Tuesday, September 11, 2012

What’s behind this recent ITB episode?



I think that s proper „investigation“ why my ITB flared up a bit after Sunday must be made. I need to get to the root of this thing!!!
So what can be the cause? 

Distance – 10k. I have run more than 10k a couple times and definitely run for longer time than 40min (longest run 70min) so I do not think that running 10k was a cause.

Surface – 50% was a road, 50% a gravel path. I do not on roads (max 10min to get to Tiergarten) because I think that it contributes to my issue but I do think that running for 20min on a road could be a trigger. Esp since 7k in Celler tri was 90% on roads and I had no problem.

Course profile – I am not sure but it seems that the course was 1,25k slightly up and then back down, 4times. Running downhill is a big no-no for my ITB but this was not a real hill, if it was indeed  up and down. So no, not a trigger.

Speed – Can my blistering 6:40 pace be a problem? Yeah, right…

Shoes – I have run in these Nike racers only twice – 7k in a triathlon two weeks prior and then this 10k. I had zero problem the first time but this was 3k longer. So the shoes might be a problem. Maybe I need something more cushioned, I will probably try them few more times and see.

Stride- I know that I am hugely biased here because I think that my ITB problem is caused by my stride. But my stride indeed might have been problem here. Not only was I already tired after swim and bike and thus it was harder to keep a good form but it was a race and a long one so I kind of lost my concentration and I probably did not paid as much attention on how I run/land as I do in workouts. Although I tried to be careful but only when I remembered it. I saw some photos and I can see that in some of them my hip is dropped, just what I must avoid. And I was probably not mid-foot landing, but front-foot landing which seems to be a trigger also.  

Can it be psychological? I had zero pain or discomfort on Sunday after the race, not even on Monday. I did an easy run on Tuesday and that’s when I started to think about doing a mad dash to get that beer glass, although of course I knew that it was a very bad idea. Can it be that I am unconsciously trying to protect myself from myself and I made my ITB to ache just to prevent me from making something incredibly stupid. I knew that I was not really going to do those races I was just talking/dreaming about doing them but I still needed something extra to make sure that I indeed do not do them. Interesting theory. I do not believe it but maybe I would be surprised.  

Rest- I raced on Sunday, took Monday off and then did an easy 50min run on Tuesday. Maybe I should have given it more time to recover? I know that I was still little tired and maybe I was not able to keep a good form although I tried, was landing badly with dropped hip and voila, I got a problem. 

I cannot think of anything else. Any suggestions?

Other than that, ITB is not too bad. I can run with zero pain during or after, it does not hurt when I walk or anything. It is just that maybe 3-4 times a day I feel something there, it is usually a sharp pain for a second and then it goes away. I have had these pains before and it is nothing serious, it will go away in a week or two and then it will feel 100% again. Honestly, I am not even sure whether it is really my ITB but it is in that area. It might be something else because unless ITB flares up completely I cannot be 100% sure.  I think that everything is connected though so it seems that it all inevitable leads to my ITB problem.

3 comments:

  1. running on the track? your post about the 20 soccer dudes gave me the impression you were running a 15 minute tempo on the track... you're not doing that are you???

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  2. How stressed are you? I've found that athletes who are under more stress than normal (you are moving soon, no? That is more stressful than you think) tend to have injuries pop up "out of nowhere" and its typically the weakest place in their bodies where they are susceptible to injury where this occurs. IMO the way to fix this is to strengthen your weak spots and/or back off the training when you've got a ton going on b/c stress is sometimes unavoidable! Of course you do the best you can to not get stressed out but stress is very real and it has very real effects on our bodies. So just pay attention to that and make sure your biggest training/racing weeks come at times in your life when you're not a stressed out mess. ;)

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  3. @PPC: Track! I totally forgot about that. I indeed did that 15min tempo on track (had no choice due to logistcs), the only problem with this theory is that my ITB flared up before I did this tempo. And ITB felt great doing this tempo.
    I occasionaly run intervals on track when logistics do not allow me to get to a park before dark, but I never do tempos there. And if I run on track I change direction.

    @Michelle: There is nothing stressful about moving to a cemetary town where you know noone, where you have been only once for a day before, looking for an appartment, car, pool to swim in...in two weeks!!! I trully do not feel stressed because I have everything under control and I have done it multiple times before but it probably still takes some toll on me.
    I am going to make sure that I am not moving anywhere in weeks leading to Buffalo Springs Lake:)

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