After finally coming clean to husband about my concerns about my sciatic nerve causing all this pain in the back of my leg, he was kind enough to offer me a massage with some Deep Blue cream. While he was poking around, he found huge knots in my muscles right in the spots where the pain is the worst. After doing some more online research, it looks like my symptoms and physical evidence are pointing to a hamstring strain.
To me, this is a huge relief. I was seriously stressing about a possible nerve problem, because I just didn't know what the outcome would be as far as sciatic nerve problems and continuing with my running goals. The websites I read said muscle strains typically happen because of overuse, which totally makes sense after the super downhill and uphill half (I didn't train on hills at all). I never took time to let it heal (even when I was off running, I continued to do elliptical, heavy spinning, and weight training, all of which used my hamstrings a ton).
So I am making the executive decision to continue with massage (thanks husband) and ease up on weight-bearing activity for a week or two, and see if that helps. If not, I think I will go back to my sports med doctor for some extra help.
I have a 5K coming up next month, and a half marathon in June, so I am really hopeful that I can get healthy enough for those!
It was my birthday yesterday, had a super fun and relaxing weekend with all of my favorite things and some of my favorite people.
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If you have pain radiating up through your butt cheek, it can also be scatica. It's very common in pregnancy so I know ALL about it! Three times now, in fact. And if your ham is tight, this can pull the sciatic nerve too. The best stretches are pigeon and screaming pigeon in yoga.
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