Well, the news is that I still have a pulled hamstring 😦 I thought I was getting better.

Back on December 10^th – yeah that long ago, I pulled my hamstring playing soccer. We had a 10pm soccer game and when I got home it was sore but I didn’t really notice it until the next day when it was hurting.

I took a few days off, ran twice (6 k and 7 k outside) on the weekend and then could barely walk the following day. I then took a week off, played another soccer game and WHAM-O, pulled it within the first 15 minutes of the game. I was done and pretty bummed/upset.

I took a few weeks off over Christmas and slowly got back into running, starting with my first kilometer of the year with my oldest daughter Lilly (4 yrs). Then I worked up to 3k, 4k and a few 5k’s on the treadmill. The last 5k I ran was outside in the snow, it was a perfect yet cold winter day. I did too much that day with the girls in the snow, running errands and running 5k. Lo and behold my leg started bothering me again.

Monday morning I called the Physio office and my Doctor’s office and had a plan. Worst case scenario was no running, no soccer for a while. Best case…physio, rest and keep running/playing soccer (ha!).

After meeting with both my Doctor and Physiotherapist the verdict is in;

• I officially pulled my hamstring and nothing else.
• I cannot play soccer for 6 – 8 weeks (@W#%@#$^@$^%)
• I am in physio until it’s better
• I can run but only 1 km every other day for a week. Then I can either increase the speed or distance by 1 more kilometer over the next month.
• Full Marathon training is out…for now.

I felt really good physically after I left the physiotherapy’s office because of the treatment and tape job she did on my hamstring. Later that night, Lilly laughed at the tape on my hamstring/butt area and thought it looked like a hand (it’s spread out in pieces of three).

I’m super bummed about not playing soccer and honestly okay with the running part. I’m thankful they didn’t say no running because that would be really hard to not move at all. The good news is that I can still practice yoga and run a little. No skiing, snowshoeing, skating or soccer for 4-8 weeks 😦

Lessons learned:

• Go see a Doctor/Physiotherapist ASAP – don’t wait a month like I did
• Setbacks happen and that’s life.
• It could be worse!

Though I’m not thrilled about only running 1k every other day, I can do a good warm up, run 1k at a slow pace, stretch and practice yoga all in one night! I’ve also been given exercises to do: bridge, lunges and calf raises to go with my bridges and clam exercises for my SI joint – wow, I sound healthy!

Last night I managed to do my first “walk-run-walk” after the girls went to bed. My Dad was visiting (hence the back-end shot of me on the treadmill), he took Lilly skiing all day! She played her first day of hookie from day care 😉 I walked for 1 km, then ran slowly for 1 km and walked another kilometer – better than nothing at all! I stretched and foam rolled and feel really good today.

The spring Marathon I wanted to run isn’t going to happy and I’m okay with that. I now have a good plan for my 3rd Half Marathon this spring and plans for my first Full Marathon in the fall. Right now it’s time to focus on getting better and all my other running goals for the year are put on hold until then.

 Anyone else injured? (I sure hope not)

What’s your favourite form of treatment when injured?

Anyone racing/running this weekend? (Good luck if you are!)