Friday, June 26, 2009

Ouch! What the Hell?

Hello, Newbies! With four weeks left in my training, it was time to run 7.25 miles of the 6.2 miles we will be running in the race. In the process I seemed to have injured my knee. I noticed the injury the next day when I was walking down the stairs of the subway with my team mate after our 1 million lap swim practice. I started complaining about it, and my teammate, who in order to protect her identity and for the sake of argument we'll call Alison, told me with a horrified expression that it was without a doubt the deadly IT Band injury. It's the plague apparently more athletes die from because Alison's eyes told the whole story, I was either going to have to go all Terry Fox on my leg (running joke) or I was to be taken to the barn and shot---- first Old Yeller and Barbaro and now me...

But then I was saved by an angel who we will call Dr. Erica, who told me to not panic and get some ice put it directly on the plagued area. STAT! and I'm happy to say that ice works- It has saved my life and I'm quickly on the road to recovery. The world nor my training has stopped which is a relief since I only have four weeks until the triathlon. I am hoping that I can do the BRICK tomorrow which consists of 5 miles of running and 2 hrs of biking- excuse me, cycling- they get so mad when you call it biking- oh, and while we're at it- don't call it a bike seat- it's a saddle- and one more thing-- having a basket on bike- oh, you can call it a bike- you don't have to call it a cycle- so, having a basket on your bike is not recommended... or a bell... or those tassels... yeah they frown on that, too.

So, my question, since I'm new at this and because I find ice really cold, does anyone else have other quick remedies for the deadly IT Band injury? And will such an injury stunt my growth?

1 comment:

Coach Abby said...

Said IT Band injury will, happily, not stunt your growth. You are well on your way to being 7 feet tall, my friend.

ITB Syndrome is usually brought on by lack of stretching and rest, bad shoes, or doing too much too fast. Your attachment sights become weakened and inflamed, thus pulling the ITB tighter and causing pain either at your hip or knee (the two attachment sights).

It's incredibly common in runners and easily cured if treated early.

The dreaded IT Band Syndrome can usually be healed up in no time at all if you follow these directions:

If it hurts use rest, ice, and don't forget to stretch AND SEE YOUR PT because deep tissue massage is too much for inflamed muscles but breaking up that muscle tissue is essential to the recovery. PTs have these fabulous electro-stim and ultra sound machines that make you feel like a million bucks and help your muscle heal.

Even if you are in training, it's better to take a week off, see your doctor and get on a recovery plan before you cause permenant damage. Trust me, I just experienced this myself.

So, rest and contact your local PT. If you need a good recommendation, ask me. I love my PT!

Kirk, you'll be fine. It's a good thing you have such wonderful teammates and "doctors" surrounding you :)