The curse of New Hampshire continues...hamstring injury...

[joshuasdad]

Did the splits on a wet bog bridge. Left foot slid forward, right foot did not, pack pushed me down. Felt a pop in left hamstring. Gritted out 7 miles of mostly flat walking from Ethan Pond to Zealand Road, and took AMC shuttle back to car. I just finished nearly 200 miles in Maine over the past 2 weeks, then get leveled by a lowly bog bridge on my first new AT mile in NH. I shouldn't be surprised...see the evidence below:

Trip 1: Thanksgiving 2011, ice and snow, only get a few miles into NH, most of which I need to repeat later for logistics.

Trip 2: Fourth of July week 2013. Work keeps me of trail on planned vacation, but try to scamper up Mt. Washington on short break. Missed shuttle down from Mt. Washington, spend expensive and uncomfortable night at Lake of the Crowds, then ultimately have to slide down Tuckerman's to make a work meeting. A couple days (of work) later, tweak ankle on short waterfall hike with family, ending hiking plans for remainder of week.

Trip 3: Labor Day weekend 2013, Gorham to NH/ME border, had to bailout on Mahoosic Notch because of 6 inches of rain. A lot of road walking to get back to car.

Trip 4: Early Spring 2014, decent dayhike north of Hanover, but don't do second day because of stomach bug. Left car at trailhead for planned hiking with second car the following week. Commute back to DC was long...

Trip 5: Complete up to Kinsman Notch with heavy use of spikes and snowshoes. Tried Franconia Traverse, but undercut monorail and cold rain/sleet forced me to stop at Ethan Pond shelter. I should feel fortunate, as someone was rescued a few miles away by helicopter.

Trip 6: Late start Thursday after completing Maine on Wednesday (with special thanks to Honey, Bear, and Don at the Cabin, as well as Sue, Sherlock, and Queen Diva at Shaw's!). Was going to camp 8ish miles into Franconia traverse, but stay at Ethan Pond (again) after heavy rains. Wake up at 5 am, and do splits on a now rain saturated bog bridge.

Anyway, any suggestions on what seems to now be a minor hamstring pull (does not hurt at rest, or on flat walking, but bending over and some hiking moves cause a world of hurt). I only have some of the Whites left plus 18 Vermont miles to complete the AT, but think I shouldn't be hiking until July 4th, at the earliest.

[Trailweaver]

Well. . . as a former boss of mine once said, "It looks like you need to make a change in your social club." (anytime anyone had really bad luck on anything). I'm so sorry for your run of bad luck. Don't let it defeat you though - as they say, the trail's not going anywhere. You'll get there one day.

[VTATHiker]

Stay active on the hamstring a little every day. Try to get into a motion where it's not excessively painful, but sore for 20 minutes a day (maybe some iterations on a flight of stairs, or walking up hill without a pack). In my experience healing a hamstring is done better with PT, rather than absolute rest. Another possible exercise, especially if you work in an office or just at a desk: get a wheeled office chair, position it so that your feet are flat on the ground when you're sitting in it and your knees are bent at 90 degrees, and used your hamstrings to gently scoot yourself around the room every once in a while. My old track coach used to make the sprinters with hamstring issues do this around a 400 meter track...

Good luck, and stay vigilant on those bog bridges. I almost broke my ankle on one a few miles north of Rangely in 2012. Trek poles take the credit for the save on that one.

[rafe]

Sorry about your injury. Wet wood is the worst! It makes Teflon feel like 40-grit.

[gsingjane]

Oh boy hamstrings are tough. I ripped mine but good (thinking I could ski, what was I thinking?) and I was black and blue from the top of my thigh down to my calf. It took a very, VERY long time to rehab it; I was advised to work it lightly (hamstring curls and very light deadlifts) at the gym and it seemed to help a little bit. Foam rolling, although painful, was also helpful. Depending on how bad the pull was, though, you'll probably be vulnerable in the area for some time to come. Is there bruising that has come to the surface of your skin?

One more point, I know people were advised to ice, ice, ice these injuries, and that's certainly what I did, but the very most recent thinking now seems to be that icing does more harm than good. See this for instance:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/why-ice-may-be-bad-for-sore-muscles/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Good luck with it!

Jane

[Migrating Bird]

Gsingjane, pulled mine 4th of July last year trying to slalom ski behind my son-in-laws new boat. I knew what I was thinking. I spoke to an Orthopedic surgeon I know, his advise, "suck it up and do light stretches a couple times a day while sitting flat on the floor. It took awhile, but is fine now. Joshuasdad hang in there and good luck with finishing.

[joshuasdad]

No major bruising yet Jane, so might be minor (but it didn't feel that way when it happened!). Looks like it's time to join the gym now that I only have a few weekend hikes left. Thanks for the advice and well wishes!

[Another Kevin]

One more point, I know people were advised to ice, ice, ice these injuries, and that's certainly what I did, but the very most recent thinking now seems to be that icing does more harm than good. See this for instance:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/why-ice-may-be-bad-for-sore-muscles/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0


Ice is good for the first 24 hours or so, to relieve pain and hold back the initial inflammation. After that, most of the inflammatory damage is done, and ice may do more harm than good. But that's as part of the PRICE regimen: Protect (from further injury), Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. If you're not resting the injury, it does no good to ice it. Applying ice to a sports injury for 15 minutes and getting back in the game - as that article discusses - is a dumb idea.

[tiptoe]

Sorry to hear about the injury, joshuasdad. Give it time to heal, however long it takes, and you will be out there again. New Hampshire will smile on you at some point, I'm sure.

[gsingjane]

I just saw this yesterday and it looks really interesting. I tried it and it's a whole lot harder than it looks... maybe hold off until you're a bit better recovered, but the concept is fascinating!

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/the-great-hamstring-saver/?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar

[lemon b]

Listen to your body and doctor.