I really screwed up the ol' IT band a month ago when I decided I was awesome enough to run on it even though it hurt (for the last 8 miles of a 14 miler. Sigh.) Might have been worth it for a big race, definitely stupid for a training run. This time it's been harder to get past because I messed it up worse than I have in the past.
Anyway--I've brought my mileage way down, and I'm doing more consistent strengthening exercises (targeted & whole-body) at home. I'm also of course keeping up with my rolling. And I'm continuing to work to have a better running form.
I noticed on the stairs at home that if I do an exaggerated high-knee thing on the way down, my IT band and knee don't hurt. And a DailyMile friend pointed out that high knees also force you to land forefoot/midfoot. (I'm in Vibrams full-time right now because my forefoot seems to get bruised or something when I'm bare--and sometimes I heelstrike in Vibrams.)
So before I started my run this morning I did some high knee drills. Then during the run, I just focused on lifting my knees a little more than usual--nothing exaggerated, just a small change. It feels more difficult because it's not normally the way I run, and it'll take some time to train the appropriate muscles. But it seems to take most of the stress off my IT band. In fact, during my run today, my knee/IT band felt fine, though they were just a ltitle achy every time I stopped. I used my "walk breaks" to stretch and felt pretty good after the run.
I'm not sure why it works or even if it's considered "correct form," but if it's getting me past my persistent IT band issue, I'm sticking with it. My theory based on how it feels is that I'm using the BIG upper-leg muscles more (quads especially) and it's somehow taking some of the workload off of smaller muscles. I have no idea if that even makes sense from an anatomical standpoint, but that's how it feels--like those big muscles are doing their job, and making my leg more stable as I run.
Any thoughts on this? Thanks!
Anyway--I've brought my mileage way down, and I'm doing more consistent strengthening exercises (targeted & whole-body) at home. I'm also of course keeping up with my rolling. And I'm continuing to work to have a better running form.
I noticed on the stairs at home that if I do an exaggerated high-knee thing on the way down, my IT band and knee don't hurt. And a DailyMile friend pointed out that high knees also force you to land forefoot/midfoot. (I'm in Vibrams full-time right now because my forefoot seems to get bruised or something when I'm bare--and sometimes I heelstrike in Vibrams.)
So before I started my run this morning I did some high knee drills. Then during the run, I just focused on lifting my knees a little more than usual--nothing exaggerated, just a small change. It feels more difficult because it's not normally the way I run, and it'll take some time to train the appropriate muscles. But it seems to take most of the stress off my IT band. In fact, during my run today, my knee/IT band felt fine, though they were just a ltitle achy every time I stopped. I used my "walk breaks" to stretch and felt pretty good after the run.
I'm not sure why it works or even if it's considered "correct form," but if it's getting me past my persistent IT band issue, I'm sticking with it. My theory based on how it feels is that I'm using the BIG upper-leg muscles more (quads especially) and it's somehow taking some of the workload off of smaller muscles. I have no idea if that even makes sense from an anatomical standpoint, but that's how it feels--like those big muscles are doing their job, and making my leg more stable as I run.
Any thoughts on this? Thanks!