Proximal Hamstring Tendinopathy - Part II - Fall 2019 to Fall 2020

 Quick review from previous post - 

-From age 28 to 42, I had a great running experience.  Ran marathons, ultras, 100 milers and triathlons.  Post age 40 I developed proximal hamstring tendinopathy (for years I thought it was sciatic pain).  The pain would be so bad that driving was difficult, just sitting was painful and running became increasingly painful and hard until I could only really jog.

-In summer of 2018 at age of 47, after five years of this tortuous running, I completely tore my hamstring from the bone while water skiing.  Looking back, I am sure the tendinopathy made me very susceptible to having this complete tear.  After some persistence with different doctors, I was finally able to find a doctor to do surgery and reattach the hamstring.

-From September 2018 when I had the surgery until March of 2018, I was just recovering.  No running.  On crutches for six weeks then working up to walking.

-By summer of 2019 I was running again but not without some very scary setbacks that had me thinking I wouldn't be running again.

-By August of 2019, I could run a 5K under 20 minutes again and my gait was better than it had been in perhaps a decade.

FALL 2019

Things continued to vastly improve!  But not without setbacks.  My biggest setback came after playing tennis and I went to run a 5K.  I was swinging the leg and limping as if the hamstring had become detached again.  It really freaked me out.  I thought I had overdone it.  So I took another 2-3 weeks off and slowly started to run gain.

Quickly started to feel better and then in September I did an Olympic distance triathlon and felt great.  Ran 7 minute pace on the 10 K portion.

So in October I decided on a lark to run a road marathon.  The Arkansas Marathon was close to home and the forecast was to have near record low temperatures near freezing at the start time.  So I decided the week of to go for it.  I was really nervous not having run a successful road marathon in 7 years or more and I didn't know if the hammie would just give out on me.  Six miles in I wanted to quit so bad just because I was scared that it wouldn't hold up.

This felt so good to run a successful hard marathon.  The first time in almost ten years!

But I was running very well.  Clipping along in the low seven range.  After the turnaround, I took the lead (it was a really small race) and that really motivated me.  The weather was perfect.  Cold, no wind and beautiful country course so I just hammered it home.  As always the last four mile or so became a bit of a struggle but the hammie stayed strong!

I knew then that if I could do a road marathon, then I was back!  It was so exciting.  I hadn't run a race with that kind of a comfortable yet intense effort since my days of running personal bests!  I crossed in 3:11 which easily gave me a Boston qualifier too which was just icing on the cake.

In November, I did a tough 35 mile ultra called the razorback revival.  It was extremely technical with lots of elevation gain from Lake Fort Smith State Park on the Ozark Highland Trail to the top of White Rock mountain and back.  Some younger guys really pushed me and got me to be competitive and thus up the pace.  I finished first in around 5:45 or so.  I was completely beat but again, the hammie held.

Through the winter and early spring I continued to run well although there were a few races where the hammie kind of froze up on me.  But that always came after playing tennis or soccer.  The quick starts and and the lateral movement of these sports seem to much for the hamstring.  Regrettably then, after a few more matches in the Spring, I've given up tennis for now.

As much as I love tennis, it's just not worth the risk and the setbacks.  As long as I don't play tennis or soccer, I feel great.  

Since the pandemic began, I'm running around 50 miles a week and biking 150.  I've done a mountain trail marathon on my own and a half marathon about every other week and feel great.  I'm still running sub 20 5Ks at age 49 so I am happy with that.

This summer I backpacked 200 miles on the John Muir Trail and the Colorado Trail and it felt great.

High point on the JMT - I had just crossed a very scary icy section to get here.  It was still in Mid June and a little early in the season.  But I loved it!

This is a panoramic photo but no photos can do the JMT justice.

I am just so thankful that I can run again and I try to never take for granted my daily runs and bike rides.

Covid19 has limited race opportunities but who cares.  I'll get to do that again, right now I just will continue to enjoy getting out there every day.

I hope that information from my experience might help others out there who are struggling.  Prior to the waterskiing accident that tore my hamstring, I never realized how bad things had become.  It had been so long since I had run without pain and with a normal gait that I had forgotten what it felt like.

For me, the complete tear of the hammie was the best thing that could happen.  For those that are still suffering from this and it limits your ability to to do what you love, then I am so sorry and I hope that very soon things will heal as they did for me.