Paul Petch

Training, goals & ITB syndrome

This week

After last weekend’s over exertion (ok ok stupidity) and the realisation that I’ve still got some issues in my right leg due to pronation and the dreaded Iliotibial band (ITB) syndrome (or runners Knee) I’ve been busy this week trying to fix it up.  I’ve since had a great trigger point/ deep tissue massage at M1nt as well as another orthotic fitted for the “guilty leg” at Feet n Motion. The Poedatrist (Nick) had to fit a really high arch support to my right foot as off camber terrain caused it basically fold inwards and twist my right leg.  This excessive pronation, twisting and the un conditioned muscles has given me a fairly un comfortable week to be honest. Tuesdays 10KM run in the Gym and the revised insert felt really good (hoorrah!) and combined with my improved technique I was bloody FAST compared to a few months ago! But I seem to hit a point in the run at about 10KM where the right outside knee, upper and outer thigh just start to hurt. Is this due to being very silly last weekend? I do hope so……

Time to start

Currently I’m at a bit of a cross roads with my running. I now have all of my training plans from Karen, and some fantastic support and advice too. Dorothy (my sports masseur) has also provided me with some great relief, advice and knowledge with regards to my muscle/ conditioning issues…..and now I just need to put it all together and start. This weekend officially marks the start of my training and it will start low key with a gentle run in the hills for 2 hours. But ultimately, my ITB and associated lack of conditioning will determine the type of weekend that I’m going to start my training off with.

I wish that things were as simple as “go run”, but I’ve learnt quite quickly and have to accept that I’m bio mechanically broken somewhere and that my muscles are just not conditioned yet. Such niggles are as important to fix as it is to get fit to run 60+ KM at the end of the year. If I can’t get the bio mechanical and muscle stuff fixed- I’ll not be running anything! At the moment my head is kind of spinning with the proposed training plan, stretching plan, diet…….ah!

Looking at things positively, (thanks Dorothy for your wisdom :D) I’ve come a bloody long way in a really short period of time. It was only 3 months ago that I decided to start running and I’ve already tucked a half marathon under my belt and can comfortably run for 2+ hrs off road. Like I keep saying…perspective is my friend. I’ve identified that I need to slow things down and be sensible and ultimately that I might not be ready for the Ultra Trail Kepler in a 4 months…and that’ s that. BUT I’ll be ready for a marathon instead and damn fit for the cycling season ahead…… :)

The plan- Where to from here?

Thankfully the training schedule proposed by Karen allows a natural progression towards the Kelper- which is great as I’m keen to slow things down a bit. Of course it works on a fair level of base fitness with a 2 hr trail run seen as the starting point of the “longer weekend jogs”. On my “off days” I’m going to work on key parts of my body that will help the muscle imbalances that I currently have, such as the inner and outer thighs. The monthly plan will also follow some strict stretching three times per day (which I do most days anyhow) with additional moves to focus on the troublesome ITB issues which include a torture device known as a foam roller. I’ll discuss in more detail the ITB syndrome, stretching and the foam massage roller in a future post once I  get into some sort of routine.  As well as the stretching, I’m also going to work more on my core with some daily crunches-  and Pilate stuff. As you can see…..I’m going to be a busy boy eh!!!

Over the the coming weeks I’ll slowly increase my KM’s and time on feet with a variety of runs/ tramps etc. Every 4th week is a rest week too with half of the normal load. Looking ahead, I have some key events to work towards too such at the Crater Rim Run and a personal goal of mine to the Scotts Saddle Track at Mount Hutt.

Regardless of my plans- they all depend on this weekends run and how long I can run before the ITB problems kick in.

Happy trails!

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Related posts:

1. First week of Kepler training DONE :)
2. Running is rather humbling….
3. Back in the Porthills….endurance training
4. Kepler Challenge – some ultra marathon training tips
5. Taking back control of my running

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 at 8:31 am and is filed under Thoughts & Training and tagged with coach, ITB Syndrome, podiatrist, runners knee, stretching, trail running. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.