Well guys, I'm still feeling sorry for myself. My knee hurts today - not bad, but it definitely is reminding me that I have an injury! I did compress it yesterday and kept it elevated. And I've been taking Ibuprofen to keep the swelling down. I know the main thing I need is to rest it, though, so no running for me for at least a week.
I have been doing a lot of reading on IT Band Syndrome. It seems that one cause could be overly strong quads and underdeveloped butt and hamstrings. Funny, because I was just talking to some people about my center of balance is completely on the balls of my feet. I attribute this to having taken 10+ years of dance classes. Dancers are constantly on the balls of their feet. So I notice even when I'm talking to someone that all my weight is forward.
This is what made it so difficult - and continues to be an issue - for me to do squats. It feels highly unnatural to have my weight back in my heels. So, since squats are usually a no-no with this IT Band issue, when I work legs tonight I'll be concentrating heavily on butt exercises as well as some specific exercises for IT Band issues.
I also bought a foam roller that is supposed to help. I've never used one of these before, but I know people use them for all kinds of muscle issues and it's specifically supposed to help stretch the IT Band, which in combination with strengthening it is supposed to make a difference.
My friend Peggy told me that I need to stop freaking out - it's not like I'm going to get obese if I take a week or two off running. I guess I know this intellectually, but for a black and white thinker like me, I'm either perfect or a disaster. And right now I feel that even gaining 5 pounds would be a DISASTER!!! It's absolutely unthinkable!
And I'm getting into the "What if?" frame of mind. What if this is a chronic condition? What if I have to give up running - my main way to burn calories? It's SO, SO, SO scary for me.
So everyone, please send good vibes my way!
You can TOTALLY get through this. :) IT band pain SUCKS, but with stretching, rolling it out EVERY TIME YOU RUN and building complimentary muscles it will remedy itself. I was TERRIBLE at stretching and rolling out my muscles before and after long runs before I started having issues with this. It took injury for me to realize the act of prepare and caring for my muscles was just as important as that run is to my body. I feel like weight loss is a way of learning to take care of yourself, and so this struggle is just another lesson to learn about how to best take care of you. Good luck with the rest... and seriously... embrace the roll out. It's life changing. :)
ReplyDeleteMy foam roller came in today - I'll be using it for the first time tonight! I've been doing specific stretching and strengthening exercises for the IT band, and I'm hopeful this is a temporary problem!
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