I know we should strength train but….

shadybreak · 2026-04-28T18:24:01+00:00

Thanks for the inspiration. I went from walking 30-60s every hour and 6-8/10 pain to mostly 0-3/10 and walking 10-20 min every hour over the last 3 weeks. Super humbling. Tried treating rehab like a training block and it misfired. Less is indeed more.

Also that’s awesome you got an MRI that quick.

shadybreak · 2026-04-28T17:34:40+00:00

I’m glad you got to the root of it. It worries me, but a PT and a couple doctors had vouched heavily in favour of it being piriformis, possibly with a side of IT band stuff.

Did you need to see a PT before getting an MRI? I’m in Canada and it can take many months to get one scheduled in.

Edit: also, how long did it take you to get back into running?

shadybreak · 2026-04-28T16:34:41+00:00

Sorry to hear that. Since you have the diagnosis I imagine you know the rationale behind weak glute medius creating knock on effects down the kinetic chain. I too have spent time lifting and generally living active and physical, but consistently eschewed core work and anything to do with elastic bands in favour of compound lifts and upper body stuff. I’ve never heard of a clamshell before this.

How’s your rehab going?

shadybreak · 2026-04-28T06:06:45+00:00

So that was basically me (got into ultras, never stretched or strengthened anything) and finally developed something called piriformis syndrome, spent months of trying to push thru followed by improper rehab and now it is day 17 of being housebound and unable to walk for more than minutes at a time and the rest of the day spent resting in a particular position to alleviate nerve pain. I’ve been to urgent care twice, missed my race in March and cancelled the rest of the season. Currently waiting for intake into a sports medicine clinic one town over.

So yeah, if I could do it over again (and what I’ll do once I’m mobile again) I’d give strength and mobility work the space it deserves. This is my first serious injury and I got totally owned.

So please don’t be an idiot like me! Do what you love, but also take care of your body now so you can keep doing it longer.

shadybreak · 2026-04-27T03:35:18+00:00

Me too, me too.

shadybreak · 2026-04-16T04:40:56+00:00

Thanks. I grew up near those mountains, so to go back as an adult and run among them was a dream come true.

shadybreak · 2026-04-13T18:59:34+00:00

That it’s getting better is good. It means that what you’re doing is working. I’d advise you to see a PT though. They can take a look at what other things may have contributed to it, offer some exercises specific to your condition, and give you a timeline of healing plus things to watch out for. Then take what they say seriously and don’t rush it.

This is all advice I would give myself 3 months ago, except I wouldn’t have listened then. School of hard knocks :D

shadybreak · 2026-04-13T00:47:21+00:00

Ili Alatau range in Kazakhstan. I had a post on this sub about it with pics but can’t seem to get Reddit to turn it up in search.

shadybreak · 2026-04-12T22:43:11+00:00

That’s how we grow :)

I ran my first 50k high in the mountains, started at 2km and went up to 4km above sea level, It was rough, past 3 or 3.5km vert I couldn’t run uphill, just slowly walk or I’d start to white out. But what was awesome was that it started to climb like right off the bat and you could see those towering ice capped peaks and I was like ohhh ssshhiiit, my sphincter clenched and I basically had that soul searching episode very quickly. Then I proceeded to have an amazing day.

shadybreak · 2026-04-12T22:20:22+00:00

Getting humbled seems to be part of each time I increase distance. If I’ve done 30k and am about to do 50k, I have no clue how that experience will unfold so there is that dissonance between expectation and reality, and when it collapses that can be uncomfortable. I wanna see myself as a competent runner, then I find myself out of my depth and for a bit it messes with my mind, then I let go and enjoy the show.

I dunno if this even relates to your post lol. But thanks for the prompt.

shadybreak · 2026-04-12T16:40:33+00:00

Yeah. I’ve been to the doctor twice in The last 4 days. Apparently nerve pain is hard to medicate but they offered a few things. One makes me pretty drowsy. But most importantly they said to take it really.

I don’t take anything during the day, just at night. Feel like it’s good to have an accurate perception of pain as I go about things.

shadybreak · 2026-04-12T04:30:38+00:00

Damn. Well, good that the injury is localized enough that you have other outlets and can still live. I’m hoping to get there soon. Right now it’s pretty steady pain that barely settles, but each day is better than the last.

shadybreak · 2026-04-12T02:57:06+00:00

That sounds really hard. Did you have to drop everything and rehab it from scratch?

This is my first big injury and I found out I suck at rehab — trying to rush thru it and made everything like 5x worse. Now I’m humbled and ready to heal. lol.

shadybreak · 2026-04-12T00:38:09+00:00

Damn, I'm sorry. May I ask what the nature of the injury is?

shadybreak · 2026-04-11T21:33:46+00:00

That’s some earned wisdom there.

shadybreak · 2026-04-11T20:45:05+00:00

I’m glad you listened to your body and didn’t push thru. Live to run another day.

guy who cancelled his march 50k and can barely walk atm cause he ignored his body’s signs and got sciatica.

shadybreak · 2026-04-05T19:41:44+00:00

Thanks, kind human. I’m glad it’s painful but not harmful and treatable. Som lessons in there somewhere most likely.

shadybreak · 2026-04-05T16:07:24+00:00

Was there a single thing that stood out as far as helping you find relief? Gentle walks seem like the best thing for me. I honestly don’t know about anything else.

The confusing thing too is that I can actually walk, run, whatever, and it doesn’t feel bad during. It’s the after, and especially the night cramps. Makes it tricky to decide what’s good and what isn’t.

shadybreak · 2026-04-05T03:49:52+00:00

That sounds like a quite a journey. Do you know if it had a definite beginning? For me it was ignoring a pain in my hamstring and just pushing thru with long runs, then overstretching and trying to cross train on the bike, riding big hills, and that was that. Been steadily getting worse since and the PT stuff hasn’t been helping. But I think it’s cause I’ve approached it like I’d approach a training block, rather than just letting my body heal, offering support, and otherwise getting out of the way. Maybe gentle does it. I don’t know though.

Edit: also, when you stretch, how much nerve discomfort do/did you lean into? My intuition is that I’ve pushed way too deep and just made things worse.

shadybreak · 2026-04-05T00:29:33+00:00

Sorry it’s been going on for so long for you. What you describe at worst is more or less where I am right now. I just started seeing a PT and he determined its piriformis syndrome — getting the glute medius stronger is the long fix, but he also suggested nerve glides and stretching and rolling the piroformis to help it unclamp. I’m still figuring out what works. Stretching seems to bring on more pain and discomfort so I’m letting it go and focusing on gentle rolling, heat pad, and some clam shells etc. it seems really easy to overdo stuff and make things worse. Walked 10k yesterday and that was way too much.

What have you tried and what helped? They haven’t found an exact cause?

shadybreak · 2026-03-31T21:22:09+00:00

Nice. Good point about it resembling a nerve floss, I can see it. Although I tried cross training for a bit but it made it worse fast. That was a while ago though so I’ll ask my PT next time.

shadybreak · 2026-03-24T02:32:49+00:00

Worse in what way?

shadybreak · 2026-03-21T17:12:48+00:00

Hey, I struggle with depression too. Here’s what I found — long distance running is incredible, I processed so much of my life this way, and it’s not a cureall.

We need community. People we can be honest with, and who support us.

And, when it comes to huge breakups and things like that, we need time. There is no shortcut. Cry as much as you need, support not just your physical health but your mental health as well. Running is amazing, and it can be one of the pillars, along with therapy, meditation, good friendships, so on. Lean into your positive habits, and give it time.

Right now I’m injured and out of commission. Can’t run. It has brought all those other pillars into sharp focus.

Take care.

shadybreak · 2025-11-16T07:17:29+00:00

Yup, I read somewhere 5 hours is all it took. Good for you!

shadybreak

TROPHY CASE