I have a marathon planned in two weeks and I need some advice. My training went well untill two weeks ago when I felt pain in the back of my leg, just below my butt.
I tried to run further but had to stop since pain was not going away.
I rested for two weeks but when I resume training today the pain came back after 5k.
The pain is rather sharp and I am afraid to continue reunning and I am afraid that if I run the marathon I might injure myself.
I have run 40+ marathons but never had this type of problem.
Any advice about what it might be and what should I do to solve this.
I really want to do this marathon (I do not have a time goal, I just want to finish it).
PP sorry to hear about your injury. Do a search for chiros in your area certified in ART ( active release therapy) or get a recommendation from an athlete in your area. Let your chiro throw the kitchen sink at you cold therapy, ultrasound, acupunture etc. It really helps. I know you really want to do the marathon but think about your long term health. There are a lot of marathons out there. You have all ready done 40 marathons.Get healthy and maintain your fitness with water running. Do a search on Pete Pfitzinger’s water running schedule.HTH and hope you are up an running soon.
sounds like piriformis - so I’ll echo what others have said - see a good chiro (one who does ART if you can find one). Search on-line for ways to stretch the piriformis and do alot of stretching before your race. This happened to me about a month ago before NYC marathon and come marathon day, I felt ok. Good luck
My guess is piriformis is irritating the sciatic nerve and/or bursitis in the ischial tuberosity (which is really right under your butt where it meets your leg).
BUT, cause is probably a tight QL, so when you see the chiro/PT/massage therapist, have them work up there, too.
Working on the piriformis may alleviate the acute issues, but you will need to get to the root.
If you PM me, I can email you a good set of stretches that worked for me when I had piriformis syndrome. Plus they will help you stretch your QL and low back.
i have been dealing with this same issue since august. this seems like a long time to me, but i have also been doing a ton of speedwork and playing ultimate frisbee during this time.
now its time to get back to tri training. i’ve been doing the piriformis strechtes a ton and e-stim helped when the injury first happened. what is the QL? what is ART? what are the other issues i need to consider? sciactic nerve and tubular thing you mentioned? i also have some hip pain.
it sounds like you recommed a chiro over a ortho, but i’d like to know exactly what it is and the proper treatment before i get too far into training again.
Uh…I don’t personally go to chiropractors. They work for some; for others not so much.
ART=Active Release Therapy, a specialty of chiropractic that essentially does deep tissue work while simultaneously stretching a muscle (chiros don’t get all over me, OK?). Similar to trigger point therapy, but more intense.
QL=Quadratus Lumborum muscle, which has origins on lumbar spine and attaches to iliac crest. Sort of holds your midsection together. Likes to tighten up in runners, which can lead to other muscle compensation, like weak/tight glute medius, weak/tight piriformis, etc. IMO, is a key muscle that triathletes need to keep strong, flexible and trigger point free.
When QL (or for that matter, other muscles which originate in lumbar spine, such as iliocostalis, erector spinae, multifidus) develop trigger points or are over tight (this is my experience, NOT a medical opinion), it pulls the spine towards the side of the tightness and can chain reaction affect glute medius and piriformis, which passes over the sciatic nerve (the big thingie that enervates your butt and legs), causing what may appear to be hamstring tendinitis, piriformis syndrome, even quadriceps pain.
PM me with your email address and I can send my basic stretches along that work on QL, piriformis, glutes, etc.
Look up my past posts on trigger point books I recommend highly as a means of self-treatment and/or to supplement body work you get done by massage therapist, PT or chiro.
Only issue is that I leave in Shanghai and there is not a lot of sport massage therapist here!
Also, I would like to run this marathon because I have been running at least 1 marathon since 1994 and do not want to break the streak (stupid but true).
Last year I managed to run Great Wall Marathon and Macau.
There is few marathons to choose from in CHina (may be 10 /year).
I will try to strech and ice my legs and will only bike and strech for next two years.
Is there a web site were I can find the stretch for this?