This winter, I started experiencing tightness in my left ham string while running. Actually, I had this last year as well. Since I was also experiencing back spasms, I decided to see a chiro for the first time. He adjusted my back several times which may or may not have improved things. While doing the exam, he noted that my right leg was shorter than my left. Anyway, along the same time, I decided that I would run with traffic whenever I couldn’t run down the center of the road. Since I’ve been doing this, the pain in the ham string has completely gone away, and the Chiro said that we can back off on the adjustments.
This has made me consider whether the crown in the road may have been contributing to the ham string pain. Has anyone had a similar experience? Any Chiros want to weigh in?
I have no scientific evidence to back anything I say and it might seem absurd to some but this is why I always run out & back routes retracing the same side of the road/trail/footpath/etc…pretty silly really but peace of mind for me nonetheless
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I know I’m much more confortable running on the left side of the road (facing traffic) than the right due to the crown. My right foot/leg doesn’t seem to care much either way, but my left one really prefers to be “wedged” outward rather than inward.
I seem to remember reading about ths very thing years ago. Marathoners have the problems you describe, and triathletes that put in some mileage would too, I would suspect.
I regualrly switch it up and don’t run facing traffic unless it’s necessary. I know it makes a difference for me!
I have no scientific evidence to back anything I say and it might seem absurd to some but this is why I always run out & back routes retracing the same side of the road/trail/footpath/etc…pretty silly really but peace of mind for me nonetheless
x2
To the OP, did your chiro cover things like not sitting with your wallet in your back pocket?
I used to get terrible knee pain when running on the left side of the road. Switched to the right and it went away. If you got pain while running, try the other side of the road.
I’m going to have to agree. As a heavier runner (bout 205) as I increased my mileage to 40ish/wk I start to notice it alot. Generally I try to stay in the road- as asphalt is a softer surface than concrete sidewalks- but if its an asphalt sidewalk, generally the sidewalks slope the opposite direction- always towards the gutter/curb. I switch up the side of the road regularly, I’d say probably 60-40, just because running on the left is more of a habit. Crowns are generally 2% or 1/4"/foot… may seem tiny, but if its enough to make water runoff towards the side, and when you’re pounding the pavement 3000x on each leg on a 30min run, that 1/4" difference and the slight slope really throws me off- and like you said, one leg will always start to bother me.
If you can, i’d say stay on asphalt as much as possible (or grass even) and switch between road/adjacent sidewalk or opposite side of the road.
Yes, I seem to get more of a hip pain rather than ham string when I run on significantly crowned roads. I try to run on the gravel off the side of the road.
My right leg is 2 LOOK cleats shorter then the left (I build up one cleat for cycling) and I notice this as well. I use nike free’s or similar and try to run on trails as much as possible. Try running clockwise around an indoor track and see how that feels. I think it helped me isolate where I was weak and then could work on the discrepancy a little better.
This happened to me in high school with one of my knees. Switching up the side of the road helped.
Running in college I got smarter and ran as much as I could on whatever soft shoulder I could find as long as it was reasonably level. Going to a rural school with lots of trails certainly helped too. Now I avoid pavement and concrete as much as I can.
Rob
I encountered this problem a few years ago after running the same out and back route 3x per week. The problem manifested itself first in the SI joint and then the left knee. The first Chiro visit was like magic. Continued chiro for six months, stopped running on cambered surfaces - problem solved.