jsiegs and slornow's Train Hard and Have Fun group - CLOSED for Training (Page 17)

Rob,

Wow! Fantastic! You and your family together and you all finished it! Your times were awesome in my opinion. Kudos to your Dad! Wow!

Where is everyone?  Hopefully training hard.

I have 3 days, 16 hours and 24 minutes until my race.  The right side of my body, from my lower back to my knee, is so tight.  My hip down to the outside of my knee feel like they are on fire.  I'm not sure what to do.  I rested yesterday. I'm was planning on  swimming and doing an easy spin today.  I don't want to aggravate anything, but I feel like I need to stretch out some.  Does anyone have any advice? 

Christy

Great Race Rob!  The end of it sounds like the end of my first last year.  I'm glad you have bragging rights on your brother until next time.  Just make sure to back up any smack talk with training

ETA: oh, and enjoy your well deserved break.

Christy, I know I am a lightweight compared to you guys, but wanted to put my two cents in on your tightness. My right side, knee, leg gets tight, too. I find that if I lay off a day, I can gently ease back into training. It will still be tight but eventually works itself out.

I think my form/technique causes the problems. I am really trying hard to run correctly per a natural/chi running form and it has helped tremendously! Also, on bike, I concentrate on lifting my leg as opposed to pushing to ease that stress.

Good luck! I'm rooting for my new "hero"!

Thanks Randy.  Do you think the foam roller would aggravate it?  I kind of thought it would.  I've used it a few times in the past few months.  Not as often as I should! I got a massage Monday.  It was a deep tissue massage.  I'm thinking that aggravated it some. 

Thanks Deb! 

Randy, thanks, going to do the Great Floridian in Clearmont, it's not an Ironman race but is same distance.  The Ironman's that I wanted to do this year were all full, and I want to do one this year.  I have the base, need to continue on.  I'm not getting any younger.

Deb, thanks a bunch, really excited about finishing the race.  What a rush

Joe, thanks!  I will have bragging rights until June 5th.  My brother, dad and I are registered for a sprint tri  (Run 5K, Bike 9 miles, Swim .25 miles, it is run backwards don't as me why).  Should be interesting to see how I do.  Goal is to break one hour and of course come in ahead of my brother. don't think that will happen, but its worth a shot. 

thanks for the encouragement

Christy, I'm no doc, but I have been dealing with IT Band issues since August. Two weeks before a big race, I couldn't bend my knee without pain. I ended up doing the 10-miler but after a trip to the ortho doc he diagnosed me with IT Band problems and sent me to PT. Your Iliotibial Band runs from the outside of your hip into and all around your knee. Mine was so tight that it was causing internal swelling (showed up on an MRI) and pulling my kneecap off track. 

I would take it easy this week. Take anti-inflammatories (Alleve is probably best), and ice your knee on and off during the day if you can. When you're ready to work out, stretch like mad and foam roll: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9aJtO0VCqw. Try pigeon pose, this one http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/flexibilityandstretching/qt/ITBand-Stretch.htm, stretch your hip flexors, etc. If you PM me your email address, I can send you my stretches from PT as a PDF. My hips contribute to this problem (as they do for a lot of women) so I need to foam roll my pirformis as well. 

Foam rolling is super important. It will hurt like hell when you first do it. I need to foam roll both before and after I run RELIGIOUSLY or else I tighten up and have pain. 

Finally, I know some people who are big fans of ART, but Graston's Therapy really helped me.http://www.grastontechnique.com/ My PT took a class while I was under his care and got certified - it was very helpful for me. 

If you don't have time to see a doc or PT about your IT Band this week, try a yoga class focused on legs. It can really help target those muscles and tissues deep in the hips and legs that might be holding tension.

IT band and my hips/glutes/knees are my never-ending issue. Good luck to you and I hope a simple yoga-foam roll-anti inflamm combo does the trick for you!

I second this. I transitioned to a more Chi-running style and it has definitely helped with my IT band stuff. Think I need to take a class to get it right, though.

Christy - I'm no expert on injuries, and so far I don't have any history to give you a story on... (unless you want my back story!) but I have to agree... rest up and ice ice ice. I hope it gets better by race day

I'm finally out of my funk (I hope!) I took the weekend off from the world and while I was hoping to get back to spin class yesterday, we had a Dr appt right in the middle of class. Bummer.

I did a 3.1 jog this morning, I felt super tired and I was having a hard time getting in to it. As soon as I got my groove, my daughter started crying and wouldn't stop! Go figure! Oh well, I did what I could. I also went to the gym and did some weights. I'm thinking about starting some two-a-days, at least for now while I can. Maybe just 3 days a week right now. I don't want to burn out in a few weeks!

Hope everyone is doing well!

I can't help much with the injury/tightness, just to say rest and ice are probably your friend

With running, it's such a destructive activity for your body, it is very easy to do it too hard, too much or too fast, which is an injury waiting to happen.  I'd suggest when you can, try to spread your volume out over more runs  (so each run is shorter, but you run the same miles overall) and keep it VERY easy while building volume.  Once your body can handle the beating, you can reduce the number of runs and/or ad in some harder stuff.  I did this with tremendous results last fall.  It was like night and day for me, and I honestly think 95% of people could solve their running injuries by using that advice (which I got here on BT and know others who swear by it too), especially if you're low volume, or relatively new.

I used the following plan with my fiancee with great success.  She tore her ACL in high school and had never been able to run more than half a mile without a lot of pain.  It's a 3-2-1 plan, and 6 runs per week.  Pick a base time/distance, something that is too easy, like 10 min (or half a mile, or w/e).  Do 3 runs of 10 min, 2 runs of 20 min, and 1 run of 30 min per week.  Then build slowly from there (10% per week max).   it takes commitment, but it will be the BEST thing you can ever do for your run and running injuries.  The other key is you MUST keep it easy...too easy.  HR in in Z1 or Z2 max.  That's how you can build volume and train your body to handle the pounding.  Using it, my fiancee was able to get up to 4-5 mile runs where before she couldn't run half a mile without a lot of pain (and she did it faster).  It's long, slow and tedious, but it will solve 9 out of 10 runner's injuries (and save a ton at the doc's office and PT).  No, it's not the answer for everyone, but it is for most.

Sorry, I'm a little preachy about the running...but I've seen how well it works (even for seasoned veterans) and watched literally every new runner I know who starts too fast, too long and too infrequently get hurt at some point.

How do you guys feel about it?  what's your running background and injury history look like?  Do you buy it?  Am I just a bag of hot air?

I am from the "run as fast as you can for as long as you can" camp.  You can see where it has got me.  I've had 2 knee surgeries and I'm often hurt.  I never feel like I have the time to do what you suggest.  Even though everything I read says slower is better.  I feel like I need to make the most of every work out.  And for some reason I can't get myself to believe that slow is sometimes making the most out of it. 

I think your plan sounds good.  I just need the discipline to do it.

Christy

I know you're joking, but your point is very good - what I said was wrong.  The key is easy, not slow, my mistake .

And you're not slow

You said easy, I was actually responding to Christy.

But I like your post, definitely something for me to look in to for running. Anything I can do to make running easier for me, I'll try! Running is so much harder with a stroller, it definitely tests your endurance!

OH NO!! Did I really? I didn't mean it!!! Easy.  I should have said easy! Kudos for running with a stroller.  I did it a few times but it was too much.   My son HATES it.  I pretend that's why I don't run with him.  It's really because it is too hard.

I got in a short swim this morning.  Wanted to practice swimming in my wetsuit.  It wasn't bad.  I was able to get it off without much trouble. 

My IT band is really hurting.  I was going to do an easy spin on the bike this afternoon but I'm not sure if i should. 

Hope everyone is having a good day.

Christy