More on my IT band and my coach is nuts!

[KSH]

Well, my IT band is still hurting. I'm 19 days from my Half Ironman and I haven't run in a week.

I have done the stretches, although some feel like they aren't doing a damn thing. I have also done the foam roller along with ice. Trust me, it's not healed up.

I am going to a chiro who is an ART practitioner (deep tissue work) Tuesday, and then I get a deep tissue massage. On Wednesday I see a Dr. to determine what can be done if anything else and how to proceed.

So I send my coach an email describing the pain and stating that I cannot run. What does he do? Puts 6 miles of running on my training calendar for the week. Not sure if he doesn't listen or he thinks I'm just whining over nothing.

In the end, I know to listen to MY BODY. If it hurts I'm not running. Better to preserve what little I have left so I can make it through the race.

Then after this season I take up RACE WALKING! I even found a 3-day clinic in my state in December!

[rocknrollgirl]

I am glad that you are listening to your body and not to your coach.
I have been thinking about you all week. Your race must be the w/e after mine.

I am sending all of the good vibes I can spare.

[KSH]

I am glad that you are listening to your body and not to your coach.
I have been thinking about you all week. Your race must be the w/e after mine.

I am sending all of the good vibes I can spare.

When is your race? Is it an Xterra? My race is 10-7-07.

Yea I think my coach is a bit nuts at time. I have already found a local guy to switch to after my HIM. My new coach will train me for my IM.

Thanks for the good vibes... I appreciate it.

I am being positive though. If I have to walk, then as Running Mommy would say, "I am going to walk with a purpose". No slow walking for me.

[NJBikeGal]

I have had recurring IT band trouble for years. This started when I was training for a long distance race...the ONLY thing that ever worked and continued to work for me was Spenco shoe inserts. I have since stopped running as much to focus on racing my bike, but whenever I run, I know that if I have those things in there, my knee will feel ok. If I run without them, EVER, it kills! Just an idea if it's something you haven't tried...and likely what the doctor will recommend...sorry if I am repeating what someone else has said...I just saw this thread today! :)

[Running Mommy]

For as many good ones out there... - you know where I'm going with this!:mad:

I think we have the SAME coach! :cool:

Tony developed what we thought was ITB problems in July. The stretches didn't work, actually NOTHING worked. Our coach kept putting running on the schedule and SWORE it was the ITB because of where Tony described the pain- outside of the knee. Coachy- poo went as far as to infer that Tony was putting on the drama and just didn't want to run.
I know my husband better than that, and got him in to see an ortho. The coach kept chiding me and trying to say he didn't trust the doctors either, that he just KNEW it was ITB...
Well it WASN'T! The mri showed a pretty big tear in the meniscus.
So now Tony is scheduled for surgery in October.
The coach STILL wasn't satisified and was questioning what type of surgery it was going to be, because if it wasn't "the right one" or the doctor "didn't know what he was doing" Tony would never run again...
Ummm first of all, Tony told the doctor right off that not running was NOT an option. The doctor agreed that he would work with him, and the bottom line.. Tony is in massive pain and needs to get it taken care of. If that means he never runs again- well so be it. Bummer, but thats life.
Anyway..... Sorry to go off on the coaching rampage there. Ya caught me on a day when I'm in rare form! :p
I so hope that the ART folks can loosen it up for you. And yeah, race walking works JUST fine! Thats kinda what I do at Ironman...
Heal up there lady. I'm sending you healing vibes!
Denise :)

[KSH]

For as many good ones out there... - you know where I'm going with this!:mad:

I think we have the SAME coach! :cool:

Tony developed what we thought was ITB problems in July. The stretches didn't work, actually NOTHING worked. Our coach kept putting running on the schedule and SWORE it was the ITB because of where Tony described the pain- outside of the knee. Coachy- poo went as far as to infer that Tony was putting on the drama and just didn't want to run.
I know my husband better than that, and got him in to see an ortho. The coach kept chiding me and trying to say he didn't trust the doctors either, that he just KNEW it was ITB...
Well it WASN'T! The mri showed a pretty big tear in the meniscus.
So now Tony is scheduled for surgery in October.
The coach STILL wasn't satisified and was questioning what type of surgery it was going to be, because if it wasn't "the right one" or the doctor "didn't know what he was doing" Tony would never run again...
Ummm first of all, Tony told the doctor right off that not running was NOT an option. The doctor agreed that he would work with him, and the bottom line.. Tony is in massive pain and needs to get it taken care of. If that means he never runs again- well so be it. Bummer, but thats life.
Anyway..... Sorry to go off on the coaching rampage there. Ya caught me on a day when I'm in rare form! :p
I so hope that the ART folks can loosen it up for you. And yeah, race walking works JUST fine! Thats kinda what I do at Ironman...
Heal up there lady. I'm sending you healing vibes!
Denise :)

Are you still PAYING this coach? I would be surprised if you are!

Thank goodness they finally figured out what was wrong with Tony. I hope he comes through the surgery with flying colors and get ready for IMAZ!

Unfortunately, it takes insurance companies a lot to pay for an MRI. I doubt I'll get one unless the pain lasts a long time.

Yea, we will see what happens with the ART and all of that.

As for race walking... the top race walkers do a 20K in 1:30. FAST! I am sure I can race walk around a 12-13 minute mile with some practice... as I know I can walk a 15-minute mile now.

Since I run a 12-13 minute mile, I really think race walking is going to be for me.

[rocknrollgirl]

KSH...

yes, it is an xterra, I qualified for nationals.( pardon my lack of woo hoo, I am a bit overwhelmed at the moment)

Before I started running I used to power walk, and could do a sub 12 min mile without that hip thingy that they do. If you are trained, you will be able to do it for sure.

RM,
sorry the DH is hurting....I hope all goes well with his surgery.

[VeloVT]

Hey KSH,
what is ART? Is it like postural release technique? I had a bad case of peroneal tendinitis (tendon that wraps from outer calf behind ankle and around the lateral side of the foot) this spring while marathon training. We spent weeks doing iontophoresis which didn't really do much. At that point they did a full assessment to see if I was an orthotics candidate. Turns out I wasn't a great orthotics candidate -- so they had to brainstorm some way to help my unyielding tendinitis. One of the PTs suggested postural release massage -- and it was totally miraculous for me. It did more in two session than twelve sessions of ionto accomplished. After four sessions I was running as much as I wanted again.

I really hope you find something that helps. I have had ITB issues that prevented me from getting up and down stairs before, so I empathize -- and I also empathize with the fear of possibly not being able to complete a race you've invested time, energy and emotion in for months (my foot actually didn't heal in time for me to run my marathon this spring, after four months of training -- I was hoping to run in just over 3 hours and was on track to get there, so I was majorly disappointed. I'm going to run that race this year though, no matter what!).

So best of luck, and I'm SURE there's something out there that will help!!!!

<<sending healing thoughts & good running karma>>

[Running Mommy]

sigh... we paid him for a year... But with Claudio helping me out, coachy poo is getting more and more irrelevant...:rolleyes:
I just look at his workouts now and laugh- and then do my own thing...
On his plan I struggled to make any forward progress or lose weight. On the nutritionists plan- and Claudio's- I'm getting leaner and faster..
Do the math on that one. ;)

So refresh my memory again, which HIM is this you are doing?
I think all of us Iron chickies need to pick a HIM to do together somewhere. Wouldn't that be a hoot??

[KSH]

sigh... we paid him for a year... But with Claudio helping me out, coachy poo is getting more and more irrelevant...:rolleyes:
I just look at his workouts now and laugh- and then do my own thing...
On his plan I struggled to make any forward progress or lose weight. On the nutritionists plan- and Claudio's- I'm getting leaner and faster..
Do the math on that one. ;)

So refresh my memory again, which HIM is this you are doing?
I think all of us Iron chickies need to pick a HIM to do together somewhere. Wouldn't that be a hoot??

Dang, that sucks. I pay my coach one month at a time. I'm trying to figure out how to pay him for just 1-week in October without flat out telling him I'm not coming back.

That is great that a different training plan is making you faster! There is hope for me then! I so hope I can get faster on the bike this next year.

I'm doing the Longhorn HIM in Austin, TX. http://www.timbermantri.com/longhorn/longhornhalfiron.html

It would be a hoot to have all us ladies together. OH! That reminds me, I'll get to cheer you on next year for IMAZ. My cousin is racing and 2 of my friends. So I'm flying in to watch the race. It should get me totally pumped for my IM.

[KSH]

Hey KSH,
what is ART? Is it like postural release technique? I had a bad case of peroneal tendinitis (tendon that wraps from outer calf behind ankle and around the lateral side of the foot) this spring while marathon training. We spent weeks doing iontophoresis which didn't really do much. At that point they did a full assessment to see if I was an orthotics candidate. Turns out I wasn't a great orthotics candidate -- so they had to brainstorm some way to help my unyielding tendinitis. One of the PTs suggested postural release massage -- and it was totally miraculous for me. It did more in two session than twelve sessions of ionto accomplished. After four sessions I was running as much as I wanted again.

I really hope you find something that helps. I have had ITB issues that prevented me from getting up and down stairs before, so I empathize -- and I also empathize with the fear of possibly not being able to complete a race you've invested time, energy and emotion in for months (my foot actually didn't heal in time for me to run my marathon this spring, after four months of training -- I was hoping to run in just over 3 hours and was on track to get there, so I was majorly disappointed. I'm going to run that race this year though, no matter what!).

So best of luck, and I'm SURE there's something out there that will help!!!!

<<sending healing thoughts & good running karma>>

Well, hard to say exactly what ART is... I just know that it's deep tissue work that someone trained to do it, does. Typically Chiros seem to get training in it and offer it.

I hope I find something that works... and SOON! Although, if I never run another day in my life, I'll be fine with that. I hate running. My body rejects it and it's completely miserable for me.

Happy to hear that your problems were fixed! That's great! Sorry to hear about the marathon. That sucks. But yea, you just have to say you are going to race it no matter what.

Someone asked if I was going to race now because of my IT band problem... and I looked at them like they were NUTS! Of course I'm still racing! :)

[Running Mommy]

ART= ACTIVE RELEASE TECHNIQUE (or thereapy. I always mess that one up).

I believe that it's kinda like a deep tissue massage type thing that loosens up the fascia that get's tight from the heavy loads that come with a heavy training schedule.

I've had ART guys work on me during IM training when my muscles get "loaded up" with junk and MAN does it loosen me up and make me feel better.
In the later parts of my heavy training periods I always notice that I feel heavy and my muscles almost feel like they are ready to snap. I also start getting niggles of pain here and there. That's my cue to call my ART guy.

[VeloVT]

Hmmm. What I had done that made an enormous difference was like this (sorry this is such a bad explanation :eek: ):

Therapist would knead around the problem area and find trigger spots, then, while applying pressure to the trigger spot, she'd twist/push/manipulate the position of my foot/lower leg until the knot released. I was skeptical at first but it really worked miracles. After the ionto calmed down the initial "I can't walk more than 100 yds" acute pain, my tendinitis really didn't get any better for about two months -- I couldn't run more than three miles at a time -- and just a few sessions of postural release massage basically made it go away.

I really hope you find something that works soon!!!

[KSH]

Well, I went and had ART done on Tuesday. It hurt.

Wednesday I went to the Orthopedic who sees sports related injuries. They spoke to the fact that jabbing on the inflammed tissue wasn't really going to fix the problem. I think they are right. The ART only made me really sore.

The Dr. spoke to me maybe having a weakness in my hips, glutes, etc causing the IT band pain and inflammation. I can see that. I have slacked big time on core work and strength exercises.

They gave me a prescription to reduce the inflammation. I started it today.

I am going to start walking the miles I need to run starting tonight. Of course, I'm about 2 weeks out from the race. Race day will me just seeing what happens!

[HeatherErin]

Therapist would knead around the problem area and find trigger spots, then, while applying pressure to the trigger spot, she'd twist/push/manipulate the position of my foot/lower leg until the knot released. I was skeptical at first but it really worked miracles. After the ionto calmed down the initial "I can't walk more than 100 yds" acute pain, my tendinitis really didn't get any better for about two months -- I couldn't run more than three miles at a time -- and just a few sessions of postural release massage basically made it go away.

I had something similar done (for my elbow) - they called it strain/counterstrain. I also had fabulous results - but I don't fully understand how it works.

Sorry for the hi-jack. I hope you feel better soon, KSH!

[teigyr]

Racewalking isn't a bad thing! I used to do it competitively when I was too injured to run - this was about in Jr. High so I started young with the injuries. In nationals, I racewalked a 6 min 26 second mile. It takes a bit to get the style down but once you do, it's a lot of fun.

Now, I hope your friends/neighbors/loved ones are nice to you about it. It can be goofy looking.

I hope you get all of this sorted out with no permanent injury. I can't believe your coach. Sometimes they forget what it's like, I think.