Back in 1999 I was fighting injury after injury. A friend told me "Speed Kills" -- meaning I was training at much to fast a pace. He introduced me to low heart rate training.

What I did to get over my injuries:

1. Take a break. Swim, Aqua jog, but no running and no biking - four weeks.

2. Start back really easy starting with the bike -- 30 min. bike rides 3x a week, plus swimming and aqua jogging. - four weeks. Biking should be high cadence (no big chain ring) and at a lower heart rate.

3. Set your heart rate zones. Take your age and subtract from 180. That number is your upper limit.

4. Start running 30 min. 3 x a week at HR minus 10; keep biking and swimming - four weeks.

5. Bump up your run and bike volume (by time not miles) - 10% every two weeks until back to normal training levels -- stay at heart rate minus 10.

6. When back to normal training level, increase heart rate to your age minus 180 - your max training level.

Yes, this takes a very long time. Yes, you will be training at what feels extremely slow. But it will allow your body to heal and to slowly strengthen.

Better to take a year off and get healthy and race for the next ten years than keep getting injured, frustrated and give up.

Active Release Techniques is probably your answer. Seems you have scar tissue that is keeping your ligs and tens from stretching. The PT helps a little but doesn't get to the root, which is to break up the scar tissue. If so, it works in about 2 short sessions. I had the same thing and it was like a miracle (and I have tried all the "miracle" cures over the years).

I just scanned the posts, but did you have someone look at your running? Cadence, heavy heel strike, push-off, etc?

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Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

Wow, hamstrings stronger than the quads....now that's a first for me. Of course I started with a soccer background, and could lift the entire stack on the Nautilus machines...and half that with my hamstrings. Being able to kick a soccer ball the entire field makes me a good sprinter, a good cyclist and a crummy distance runner. If your quads are that weak in comparison, I would definitely go for a year of serious biking. I concentrated mostly on that this last year, and gained nearly 3mph on my IM average speed (a 50 minute improvement). My problem now is that my quad and cardio endurance are WAY above my running endurance. :(
I also slacked off on the therapy (mostly stretching out the piriformis) and was fine for a few weeks. Then all the strains and pain came back hard with a vengeance. Depending on the therapy, you can lessen it a bit when you are feeling better, but don't stop. Also, try stopping every 2-3 miles during your run to stretch out the hamstrings. I do this all the time, and it cuts down on tightness and fatigue...my only problem is that during races I forget sometimes, and everthing tightens up on me.

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"I know what it is...serious inflamation from tight hamstrings, quads and calves (and probably a little muscle imbalance in the quad compared to hamstring)."

Sounds like you've got it pegged already. If you've got tight hammies, quads, calves, then you probably need to stretch a little more, and make sure you ice and stretch after runs. If you're legs are out of proportion, then you need to correct that imbalance. I wouldn't quit running (unless you really want to) without addressing these issues with a trainer or someone who is similarly qualified.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Go ahead and push the Vitruvians..........I know you want to

Oh! yeah! try the Vitruvians.

I really love mine, but seriously, KK, get some one to look at the running.
(It was KittyKat who started this, right?)

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Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

I think ajfranke really touched on an important point. When I started running a couple of years ago, I weighed in at 175lb (5'7")......I was constantly injured, or, at the very least, horribly sore and unable to keep up any sort of routine. As I shed the weight, my injuries and discomfort declined and my speed at a given effort increased. It sound like the symptoms you've been managing with pt combined with the constant weight bearing demands of running are definetely at odds with one another.

Best of luck, I hope you'll find a balance that allows you to train and heal.

b-

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"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars, the rest I just squandered" -George Best