How can I stretch the (Hamstring?) in my hip for running?

I’ve been running for a while now, but the more I run, the more difficulty i have with my right hip. The first 10 – 20 steps are agony, then it settles down. Its on the outside of my right leg about even with my glutes ( ie. its not actually the hip bone, its kind of at the top of my leg ) and sometimes depending on how I stand or stretch I can feel it pop back and forth over the bone. The reason i think its hamstring is because I have knee problems with the patella pulling to the side cause my quads are stronger than the inner thigh muscles and I think it might be related. Can’t seem to find something that will stretch the outside enough though. Any ideas?

Try these before you run:

1. Do a forward lunge as far as you can go. Be sure to keep the heel down on the leg in back. Keep the toes down as you bend the leg in front. When you feel the stretch, hold for at least 10 seconds, then switch legs.

2. Lay down on your back. Pull one leg across the other until it faces out from your torso (or as far as it can go) So one leg is sticking out and one is down like normal. You might feel a little tingle in yur foot at first. Hold this position for at least ten seconds, then swap legs.

3. I call this reverse lunge:
Bend the knee in back and stick the one leg out as far as you can like you are taking a giant step, being sure to keep your toes down. Hold for 10 seconds. Now shift your weight forward, bending the front leg but not the back, until you are doing a lunge like in #1. Hold fr 10 seconds. Switch back, then switch legs and repeat.

4. Sit on floor or mat with knees straight. Reach toward or beyond toes or bring torso toward legs. Hold stretch for atleast 10 seconds. Spine should be kept straight. Keep knees straight by tensing Quadriceps.

5. Lie down with one leg straight up in the air, the other bent with foot flat on the ground. Loop a towel over the arch of the lifted foot, and gently pull on the towel as you push against it with your foot. Push only to the point where your muscles contract. Stretch both legs for at least 10 seconds each (as usual)

Hope this helps!

p.s. if the first steps are agony, try walking to warm up and gradually increasing speed unti you are running -OR- lungewalking the first steps

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