It really doesn't take any discipline; there's no choice at the moment if I want to run injury-free. Stretching and somewhat faster paces seem to do my ITB a lot of good. That and warming-up properly and post-run stretching and rolling, ... oh and also possibly this new idea of a micro-run on my off-day.I admire your discipline. Stopping to stretch during the runs if I were doing that myself it will take the joy of running for me and I'll be in coocooland by now. But if it's working for you, well keep it up!
Yesterday I kept waiting for the ITB to start to strain at the knee, but it never happened. Knock on wood. Maybe it would get better on its own, but my body seems to be telling me that doing these things will get me there faster. Plus all this stretching is making me feel more limber or spry in general.
Hopefully in the not-too-distant future, I'll be able to head out the door for a continuous, hour-long run at sub-9mm pace, without further ado (no further to do?), but until then, I'm sticking to this method. Once I attain that, which I would consider a good base, then I'll start to gradually add distance to my third weekly run, my Saturday run, and see where that takes me, and also get back to intervals and hills on one of the weekly runs.
@ Skedaddle: nice report!