Hamstrings of Doom
I’m not categorising this post as “Injury Time”. I’m not injured. I repeat. I am not injured.
I have a thing. A hamstring thing. It’s not painful, it’s not pulled, it’s… I don’t know. It’s basically tense. Like I’m tensing it all the time. And I suppose I am, but I’m trying not to. Though the more I think about it the tenser it gets.
Argh.
I asked the physio about it on Friday. “Should I get one of those foam roller things everyone has?”, I asked. “No”, he said, “they’re no good for hamstrings”.
So, there’s nothing I can do. I’m stretching it but, short of crouching at my desk or touching my toes mid-meeting, I can’t stretch it all the time.
I’m giving it a whole 36 hours between runs, to see if that helps. 6 miles yesterday morning were uncomfortable, verging on unpleasant. Intervals tonight, and hard ones at that (6 x 800m). Oo, I think these might qualify as Yasso 800s.
Hamstring heaven or hamstring hell? We shall see.
Not a Jogger 
I would certainly never claim to know more than your physio – but my “the stick” and my foam roller definitely help loosen my ham string.
In addition when the guy at “The stick” booth at the MCM expo was showing it to me, he made a point to hit the muscle groups AROUND my trouble spots -as it is all connected. For a hamstring – I would think your Glutes and your Calf muscles. Remember that our muscles are all connected.
I suppose to me – the question would be – could it hurt to get a foam roller and try it? (if you had more time, I would totally recommend ordering “Thestick” on line.. I love that thing.) If you do get one, look at youtube for hte “how to” for your glutes, hamstrings, calves and quads (yes, quads also. After all – those are the muscles opposite the hamstrings and according to an injury free running clinic I went to – all to often our pain is increased by the opposing muscle group)
I am interested in this stick! I feel I would have to go on a course to use it though.
Thank you both for your excellent advice. I think stretching other muscles makes total sense, and I do have a tennis ball, so will try that first!
I hope your hamstrings feel better soon. I loved you description of “midlife crisis of the legs” on your last post – it so summed up how my legs felt last month during the hard training.
I had problems with my hamstrings and the foam roller was no good, but trying to roll out knots on the tennis ball sometimes helped me. It’s a bit awkward though.
In the end my hamstrings only eased up when I stretched and rolled my quads and adductors loads. Maybe worth a shot?