"In 2010 I had a really successful year and I had stepped up my mileage as well as my intensity," Solinsky said. "I saw a benefit and had a great year. I got a little bit greedy. I did 120 miles five weeks of that year and the rest were in the 100-mile range. I thought, 'If I double that, I'm going to get aerobically stronger.'
"So last year I did 12 or 13 weeks at 120 miles or more and none of the runs were very easy. I think my body kind of revolted."
Even Solinsky's coach, Jerry Schumacher, who guided him to five NCAA Division 1 titles at Wisconsin, warned him to slow down.
"I would take an afternoon off and I felt guilty, I felt lazy," Solinsky said. "This is what made me good in high school and college. What is my competition doing? Whatever they're doing, I want to do more."
The hamstring started giving him problems. He saw it as just another obstacle to run through and ignored the pain. Two weeks before the 2011 World Championships, the hamstring had enough. Three of the four major muscles tore off his pelvic bone.
"It's kind of a sad story," Solinsky said. "We were at a training camp. My wife and my dog were there. I tripped over my dog coming down the stairs and caught myself, but I felt something pop in my leg.