[pct-l] hamstring

[brick at fastpack.com (Brick Robbins)]

I had a cramp and a pull in my left hamstring during the 1990 Berlin 
Marathon that forced me to sit for a while. Stupidly, I got up and finished 
the race.

I still have a knot from it that bothers me from time to time, especially 
after I really work the leg. It is so noticeable that massage therapists 
feel it and dig in right away.

Over the past 15 years I've done ice, stretching, massage, weight training, 
the works. The best treatment I've found for it is "active release therapy" 
but the relief is still only temporary.

I fear I'm stuck with it.


At 08:00 AM 8/22/05, Steve Peterson wrote:
>I know that hamstrings take a lot longer than two weeks to heal, even when 
>the pull is mild.
>
>I had a mild pull during a time when I was a runner. Rest (that is, no 
>running) and *light* stretching was all I did. It took forever (six 
>months?) to heal and that's when I was in my early 30s. After it healed, I 
>had to be very careful not to pull it again--I made sure I warmed up and 
>then stretched well before doing any hard running. It has never bothered 
>my hiking in the least, however.
>
>I'm not sure what the sprinters do to make it better when they pull one so 
>bad they fall down in the middle of a race--mine was not nearly that bad.
>
>In addition to rest and light stretching, massage would also probably help.
>--Steve