Another Injury

I  hadn't done any running since the onset of the pneumonia, only walking, so today the idea was to run/walk at a slow pace, equivalent to the pace of a 6-hour marathon, a ratio of one to three.  That worked great, for about a mile and a half of the three-mile loop.

Then I began to feel a sharp pain in a muscle or tendon in the left hamstrings, about halfway down to the knee, toward the medial side, fairly deep within the muscle mass.  It seems to be a small muscle or tendon, not a large one.  The pain occurred during the walk portion of the run/walk, not the run portion, and seemed to be worst just as the extended left foot was about to touch down, before weight was applied.

So what caused it?

1. Lawn mowing.  A month or so ago I injured an adductor muscle or tendon in very much this same way.  That injury occurred the day after some difficult lawn mowing on our very-sloped outlot.  Guess what - I mowed that very same outlot yesterday.


2. Levaquin.  I'm still taking the last of the antibiotic that is supposed to cure a bacterial pneumonia, even though we don't really know if the pneumonia is bacterial.  Unfortunately Levaquin has a reputation for damaging ligaments and tendons, especially the Achilles tendon, but others as well.  In any case the cure is to stop the Levaquin.  I have only one pill remaining, but I think I won't take it, judging that the risk of tendon injury now seems greater than the possible marginal benefit of one last treatment of the possible (but unlikely) bacterial pneumonia.


3. Both 1. and 2. above.

Anyway the treatment for the muscle/tendon pull is to wait until I can run and walk without pain, then ramp up the distance every day, stopping for the day if any pain appears.  Meantime, the bike is still on the back of the car, ready to go.  I wonder if I can ride without pain.

Split: 2.24 mi, 28:25, pace 12:41, for the portion of the run up to and a little beyond the start of the pain.  That's pretty good for a 1 to 3 run/walk, and on the grass trails to boot.