Forums >Racing>Race with Piriformis
I have a pain in the butt. My piriformis is tight. I've been stretching it and using a ball to work on the trigger points. After a week of stretching, massaging and resting I'm at 90%. The muscle is still a little sore but the range of motion is good. I have a 5 mile race today and I don't know what to do. Should I race it? Run at a tempo pace? Run easy? or skip the race altogether? My goal race is a 1/2 marathon in 6 weeks. I hope I'm 100% by the time I start my goal race. Has anyone raced with the same issue? What was the result?
I have the same thing but I have just learned to ignore it unless of course it becomes a more intense pain. I ran an easy pace marathon yesterday and my arse hurt 3/4 of the time! Good luck!
Sara
MM #2929
Feeling the growl again
Piriformis is typically an irritation of the sciatic nerve, not a muscle injury per se. The most effective way of treatment FOR ME was to do some very fast fartleks to force the muscles through full range of motion and loosen them up. The process hurt like hell but I went from hobbled to zero pain overnight a couple times doing this.
YMMV, but I'd just race it, warm up good so it's not tight. It may hurt during the race but it may be even better the next day. All this icing, stretching and rolling recommendations did squat for me.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
Piriformis is typically an irritation of the sciatic nerve, not a muscle injury per se. The most effective way of treatment FOR ME was to do some very fast fartleks to force the muscles through full range of motion and loosen them up. The process hurt like hell but I went from hobbled to zero pain overnight a couple times doing this. YMMV, but I'd just race it, warm up good so it's not tight. It may hurt during the race but it may be even better the next day. All this icing, stretching and rolling recommendations did squat for me.
I'm hoping this race loosen the muscle up. It might hurt during the race. But like you said, it's an irritation, not a muscle injury. I did some intervals Wednesday and the irritation didn't increase. It muscle continued to improve with rest.
Finished the race without much discomfort. I felt the tight muscle during my warm-up. Once the race started I was fine. I wonder what it will feel like in the morning. I didn't do as well as I wanted in the race. I kept telling myself not to push it too hard. I was concerned about making things worse. i guess that the way things goes sometimes.
uncontrollable
That muscle is a pain in the ass! Seriously, I've had issues a couple times. One time ... it had settled down - almost forgot about it - got a massage & when the lady dug into that spot - I almost flew off the table: totally tender! I learned to roll on a tennis ball: full body weight but very controlled & slowly work at it - seems to help over time. Good luck.
peace
But YOU are an animal (compliment) & physical gem if going very fast cured you of this plight! And the very fast you speak of ... I have probably never run that fast in my life so my muscles would likely explode. So, I guess I have to stick to my tennis ball trick. LOL.
I don't believe that speed, per se, had anything to do with it, but rather alleviating the tightness/inflammation that was irritating the nerve. I don't pretend my remedy works for all, but is only another thing to try for a frustrating ailment.