If you look at some of my earlier posts from several years ago, you will see that I suffered quite a bit from High Hamstring Tendinopathy and struggled to get it treated. My running never really recovered from it. After some time off and PRP injections, I was able to at least run again but not at the level I once had. I had once ran 100 mile weeks regularly and ran sub 2:50 marathons including a 2:44 Personal Best. I also ran a lot of ultra marathons including three 100 mile completions and many 50 mile and 50K races. After the PRP I could do a 50 miler but much slower and road marathons were much slower to the point where I just stuck with trail ultras and some 5K road races that usually was a minute or two slower. I used to run under 18 pretty consistently and was struggling to go under 20 the last year or so.
For much of 2017 and 2018, running was just getting more difficult as when I tried to run at a hard effort, my body just would not respond. Running became painful and I thought it was just from growing old.
My hamstrings were really tight and so much in my legs just did not want to respond to a hard effort. It seems that at age 47 the decades of hard training and racing had caught up to me.
Then on July 7th I was water skiing and as I was attempting to get up on the skis and as the boat took off, my left leg got ahead of the right leg and the resistance from the water against the ski combined with the force of 200 horsepower forced my leg to hyperextend. I belatedly let go of the rope and knew something was terribly wrong. My hamstring had just snapped and I could feel it.
I struggled to get back to the house. I struggled that night with going up and down stairs and using the bathroom. I could barely walk for the next week. The back of my leg turned the most hideous color of black and blue from the internal bleeding from the hamstring having been torn from the bone.
I should have done more research and went straight away to the doctor. But like so many injuries and pains I have had, I just assumed it would get better. As it happened, I also had a trip to Europe scheduled only one week after the injury and I was not going to miss that. So for two weeks I hobbled around Europe but it indeed did get better. After two weeks, I could walk around cities in Europe and only at the end of the day did I really begin to limp as my leg began to completely give out. But there was definite improvement. Running was out of the question but in due time I thought that I would be able to run again.
Long story short, after I returned home, I began coaching my high school cross country team. I could not run with them at all. I used to lead the front runners, now I couldn't stay with the walkers. If I tried to run, my injured leg just would not carry through and push off. By this time, it had been well over a full month since the water skiing accident.
As became more frustrated, I became more determined to fix this problem. So I went to the weight room to start hamstring curls to rebuild the muscle. With my good leg, I could curl 80 pounds. With the injured leg, I could not lift any weight whatsoever! That's when I realized that there was nothing to rebuild. The hamstring was gone!
I researched that night and found out that water skiing is a perfect disaster for this type of injury and that now makes sense. The combination of the sheer force of the motor with the resistance from the water can easily tear the hamstring in a way that even sprinting could never replicate.
I made an appointment the next day. It was frustrating going through that process because I knew from my research that time was important as the hamstring had already begun retracting. That success comes by operating as soon as possible.
After the MRI results came in (5cm retraction meaning the hamstring had separated 5 cm from the bone and the longer we waited the more it would retract) and I saw the first doctor, he tried to tell me that normally we do not repair these injuries because people with these injuries can still walk normal and lead a normal life. I had to be very insistent that I wanted to run again, that I wanted it repaired and he finally and somewhat reluctantly referred by to another doctor he does do these repairs although they are rare.
So several weeks later I had the surgery. This was September of 2018. Six weeks with a brace and crutches though I returned to teaching within a week. Then slow recovery with physical therapy. Six months before I could even think about a slow job.
After three months I did begin walking and quickly got to where I was walking four miles each day at a good clip. That felt so good just to do that.
After about four or five months in the early Spring of 2019 I began to do some light running and all seemed to be going well.
Then in May after having completed some speed workouts on the track, I felt I was definitely ready to race again. I went to a 10K road race and after only one mile I was limping. By the last mile I was walking as if I had just injured the hamstring. This setback was so demoralizing as I really thought the repair had failed and that I would not be able to run again.
I retreated again from running for a month and did the power walking. By May I was running again very comfortably. It felt good. I also noticed that I was running better than I did before I was injured. My gait was much improved and felt like it did when I was in my 30s. But I was very hesitant to run a 5k pace.
My son and I went to Europe and I decided to enter a trail race in Italy. The Cinque de Terre. It was a 30K race with about 6000 feet of elevation gain. It was beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful run I've ever done. I felt confident I could finish so long as I didn't race it. I took it easy and took a lot of pictures. It was great to cross that finish line as I never thought I would be able to do that again.
Here are some pics from that epic race!
| I was really nervous at the start line. First race in Europe and would the hamstring hold? |
| Extraordinary views of the Mediterranean Coast. |
| Steps more steps is what gave this 30K race 6K of elevation gain. |
| FINISHED! Hammie held but I had some serious heat exhaustion. Took days to recover. |
Back in Oklahoma, in late July, I ran a 5K a a tempo pace. Not all out but 90 percent effort. It felt really good and there were no ill effects. Ran a 7 minute pace and I felt like I was coming back.
So July into August I was able to push harder until I was able to run under 20 minutes again. That felt so good and running was fun again.
Now in hindsight, that water skiing accident was a blessing in disguise! It may have been the best thing that happened to me. I can run much better now than I did before when I had tendinopathy. I feel like I'm 30 again.
I've read that in many Norway, Australia and some other countries, they will actually take serious cases of proximal hamstring tendinopathy in athletes and cut and reattach the hamstring. Some Americans have been traveling to Norway to have this done and now I can see why. Each case is unique but for me, having the hamstring torn an reattached was the only thing that got me running again like normal.
With a good insurance plan, my cost was $23K although I've managed to convince insurance company to not charge that (long story). The cost from what I understand in Norway is something around 10-15K. So it is something to think about. In hindsight, knowing what I know now, I would do that in an instant. But again, each case is different and other runners/athletes may not have the same diagnosis or outcome.
I'm just grateful to be running again. Part II - Fall 2019 - Fall 2020 Coming Next
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