Hamstring tight/pain when running

couple questions:

1. have you had any injuires to opposite leg or the aching leg in last year? if so, could be functional.. we tend to compensate when injuried and or hurt leg is still weak from injury.

2. how are your intensities when running? slow days to fast days? if you are going hard all the time
something will break sooner or later..

3. are you doing strength training? doesn't necessarily have to be weight.. body weight stuff

4. are you doing adequate stretching.. 10-20 mins afterwards?

from reading your post..you may not be warmed up.. starting out to hard.. the hamstring/calves are major muscle in running.. bike uses the quads..

Momo,
Yes, my left leg (one that is not hurting) has always been weaker due to knee and ankle issues - so that could have alot to do with it.  How is something like that diagnosed/corrected?  I am thinking maybe one of those foam rollers would help.  Also, I think I should be doing more gentle stretching too.

Thanks for your input!

I have three pieces of advice....ART.
Get some.
In case you are not aware, this stands for Active Release Technique. It is a deep deep tissue massage that will release very tight muscles. Find a certified provider in your area and get yourself fixed up! 
Chances are if your hammie has been this tight for this long, you will not be able to release it yourself.

Good Luck!


http://www.activerelease.com/ 

Edited by aquagirl 2010-11-02 6:22 PM

AquaGirl - thanks!!  I will check it out.

The last time I checked for injuries like hamstrings is that it correlated most closely with the speed you started your run at.  A real easy lope and gradually speeding up may help.

ART is fan-freaking-tastic, I highly recommend you check that out.  After a few sessions you'll be better than new, then you can look at any of the training issues that may have caused your problems.