It would be the ultimate irony if I made it to within 8 hours of the end of an injury-free year and then injured myself, but that might be what happened. The mistake I made at the run on New Year's Eve was to get caught up talking with others right up until it was time to start. Then I went straight outside into the cold with no warmup. Being only a 4-miler and wanting a good time, I took right off at full target pace. Anyway, that night and the next day I had an ache in my left hamstring and on up into my gluteus maximus, and still have some of the effects (I had to take my wallet out of my hip pocket because it felt bruised back there). It's not like a real "pulled hamstring", as there's never any sharp pain and if I take a day off it feels pretty much OK. But when I start running, it gets sore after a short distance and I'll feel it the rest of the day. This morning it was a bit sore when I got up and walked around. At the rec center, I cycled for about 10 minutes and after the warmup it hasn't bothered me since. But I'm wondering if it will start hurting again if I go for a run tomorrow. So in a way it acts like the soreness that you get after any unusually long run or fast race, but it also seems to be more persistent. I've also never had anything in these particular muscles before -- especially up in the butt area. Any ideas or advice?

I'm no expert, but I've had muscle pain last 2 weeks before healing after a race. Perhaps you should take it easy for another week and see if it goes away.

I would rest it if I were you (for at least a few days) and try rolling itgently over a foam roller. It will be sore so go easy and not too much pressure. {{{rochrunner}}}

Roch, Try sitting on a tennis ball and rolling around on it. I have had this on and off since Martian marathon in April. Also try crossing your leg at the knee and puling knee toward chest, that should stretch Glute. Marathon Derrick