The IT Band Debate

It's amazing how much stress - even when we're not aware that we're dealing with it - can affect our workouts. Every run this week was a dogged internal battle of pure will. Just getting out of the house was a struggle.

To make it worse, a sharp pain in the outside of my knee interrupted the middle of Wednesday's run. My IT band was not happy, and neither was I.

I was torn about how to take care of this. I've been diligent about my leg raises and was sure that I'd been doing enough to prevent a recurrence of this old (old old old) injury. I haven't had IT band pain in years!

Usually, runners rely on foam rolling to cure their IT band pain. It's a joke among athletes that rolling the IT band hurts so good and it's usual to scream during the massage.

However, a couple recent articles suggest that rolling the IT band can actually exacerbate the issue. The IT band doesn't get tight (these articles claim); it simply gets pulled out of sync with your leg movements and needs to be rested and balanced by strengthening your hips and fixing your stride, among other things.

I had this in mind when I rolled on Wednesday night and practiced a little Pigeon Pose. I had it in mind when I rolled Thursday (twice). I didn't want to be doing more damage, but in the past foam rolling has always been so helpful!

Super happy after my run!

Today's run helped make up my mind. I had no pain at all; in fact, I felt so good I tacked on some extra mileage! My pace was steady and everything felt right. I haven't had a run that smooth in weeks!

I guess I had better make sure to foam roll more consistently, because it definitely seemed to make a difference.

Oh, and one final thing. Shortly after finishing my run I received this text:

 

I guess 64 is pretty cold by Florida standards!

Where do you stand on the IT band treatment debate?

 What do you do to prevent injury?

Has your IT band ever given you trouble?

ABK

A New Plan

This far into my training, I've been following the Hal Higdon Beginner II plan for my marathon. But I've been finding that only one rest day isn't enough for me. This week, I've taken three days off because of IT band pain.

I refuse to be injured. I'm going to nurse my leg so I can complete my training successfully. But this also means I need to look at a backup plan.

I was doing some searching this week, realizing I have 11 weeks to go until race day and have pretty much decided the Higdon plan isn't working for me. I found this one from Women's Running UK.

I like it because it gives specific cross-training workouts, and it allows for more rest days and fewer mid-week runs above 5 miles.

I was unable to do my long-run Sunday because my IT band was still twingey, despite the rest this week. I've been rolling diligently, doing hip and core exercises, and wearing my most comfortable work shoes. Today it feels better, and I plan to head to the gym to test it out when this post is finished.

This weekend wasn't all a bust, though. Matt and I had a race of a different sort.

Matt on his final .1

Okay, he had a race. I got to experience what sitting in the sun waiting for a race to be over feels like.

Matt did a 5k paddle race and a 100m sprint. He placed 3rd in the 5k for his division, and 1st for the sprint!

His trophy is seriously the coolest thing ever!

I'm so impressed! It's pretty cool how similar SUP and running can be.

After the race, we traveled to St. Pete to meet some of our oldest college friends for dinner and to catch a Rays game. It was an extremely packed, wonderful weekend.

I stepped out of my comfort zone and had bacon and cheddar grits with shrimp, avocado, and tomatoes. Uh-maz-ing!

The crew after dinner.

The Rays new mascot is the cutest stingray EVER!

Enjoying the nosebleed section.

When we got home Sunday, I promptly took a nap and then graded all evening.

Wish me luck on my run tonight. I'm hoping I'm back in tip-top shape after six days off.

What is your most persistent injury?
Have you ever dealt with IT band issues?
Do you like baseball?
When's the last time you got to see some old college friends? 

ABK

Gear Report: Strength & Stretch Edition

I promised you awkward pictures, and if there's anything I'll deliver on, it's awkwardness.

A little history before we get to the meat of this post, and the real reason you're all here. My knees began hurting after the 2011 NDN Half. This isn't surprising, considering my lack of preparation. I had never walked 13.1 miles, let alone run. (I don't think I'd ever walked more than six, unless you count rotations around the classroom or speedwalking Busch Gardens.)

After much research regarding where my knee pain was located, what times of day it was better/worse, etc, I self-diagnosed my problem as ITBS. I began going to the gym with M and focused on hip abductors and adductors, which really helped. Strengthening my hips, core, and glutes has really made a difference. I'm not very good at sticking with these exercises, and if I go a few days without doing them - especially if I've increased my mileage - I can feel the difference almost immediately.

Taking those two weeks off and then running six miles (including a race) on my first day back left my knees achy. Barely a mile into my short run last night with M, my knees were killing me and slowing me down. So, I've decided to do my stretches and strengthening exercises, and recruited M to take photos. The lengths we go to for education, yes?

1. Begin with a flat loop resistance band. I got mine at Sports Authority for $9. It's a medium strength band because I'm a weakling but I like to challenge myself.

I should have kids just so I can embarrass them by making posts like this.

2. Lie on your side with the band looped around both legs at the center point of your calves. Keep your resting leg slightly bent/relaxed, and keep the active leg straight. Raise and lower your active leg in a slow and controlled motion. I usually do two sets of 12 reps per side.

It's not a real workout tutorial without a cheesy grin.

Repeat for the other side as well. (These are just glorified leg-lifts, but do the same as the hip ab/adductor machines at the gym.)

3. Lower your active leg, stomping on the band (which you've now moved closer to your ankle). Lift and lower the leg that was resting in a slow, controlled motion. (This exercise sucks but helps your inner thighs. I hate it and rarely do this one.)

Hard to explain...Hopefully this photo is enough, because I quit after one rep.

4. Phew, I'm tired from all that resistance work! Time to stretch!

Always stretch with a spotter. Preferably a spotter that matches your shirt and foam roller.

Foam rollers are awesome. I got mine at Target for about $25. It came with a DVD I never use because Runner's World has so many great videos. Next time I buy one of these, I'll go for the black one, which has a higher density. But this green Gaiam is good for a beginner like me.

Rollers are great for all-over body massage. They allow you to use your own body weight to work out knots and tight muscles. I seriously don't know why it took me so long to buy one!

This is a thumbs-up, not a boob-grab.

As someone whose major issue is the IT-band, I spend most of my rolling time like this. You simply balance as much pressure as you can stand on the roller, and roll hip-to-knee for about 30 seconds at a time. Three full minutes of rolling is optimal.

I take calf-massages very seriously.

Rolling your calves is nice because it doubles as a core exercise. So does rolling your quads, which we can't forget, of course:

"Drop and give me twenty!" he chirped adorably.

I also like to do planks for core work, and I got a giant stability ball I'll take some photos of next time. But I think for now, this is enough embarrassment.

Remember to do all exercises purposefully. If you're rushing through them you risk injury, and you're not getting the full benefit of the routine. Remember, too, that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. New runners rarely know how important cross-training and strengthening exercises are...until they get injured. If I had been smart about my habits when I first began running, I wouldn't be dealing with knee pain two years after my original injury.

So be consistent, spend a few minutes a day where it counts, and enjoy your run! Good luck!

ABK

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Sundry Running Things

I just cannot seem to enjoy the treadmill the way I enjoy running outdoors.

Call me crazy, but give me mosquitoes, 84% humidity, 91 degrees, lightning, and rain any day. The redundant clumpclumpclump of feet on the treadmill, the annoying whirring sound, and the impossibility of setting an organic pace just kills me. Not to mention the boredom. I'm not one who can read while running, and watching TV feels almost counterproductive. I'd rather be focusing on my stride, my pace, the excitement of coming to a landmark that signifies the halfway point.

It's funny, really, because earlier in the summer I was so bummed about the heat and humidity. And yes, it's still not pleasant by any means. I come back from a two-mile run looking like I've gone swimming, and trying to add any distance this summer has been a brutal undertaking.

Still, I'd rather deal with all that. The treadmill has been a nice option for when it storms too hard to run through, but the blinking lights of the "track" and the distance/calorie/pace monitors are distracting.

My IT band has been wonderful ever since I began wearing the velcro strap above my knee. I've also begun to use my visitor pass for the gym to do some strengthening exercises. After doing all that research, I discovered the IT band is too big of a muscle to really stretch effectively, and the best defense against injury is strengthening it. So I've been doing some weight-training. I'm excited to see the improvements in my running as my gluts, hips, quads, core, and hamstrings finally grow stronger.

Along that some vein of general improvement, I've also added chia seeds into my diet. I'm not really sure what the specific benefits are supposed to be, or how I'll see them, but I used to take flax seed and I've heard chia is very similar. I'm varying my breakfasts with fresh gluten free oatmeal with apples and cinnamon, instead of just my usual cold cereal with banana. This summer has definitely been a time of scrutinizing my routine and changing things that could potentially improve my running. I hope these changes stick when school starts up again.

No matter the changes, the goal is always the same: be a better runner.

The other day I was able to run through a local park, and instead of setting a particular course, I just took the paths wherever the spirit moved me. It was so nice and freeing to just...run. There's something almost magical about just following your feet, letting your mind go, and leaving the usual course behind. Yesterday my run was much later, and it was dark and threatening to rain, so I wanted to stick to my tried-and-true loop. The loop is about a mile, and I planned to add distance by completing it twice and then running half of it again. But by the time I'd finished one round, I was already bored. I veered off down the sidewalk and onto the main road and added distance that way. I felt like tethers had fallen off me, and coming back to the loop for the finish was tedious.

I think I need some new routes! But the difficulty lies in timing it correctly. If I run too early, it's too hot out; if I run too late, it's too dark.

I'll leave this post with a brief article on mental blocks and overcoming them. My mental blocks almost always come into play if I'm running a route I've done poorly on before, or if I'm coming off an injury. One of the points in the article is the ability to say "I'm a runner", and the importance of owning this identity. I love knowing I'm not alone in that one in particular; I've overcome it now, but it was one I struggled with for awhile.

One final quick note: my running buddy is healing happily post-birth of her second daughter. I'm so excited to have her rejoin me on our runs in the not-too-distant future!

That's all for now. Happy running!

ABK

Beating the Heat, and ITB Stuff

As spring (what spring?!) drew to a close, I found myself asking fellow runners the same question over and over. How do you beat the heat? And let's be real for a minute here. In Florida, the reprieve from heat is pretty minimal; but there is a difference between the heat and humidity of June, July, August, and September and the rest of the year. Not wanting to admit defeat for four months, I sought answers.

While some answers came in almost technical form regarding water-replenishing-rates (see here), other answers I received were to run earlier, decrease my pace, bring water with me, run shorter distances...basically, take these four months as a chance to decrease my training. (I've tried to get up early to run about half a dozen times now, and failed to get out of bed each time!) The good news is that nearly everyone agrees that in the fall, when temperatures dip, running in the heat pays off. Suddenly you're a super speedster, breaking PRs all over the place.

Or something like that.

Anyway, like most runners, the thought of taking walking breaks (even if they're for water) sounds like cheating. When I first began running, I couldn't complete a quarter mile without walking. Being able to build mileage without a walking break is a huge accomplishment for me, and I absolutely hate having to walk. But, as I discovered a couple years ago when training for the half, planned walking breaks don't feel like cheating. Intervals, in other words, are a saving grace.

I've had to grapple with myself over this, because coming to the decisions to 1) ease up on my pace, and 2) keep my distances at a comfortable level has been hard. But in the end, I decided that it's more important to stay consistent (meaning running weekly) than to push myself to a level of discomfort. This also means taking water breaks. Tonight, I took a break after the first mile to have some water. I kept my pace comfortable, and although I've been doing two-milers for what feels like forever, I didn't give myself any grief over not increasing my distance tonight. The humidity just makes my legs too heavy.

I'm not really happy about this, but there's something freeing in running just to run again, not for a specific goal or race or reason. Just to run.

On top of this, I think I've mastered my IT band pain! I'm wearing something much like this or this. My strap is Velcro and has a little rubber bar on the underside. It's meant to be worn under the knee to support the patella, but I've been wearing it about 3 inches above my knee, pulling it nice and tight, with the rubber bar directly on the IT band, and voila! No pain! I've had three runs free of pain now, after two years of consistently painful knees.

This is seriously a lifesaver. I can go running without fear that halfway through I'll be in debilitating pain. I haven't tried for a longer run than two miles yet, so we'll see how this works for 5ks and the like.

There is a 5k June 2, right before I leave for my trip, that I may attempt. But I'm not really feeling an urge to go.

I leave for Israel June 3 so I won't be running or posting until the end of the June. I'm super excited, and the girls I'm going with are runners as well, so we may get a few runs in while there. But I won't have internet and, frankly, won't want to spend my time posting when I'm experiencing the trip of a lifetime!

So until then I leave you with these words: "Run often, and run long, but never outrun your joy of running." - Julie Isphording

ABK