Thanks John !!! Reading now what you sent, and I’ll start applying =) So far I’ve done two injections for the inflammation (one per day), ice and voltaren creams. Did upper body training today (day 2). Biking felt painless from day 2, so I imagine it’s not so severe.
Any hope for me to go 100% on May 12t?
p.s. by “biking” I don’t mean a biking-workout, but simply transporting myself
what distance? I would suggest getting healthy was the number 1 priority and if you are right for the 12th then good, racing when you aren’t 100% could well make recovery much longer. Personally I would be wanting to be 100% by the 5th or 6th and make a decision then. On race day decisions are too influenced by emotion.
Good call =) 5th or 6th works fine with me, as a goal !
the 12th is the 400, and the 13th is the 200 (yikes) .
Sorry to read this, Stef! How did it happen? I’ve missed a few things, I guess…
IF you decide to race, I would go for one event, not back to back racing days. You are the one to assess the situation, but two races in two days seem much to ask from a recently pulled muscle -especially with the faster of the two on the second day.
I fully agree with John -No1 priority is fixing it for the rest of the season, not for 1-2 races on a weekend…
All the best for a swift recovery!
http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?22225-Tempo-work-during-a-Hamstring-Twinge look at Gofast’s post
Greattt John, I like that post =) (I think it’s the quantity that made me happy and mentally fulfilled =)) )
When do you think I should start?
This is my progress so far:
Day 1: pulled the hammie on the 5th 80m.
Applied ice almost immediately (after arguing with my teammate, because he made me angry before the incident, and I honestly believe he tensed me up too much for a speed session…). p.s. funny thing is… I pulled my hamstring on the rep that he decided to sit at the end-line and time me 
A loadfull of tension… But of course, this is not the sole reason, this is a tense period for me, because I’m also angry with my coach for a number of reasons (his lack of ‘taking care’ of me, he never arranged me to run any competitions here, most of the attention was always on my teammate, because he’s like a son to him, and as always, I’m the ‘temporary’ athlete-visitor who is off somewhere else later on so noone ever cares too much… , and a number of other things), and i’m also leaving Milan soon (in 10 days), so there’s much going on in my head, even subconsciously. It’s another transitional phase for me, unconveniently. Anyhow !! This is life. (Nick , this probably also answers your question ! 
)
Kept icing.
Voltaren puncture before sleep.
Day 2 (Friday):
Just a bit of biking (transportation purposes), which felt almost completely fine (98%), unlike the day before.
Voltaren puncture before sleep and votaren + icey/hot cream
Day 3 (Saturday):
Biked to the gym pain-free.
Gym: Upper body workout and abs.
EMS: glutes and calves (pulsing)
Biked back.
Voltaren pill before sleep and votaren + icey/hot cream
Day 4 (Sunday):
Biked to the gym pain free.
Treadmill @4.5-5km/hr: alternating walking with jogging for 25’. No problems
40min of drills: (a whole lot of single leg A skips, also ended up doing running A skips with no problems. Satisfied =) )
abdominals and stretching (but not the hammie)
30min swimming (breastroke)
30min SPA (sauna+cold, hydromassage)
Biking more this day, no problems.
(stopped the voltaren because now I need to know if it’s masking any pain)
votaren + icey/hot cream
Day 5 (Monday) - today
this morning:
15min jogging with no problems
10min drills on grass
7 x 30-40m strides (grass). Just some tightness here, so then walked home.
I’m anxious… When could I start the 16-24 100s??
given like you I only have what Gofast posted to go by it looks to me that asap but staying within the parameters is key.
I’ve never applied such a recovery protocol, so I can’t comment… Is there a chance for some assessment from a physio you know s/he is reliable?
I understand the situation, but ‘losing control’ of it doesn’t help…
Repeat day 5 for at least another 2 days. But with addition of say 4x100, then 8 x100. take a rest day. Then go for 16-24x100 - this is a pretty tough protocol unless you get there via a progression.
if you get discomfort during the progression, stop and take a step back in volume and intensity. I am not a physio just personal experience. A knowledgeable therapist will be able to feel if the inflamation has gone or not.
Good luck !!
I know it’s physios’ job, but I feel I’ve been through this so many times, I have enough experience to judge by myself, really… (If I had gone to a physio every time I had a problem, I’d be in debt now.)
This sounds good. And of course progression and self-judgement are obviously the key…
With that said…
Day 5 continued today… So are you sure you still want me to repeat Day 5 for the next 2 days?
(voltaren+icey/hot rubbing throughout the day)
EMS:
25min active recovery on glutes
25min relaxing massage on calves
evening:
(10min biking)
20min warm up (starting very slowly at 6km/hr and up to 10km/hr)
then: 20min faster running , 10min 10km/hr up to 14km/hr, and then another 10min at 14 steadily. The more I was running the better it felt. (meaning not that I was in pain, but I felt some of the tightness being released).
(I know it sounds like an exaggeration, but I’m being very careful in paying attention to how it feels, really).
(10min biking)
EMS:
sleeping with my voltaren rubs etc…
With that said…
Day 5 continued today… So are you sure you still want me to repeat Day 5 for the next 2 days?
Sounds boring does`nt it !!
Day 5
Day 5 with an extra 4x100
Day 5 with an extra 8x100.
The idea is to benefit from a progression. Also, by doing a familiar session you can easily identify how you expect to feel and spot the onset of pain if it does happen.
if you do something rather different like 6x400 (just an example) you are less able to spot something going wrong before it happens.
Sounds right =)) Thank you !
Day 6 was a bit different though, also due to crappy weather (pouring):
off from all running (perhaps this was wise and very conservative of me )
some abdominals
EMS:
For today (day 7), I will continue with Day 5’s progression and upped body weights. (that’s the plan, at least)
Day 7:
(15min biking)
25min easy run
9 x 100m runs (I wish I had stopped on the 8th one. On the 9th I felt some inflammation. Nothing major).
5min cool down
upper body weights (bench and pull ups/dips)
abdominals + stretching
15min warm up with group (feeling perfect from here on - must have been the sun)
25min drills
(15min biking)
Should have been 7x30 + 4x100. That`s less than 9x100 and you might have spotted the discomfort coming.
I am sounding like someone`s mother !!!
ahahahhaha… a lot of people want to sound like my mother, especially when I get an injury. It’s helpful to also see it in writing
Day 8:
(15min biking)
20min run
drills
4 x 100m strides (good)
later on with group:
25min run (pretty fast, up to 4km/hr tempo)
20min drills, some strides
(15min biking)
EMS:
Day 9:
(15min biking)
20min easy run
drills
15 x 100m (good ) I am ‘scared’ of it, but had no problems.
(15min biking)
Day 10:
OFF completely (wowsa)
I was updating my website all day long, check out my new Architectural/Urban Design section, if you’d like !!!
http://stefaniesart.com/?page_id=908
Games are postponed (cancelled?)…
Yeah. We should know this week if they are postponed or cancelled.
If cancelled, I’m running the Zahariadeia on May 19th (Thessaloniki). If they are postponed, there’s a chance the Zahariadeia will be postponed (or cancelled) and the clubs’ meeting will take place in their place…
What a mess this year.
Super dead.
quick update of the last days (as many as I can remember right now…)
Hamstring is fine now. But still haven’t done a fast session.
Saturday, May 5th (day 10, I think this is a re-post)
OFF completely (rain day)
Sunday, May 6th (day 11)
(10min biking)
Gym: (rain day)
15min warm up
Squat jumps (bar weight), 5 sets of 8
30-40 min drills
15min progressive run
Monday, May 7th (day 12)
First actual training, very careful.
(15min biking)
20min warm up, stretch, drill stride
6 x 200m (walk 200m recoveries), goal was to go easy to test the leg, went 31-32. All good. Just a bit nervous.
(15min biking)
Tuesday, May 8th (day 13)
(15min biking)
(15min biking)
(15min biking)
(15min biking)
Wednesday, May. 9th (day 14)
(15min biking)
(15min biking)
(15min biking)
@~85-90%
(40min walking)
Longgg day. I’m dead now. Literally. (packing all day long, plus bicycling, plus this training which felt fine then, but now…)
I think it’s safe to do ‘speed’ on day 16