Through all of my weight loss and Marathon Training I suffered very few and minor injuries. I had some heal pain after my first 10 miler. I had some blisters before I invested in some good socks and shoes. But nothing bad enough to really sideline me. Well, gone are the idyllic days of running without injury or consequence! Shortly after my marathon I noticed a nagging pain in my right knee. Nothing that stopped me, but I certainly felt it. It was bothersome enough that on the day of my Half Marathon I took two Acetaminophen so it wouldn't bother me and that worked just fine. As I started back running again in December I noticed the knee pain came back and was slowly working up my outer thigh. It then progressed into a dull ache not just during running but for a day or two after each run. Early in my Christmas vacation I went for a simple enough 10 mile run and by mile 8 I was in a full limp and struggled to use stairs for days. So I finally looked into it...
Turns out I developed a case of Iliotibial Band Syndrome or ITBS. The IT Band runs from the back side of your hip, connected to the glueteus medeus muscles, down the outer edge of your leg, through a small sheath along the outside edge of your knee, and connects to your tibia near the top. It is responsible for helping to bend your knee and also to stabilize your knee during use. Unfortunately, long distance runners are prone to developing a condition where this band becomes inflamed due to overuse and then rubs the sheath it passes through near the knee causing even more inflammation.
The good news is that with rest and anti-inflammatory medication ITBS is easily alleviated. The bad news is that means I CAN'T RUN!!! Just when I am excited about starting my training for Salt Lake, I'm sidelined. I tried to just run slowly, or reduce my overall miles, but the pain quickly comes back. My only hope is to stop running completely for two weeks and then slowly add miles. For the sake of preventing this recurring, lets all pray I have the patience.
One of the most frustrating things has been the timing. To not be able to run during the Christmas break has been painful. I had great plans of kicking off my Salt Lake training with gusto as I had plenty of time off but limped through only 2-3 runs before convincing myself I need to rest it completely. Of course with Christmas and vacation comes snacking, boredom, and EGG NOG! Oh vile dairy confection that enslaves me each year! So you guessed it, I have put on quite a bit of weight over the holidays. Reduced running, increased eating, guess I should have seen that coming. I didn't loose all of 2008's gains, but more than I would care to admit to.
For now I am trying out biking in the morning (if would stop raining!) and spending a little more time on the Wii Fit. I always said I needed more cross training, guess this is someone's way of making sure I get it! They say a good prevention to ITBS is strong abductors as well.
Anyway, hopefully you will see my mile reports come back in a week or three. I am trying to make some lemonade here with these lemons but boy it sure is sour! Hopefully it is just a pit stop, not a derailment...
2 comments:
I did my part to get the chocolate treats out of the house. I'm surprised at the workout on the Wii Fit. Advanced aerobics is quite the workout!
I don't blame you. Someone must have put kryptonite in your expensive running shoes.
When I was a senior in high school, I developed a stress fracture in my leg during basketball season. It hurt so much. (I didn't stay off it, I had to finish my last season.)
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