it was the sciatic nerve, rather than the hamstring tendon.  However, the doc said that the sudden mid-stride reinjury was not typical of an irritated nerve.  More important, he did an ultrasound which seemed to show a dark region where the tendon should have been connected to the pelvis.

In the doctor's written report: "Diagnostic ultrasound imaging reveals a partial tear of the right hamstring conjoined tendon at the ischial tuberosity. Don should avoid sprinting for the fall months as I think this would put too much stress on the conjoint tendon.  He is cleared for continued walking and jogging, as long as there is no significant increase in pain."

Since the normal condition is no pain at all, I understood this to mean that if it hurts I should stop, period.  I plan to walk nearly every day, and test every time to see if it hurts if I jog.  When it doesn't, perhaps I'll start doing a walk/run every day.

We three have a race next Monday, Labor day, called the MDRA Victory 10k, named after the neighborhood in which the race is run and after the beautiful Victory Memorial Parkway in Minneapolis. We have done this race many times, and it's a very nice, flat, out-and-back route.  Further, it's one of the 13 Grand Prix events. I don't know how much of it I can run, if any, but I'm pretty sure that I can finish in the 90-minute time limit even if I have to walk the whole way.

Uh Oh Achilles

Thursday, August 10, 2017:

I ran with some of the SCV Runners today at the Middle School track.  That’s fun - we run together or individually or whatever feels good.  I ran an easy warmup mile with other people, then started on my own regimen of sprints, eventually doing 200m in 49 seconds, maybe 80% of full effort and the fastest 200m since Katie gave me the green light to ramp up the speed a little.

Unfortunately, though, I started right out with some tightness and a little pain in my left Achilles tendon.  I stopped between sprints to try to massage it out, and again to stretch it out, to no avail. No problem with the right hamstring tendon today, though I doubt that issue is gone completely.  But at the end I was going to do one more 400m lap, and quit instead because of pain.  The Achilles tendon is nothing to mess with.

Watch: 1:59 (400m), 0:54, 0:53, 0:58, 0:51, 0:49, all 200m except the first.

Long Time No Blog

I do keep the log, just haven't taken the time to put it on the internet.  Still running!

Monday, August 7, 2017:

Wayne and I are fairly well matched right now.  He has been doing less running than I, but he’s younger and he’ll be faster than me if he keeps at it.  At the middle school track today we warmed up for a couple of laps and then ran 200m sprints together, for a couple of miles total.  Run 200m, then walk the next 200m, making it a full lap, and repeat for a total of 7 sprints.  Then I ran one full 400m lap.

I could still feel the pulled hamstring tendon, if that’s what it is, but not too painfully.  I ran about 50 - 60% of maximum effort, as advised by Katie, my therapist.  I’m sure that the injury will be more painful as I try to increase the level of effort toward 100%

The pulled hamstring tendon has been an issue now since June 9.  About two months.  That’s too long, and I’m less and less convinced that we have really figured out what the problem is.  Sometimes it feels like it’s a very small injury, painful enough, but not large enough to be the hamstring tendon.  Further, the pain sometimes radiates down the hamstring when I sit for too long, as in a car ride.  In addition, I’m not able to palpate the injury - can’t find it with my fingers.

Time for another talk with the Doc.

Watch, 200m sprints: 1:03, 1:02, 1:01, 0:55, 0:54, 0:55, 0:55, 1:53 (400m)

Saturday, Aug 5:

Saint Croix Valley Runners.  Wayne and I ran 4 miles, walking only a little.  I think we went about 10 min/mi. A nice time.

Thursday, Aug 3:

Middle School track.  With rain threatening, Rod and I were the only ones to show up.  We got in a warmup run and then I did six 200m runs at about 70% effort.

Watch: 55.98, 57:67, 57:33, 55:02, 51:48, 55:15.

Monday, July 31:

High School Track, running at maybe 50%  effort.

200m sprints:  1:02, 1:01, 1:00, 56, 55, 59, 1:00, 400m 2:01

Saturday, July 29:

SCV runners usual Saturday run.  I finished 3 miles again, mostly by myself.

Thursday, July 27:

Middle School track.  I didn't bring my watch, but I did run sprints for most of an hour.

Monday, July 24:

Today the air conditioning was out, so I had reason to stay close to home in case the repairman called.  I found a 1.6-mile loop starting and ending at our house, with a lovely hill, perfect for some hill training.  I ran three of those loops and got the call during the last of them.  Happily, the A/C repair was a simple one and we're back in business.

My sweeties crossing the finish line

Saturday, July 22:

Challenge Cancer 5k    Another 3 miles!  Katie, my running therapist, said that I shouldn’t sprint until I can run three miles without walking.  I did that last Saturday and again today.

This 5k is one race in an annual series of races hosted by Charities Challenge, an organization dedicated to helping others achieve improved health through exercise.  This particular race was held in a wonderful county park in Andover, MN, less than an hour from our home.

I ran without walking for the first three miles, then walked for a few seconds up a small hill, and finally pushed the last 100 meters at a higher pace.  Looking good at the finish line :-)  I feel great, no pain.  First in my age group.  Also last - I was the only one in M75-79.

Since I got to the finish before they did, I got a photo of my girls finishing their 5k.

Watch: 10:35, 10:23, 10:30, 1:24 (0.1 mile), total 32:50.  I can do better.

Thursday, July 20:

Good attendance this morning at the Middle School track, eight of us, running a 2-mile warmup and then a few 800-meter intervals.  Some of us are faster than others, but on a track we're still sort of together, as we can meet up whenever we want.  I ran with the girls for a while and with the guys for a while, though the guys were faster.


I didn't feel much like running today but I did anyway, going about 4 miles before we headed home.

Tuesday, July 18:

USATF Summer Meet # 4:  Minnesota USATF held the fourth of their five Summer Meets, this one at a high school in Woodbury.  I love the atmosphere at those events!  Runners from age 4 to 76 (me), doing every distance offered and every field event as well.  People are happy and excited just to participate.  I admire the parents who bring their children, introducing them to a wholesome life of healthy exercise. In just one event, the 400-meter dash, there were 13 heats, most of them with a runner in each of the 9 lanes.

The fee is $5.00, payment for as many events as anyone can run - even to run the same distance more than once.  Because of my hamstring-tendon injury I decided to run only one event, the 400-meter dash, the slowest (longest) dash on the menu.  I meant to run at 75% of full speed, but the injury felt OK and I finished in 1:46, a bit faster than I had intended and about as fast as I've run any timed 400-meter so far this year.  This would be a 7:10 mile if I could run four of those in a row.  Not yet, but working on it.  Maybe someday.

Monday, July 17:

For some reason I didn’t feel like running today, especially outdoors where the temp was 90 by the time we got home from a trip to Duluth.

The girls didn’t either, so we trekked off to the YMCA, where I ran two miles without walking and then felt like going home.  They did too, so we headed off to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.

Miles: 10:00, 9:35