The Nike Women’s (Full and Half) Marathon (NWM) is an event full of stories. It’s a major event for Team in Training and many people run or walk the event for a loved one. Lots of ladies ran/walked together, and there was tons of support and good energy. I knew that I would come out of the race with a story of my own. I expected that it would be a story of triumph – that I conquered myself and actually trained for something and actually got faster and kicked butt. This was not to be my story.
NWM poster in Union Square.
The epic saga began at the Skyline Ridge 14k trail race 2 weeks before the NWM. I had been wanting to add some hills to my training before my taper, so I thought this would be awesome. The trail was beautiful and the race was great, but a familiar demon began bugging me about 4 miles in. Oh, hello, left IT band. Hadn’t heard from you for a while. Kinda thought you were going to let me run a half marathon in peace… [The IT band runs between your hip and your tibia (via outside of the knee). Various issues with running like muscle imbalance or too many hills can cause it to rub, often along the outside of the knee, and cause pain with every step, as the tight IT band rubs past your knee. Ouch.]
I’ve dealt with this injury before, however, so I diligently iced, Ibuprofen-ed, rested, stretched, and did some one-legged squats for good measure. I planned on getting in some running during the week leading up to the race, but of course…
I got sick on Sunday (a week before the race now). Again, I was diligent. I rested, hydrated, took lots of Vitamin C, and ate right. I tried my best to be patient and not freak out about the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to run much (it ended up being not at all) before the race. My IT band got another full week off, so I figured it would be fine, but of course…
Although my legs felt great warming up at the NWM Half, I hadn’t even run half a mile when I could feel suspicious tightness on the outside of my left leg (despite long intervals of stretching before the race). I hardly had time to wonder if it would be an issue before the tightness developed into full-blown, hard-core IT band pain. My initial 8:00 min/mile pace slowed to 9:00 min/mile and I wondered if I should just walk the whole race, or stop altogether. However, walking a half marathon takes a loooooooooooong time. And not finishing meant no t-shirt and no Tiffany’s finisher necklace. I knew that 13 miles is also a long way to run with a hurting IT band, but I was also fairly sure that I would not do any permanent damage.
Runners starting up the hill after running along Crissy Field.
It was hard to have to resort to walking through the aid stations and up parts of many of the hills (and about a whole mile of the last 5k, when my knee locked up super hard – that’ll teach me to run without emergency Ibuprofen). It was hard to watch so many women run past me, strong and pain free (good for them, hard for me). It was hard to get passed by the 4:00 marathon pace group in the last 5k (when I was speed-walking because I literally couldn’t run), since I had held out a little hope of finishing in under 2 hours until then. It was especially hard to summon the mental energy to girt my teeth and lopsidedly jog the last 1.1 miles (but I did).
But I finished. It may have taken me 2:14 instead of the 1:51 I’d hoped and trained for. It may have been way harder than I’d thought it would be, fighting through the pain for every mile. But I’m super proud and very happy in retrospect that I did it anyways. I want to do a half Ironman in the summer of 2012 and I expect that half marathon will also be hard, especially after swimming 1.2 miles and cycling 56 miles. Now I know that I can push through 13 miles, even if I am hurting from the very beginning. I also know that I need to get a lot more serious about doing all that I can to deal with my IT band issues (strengthening opposing muscles, finding some new, deeper stretches, deep tissue massage, etc.) because I would really like to be pain-free for the next half marathon I’m running in December.
So I’m going to take this as a learning experience. I showed myself how hard I can push and how much I can endure. I’ve learned that I need to be more proactive about dealing with my knee. And I’m confident that I have what it takes to do a half Ironman in ~20 months. So thank you, NWM, for pushing me further than I thought I could go. And thank you, volunteer doctors and nurses in the First Aid tent at the finish line, for the ice, gatorade, industrial-strength Tylenol, and warm air blower (it was raining outside by this point).
That is my NWM story. Did you run on Sunday?
Also, any IT band advice is very welcome.
Lizzy
I’m proud of you for finishing, and your story makes me excited about my half in a few weeks. I’m trying just to think about finishing and not pace, because I signed up late and I’m sorely out of running shape, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed that I’ve not been training harder and better.
After reading your account, I feel a little more empowered. Less competitive…like it’s okay to just do my best with what I have right now and be satisfied with what my body can do in this moment. I look up to you so much as an athlete, Lizzy. I hope your IT band heals quickly.
-km
Thanks!
Which half are you doing? I think one of the best parts (given my knee situation) with doing an event as big as the NWM (something like 20,000 runners) is that I knew that I wasn’t going to come close to “winning” or “placing”, so from the beginning it was all about my own personal challenge. And although I had intended that challenge to be a time/pace one, it ended up being a challenge to just keep going and keep pushing, which was ok. It’s really cool to be part of something big enough that you aren’t really racing the people around you, but just all taking part in the same personal challenge.
I’m sure you’ll do awesome! Positive energy can take you a long way (13.1 miles, even)
Lizzy
Trail of Two Cities here in Fresno. It’s on my birthday this year! Can’t pass that up!! I’m excited…though my biggest fear at this moment is buying into others’ opinions about what I can and can’t do. Thusly, I feel gloriously defiant in attempting anyways.
-km
Awesome! For what it’s worth, I totally believe in you. It’s all about taking it one mile at a time, enjoying the scenery and the runners around you, being part of such a big event… it’ll go by way faster than you’d expect.
Lizzy, major kudos to you for fighting through that! I’ve had serious IT band issues in the past, and ended up just not running anymore. I never raced, so it wasn’t a big deal, but every time I try to get back into it just for exercise, the problems come back! I’d love it if you could pass on any advice you find helpful to me, too
The best advice I’ve gotten is to do hip strengthening exercises, though I’m not sure what those would be. Those muscles get ignored when we’re doing running/walking as exercise.
Hope you find some solutions quickly!
Katie
I think that IT band issues are often based in muscle imbalance, so theoretically anything that strengthens muscles that oppose the running muscles should theoretically help. I’m planning on hitting the weights (gently at first) as soon as I’m pain free. I’ve also read that the pigeon pose stretches your IT band. I’ve been doing a different stretch, and I wonder if maybe it’s just not deep enough. I know that I have to try a little harder to actually stretch my quads using a “standard” quad stretch (ditto for my calves), so maybe the same is true for my IT band. I’ll definitely let you know if I find something that works.
Lizzy
http://www.activerelease.com/
I just had ART done for my hip flexor and it cleared up an injury I fought with for ~3 months in 5 visits. Basically it involves a therapist putting pressure on a trigger point on your muscle while you move your body. They’ll check for adhesions and tightness and work to release the muscles and fascia in question. Of course, depending on the injury you might need different treatment…it’s doing less for a tendon I just found out is torn, so if you don’t see an improvement in a few visits, you may want to consider something else.
I’ve definitely suffered from IT band problems before. It happened when I started training for my first half marathon. I was told I could still run on it, but to just take it slowly and not overdo anything. And, stretching A LOT is key. Just google IT band stretches and you will get all you need. It’s really simple, but my guess is you already know them
But, be diligent in your stretching, it will pay off.
I’ve already read about a couple of new stretches (I thought my old stretch was sufficient, but now I’m not so convinced), so I’m optimistic that I’ll be able to find something that works. My legs were feeling so good and well trained, otherwise. My next half is a fairly hilly trail race, though, so it’s probably going to be a similar or slower time, but if I get to run it feeling good I will count that as a win
Oh, and I bet you can definitely make your goal of sub 2. My first half was sub 2 and my second half I cut of about 10 minutes of my time. Considering your injuries I bet you will definitely get past them and meet or exceed your goal.
Lizzie, you are going to have to rename this website “Dream in Horizontal” if you keep running!
Don’t worry, there’s more climbing in the immediate future!
I feel that switching up different stretches can be good because they “get in there” in slightly different ways. Pigeon pose is one, and that alone can provide a lot of variation depending on what angle you put your calf at and whether of not you twist your upper body (e.g. bringing your right elbow or shoulder toward your right foot if that’s in front. “Eye of the needle” is very similar to pigeon (lie on your back, bring the outside of the ankle of one foot to the top of the knee of the other leg, then grasp behind the knee with both hands and lift it toward your body) but less intense, so may be substituted if tightness requires it. Also “good” (intense) for IT band are cow face pose (gomukhasana), Butterfly / Baddha Konasana with the feet far out from the hips so the legs form a diamond (sometimes called Tarasana). To really get at the IT band, you might want to do the stretches yin yoga style, with long (3-5 min) passive holds. A foam roller is also a good way to get in there…
PS just remembered that there are a couple nice 20 min yoga podcasts by Jason Crandell on the yoga journal website that are hip-focussed, which will definitely involve the IT band. Also, to up the intensity of Eye of the needle, start it with your butt scooted up against a wall, one foot about knee height on the wall. lift the hips as you get into the pose (bring the other foot on the knee (quad side) of the leg thats placed against the wall) and let gravity instead of the arms do the stretching – much preferred for longer holds, too.
Wow, thank you for all the suggestions! I’m excited to have so many new stretches to try!
Try using a foam roller! It is very painful, but the more you use it the more your IT stretches out and becomes used to it. I have had issues with IT band tendonitis from lots of time in the mountains,e.g hills; rest is actually the best thing unfortunately which takes you away from the activities that you love…..try the roller and rest…..see what happens.
So this morning, Mark was describing all of the incredible information about IT bands that he got from this video. He loves MobilityWOD, and I have to say, this guy knows what he’s talking about. I thought it was really interesting to realize that the IT band is a huge tendon, and you can’t actually stretch it. But you can stretch the muscles around it, and reduce the tightness and imbalances that cause pain. As Mark was talking this morning, I’m thinking to myself… “Who have I heard was having trouble with their IT band lately?… Oh yeah, Lizzy!”
So, definitely watch this: http://mobilitywod.blogspot.com/2010/10/episode-61-it-band-hell-and-help.html
Well, tendons, and connective tissue (fascia) in general CAN be stretched, contrary to widespread belief. You can research rolfing and yin yoga/paul grilley to get started on finding out that the passive fascia is much more malleable and active than one may think. The fact that you are targeting the fascia is why you’d hold those stretches for a long time, disengaging the muscles as much as possible.
In any case, whether the stretches work on the fascia or the attached muscles, key is to do them and see if they help.
The comments in the video on running form and hip area strengthening are of course also very valid. Didn’t Luke tweet about an article on hip strengthening from Runner’s World recently?