Forums >Health and Nutrition>Quad strain advice - upcoming race
Of course it was stupid of me to think i could get through a marathon training cycle without an injury. Anyone offer any good advice for a minor quad strain? It's pretty minor; I think I did it running some strides at the end of Monday's easy run. Ran 14 the next day and that's when I first could feel it but it didn't bother my run. The next day I ran an easy 4.5 and felt it again. Been using the stick several times a day, compression wrap, foam roller, bag of frozen peas. Never had this injury before. Walking around fine. Upper quad right below where it attaches to the hip flexor is tight. Almost feels bruised. But no swelling or anything.
I have a HM Sunday and want to run it but don't want to screw up my marathon training. Anyone try KT tape for it? I see my chiro tonight who also does some PT work and can do KT tape. But thought I'd tap the wisdom of the crowd here too.
The Runner Life
3-4 days off should do the trick
therunnerlife.com
for me most types of running related injuries normally I do very light stretching & using foam rollers gently at beg & more pressure when able to. If I can will continue to run but slower, shorter & walk breaks. & time heals most wounds/injuries. Of course this is you & your injury
biggest question would be when & how important is the marathon?? if any chance of screwing up training for your most important event for even a brief period then pass on the HM this Sunday & go for a short leisurely walk/hike in the woods & enjoy the day. or better yet volunteer at the HM. You might at least get a volunteer shirt.
seriously if any chance the HM screws up your marathon plans then don't run Sunday
Yeah, don't screw around with that....it's either a couple of days off now with a Grade 1 strain or you get a free upgrade to a Grade 2 strain. Yay.
That's exactly what happened last month with my calf muscle.
Take a few days off, see how it feels, test run Friday or Saturday, and if it feels ok, run the half with the caveat that this is a race it's ok to drop out of. Don't screw around, I turned a simple adductor strain into a sprain into not running for months on end.
Thanks for the responses. No half marathon for me. Now on day 6 of no running at all. After 2-3 days off it actually felt worse but I have a better feel for the exact spot of the pain. Right dead center in the quad. I move around fine but a little jog causes bruise-like discomfort. Chiro did some cold laser therapy on it last week and put some KT tape on it this morning.
Now the question is how I adjust my training plan for my May marathon if I'm out another week, which seems likely. Grrrr.
Glad you're not doing the half. A two week cut-down may be a great way to soak up your recent block (40, 55, 54, 59).
"If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus
hope you dont mind but took a quick look at your log. appears that in the future you need to develop more consistency from month to month. You have taken a HUGE jump in mileage in a very short time. also there have been some other times where you have extremely low monthly miles followed by huge quick jumps in mileage. have no idea what was going on but not surprised that you are experiencing some kind of overload/stress on your body. body needs time to adapt/recover. jmho
hope you are on the road again & back in training soon!
Why is it sideways?
Hey EGH, you might try getting on the elliptical or the bike or you can get in the pool and do some aqua-running. You should be good to go by now if you can avoid pounding. The good news is that you were in a really good spot in your training to take a break, like Nader says.
Plenty of time until May; you should be able to jump back in without missing too much.
Hope so. Mental break was nice too but now I'm getting edgy.
hope you dont mind but took a quick look at your log. appears that in the future you need to develop more consistency from month to month. You have taken a HUGE jump in mileage in a very short time. also there have been some other times where you have extremely low monthly miles followed by huge quick jumps in mileage. have no idea what was going on but not surprised that you are experiencing some kind of overload/stress on your body. body needs time to adapt/recover. jmho hope you are on the road again & back in training soon!
That's why my log's public. . My log is a bit misleading. After a really good 2nd half of 2010, I missed the first half of 2011 with plantar fasciitis. I had that for over 6 months. I built up pretty slowly from June - October and had a nice Fall racing season. PF is completely gone. The dip in November was 3 weeks off due to a minor case of posterior tibial tendinitis. The rest and a change of shoes fixed that. Ramped back up in December, had a nice January and was cruising in February. No fatigue, no soreness, no niggling tings at all. In fact, I had just told L Train that this was the best I've ever felt and had a really nice rhythm in training. I just popped the quad during some strides at the end of an easy run. That's what I get for confiding in L Train.
Hey EGH, you might try getting on the elliptical or the bike or you can get in the pool and do some aqua-running. You should be good to go by now if you can avoid pounding. The good news is that you were in a really good spot in your training to take a break, like Nader says. Plenty of time until May; you should be able to jump back in without missing too much.
You and Nader are right on. I had been doing the Pfitz 18/70 plan. If I do some elliptical this week, maybe a little jogging and rest up, I'll have exactly 12 weeks to go as of Feb 26th. I could just switch over to the Pfitz 12/70 which will allow a little ramp before hammering the Vo2max stuff and harder long runs.
How's your quad now one month later?
I'm in almost the exact same situation, except that I'm running Boston (April 16th) and so I have much less time to recover (6 weeks).
I also have a half marathon this weekend that I probably going to be skipped.
How's your quad now one month later? I'm in almost the exact same situation, except that I'm running Boston (April 16th) and so I have much less time to recover (6 weeks). I also have a half marathon this weekend that I probably going to be skipped.
Sorry I did not see your post. I was able to run after about 3 weeks. The dip in my running log is pretty obvious. It still has a dull, achy feeling for the first few miles of most runs but I've been able to push it now without making it worse. I think I just have a new normal right now. Stretching, icing, foam rolling and using the massage stick is routine. Doc told me that even a grade 1 quad strain takes 3-4 weeks to be back at 100%. I didn't run for 3 weeks. It's easy to re-aggravate.
I just ran 20 on the Boston course Saturday which was a good test for the quad. When I ran Boston in 2010, I really didn't notice how brutally downhill it is. You don't want to be running downhill for 16-18 miles on a bad quad. So let it heal.
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. I took some time off, and it feels 100% again which is a huge relief, my strain was definitely not as serious as yours. I'm still avoiding downhills to be safe, but with 3 weeks to go I'm feeling confident. I think most people see the net elevation loss at Boston and think that it will be "easy", but I've heard too many people say how tough the downhills are on the quads.
Oh, and I also had a friend use some rock tape on the quad, and it might have helped, definitely didn't hinder anyway. Piece of mind maybe.
So - any tips for Boston? This is my first time running it. Thanks!
You can search here for lots of tips, there are plenty. Biggest by far is to not go out too fast. First half and more is very deceiving. You have no profile so don't know whether you're male or female. Whatever, stay to the right at Wellesley anyway.
This, I thought was a particularly good Boston thread.
Thanks, that is a good thread. Cheers.