During a cylocross race two weeks ago I pulled a hamstring while running over a barrier.
It's a grade 1 pull I believe. I have iced, rested, stretched, and used Ibuprofen.
I done just a little spinning with an easy gear.
Question:
How do I know when I can push a harder gear and start training for the road season?
I've given up on cross.
I feel the the muscle at times giving a slight pull. Not sure if this is a good sign or not.
Thanks for the response (it's a drag being off the bike so much).
Dewey

Muscles are not much different from bone and take 6 to 8 weeks to recover. A strain or pull as distinguished from a muscle tear will heal a bit faster. Tears are usually indicated by a soft mushy spot in the muscle or by a hematoma and after 3-4 days a bruising will show up in the skin that drifts down the leg. Reinjury is easy to do and a graded return to activity is best. How graded is 'left to the user'. The feeling you have is just the scar tissue in the muscle letting you know it is not quite healed. Explosive efforts are what tend to cause reinjury, such as the jump you did that caused the first injury. Spinning is good early training anyway and if it doesn't bother then that is the route you should take. Just don't go out with a group that is doing sprints for 8-12 weeks.
Steve

don't do anything that makes it feel worse...better to go easy now than re aggrivate it now and set you back..if you can use the spinning to your advantage and allow it to be an easy stretching technique, then go ahead.... while the muscle is still considerably tight, the best thing you can do is to warm it up a little (again...go easier than you would like to start out) and stretch..... don't overstretch, but make sure the muscle is being stretched a few times a day

oh...and...slight pulls are not a good sign