IT Band Problems and Triathlon Training **UPDATED**

1/13/2011

It has been a few months since my IT Band issues surfaced and I'm glad to report I think I'm on the better side of things now. I have been visiting the chiropractor once a week and doing more stretching than I thought was humanly possible. I have been back to running for the past 8 weeks, though at distances that range from only 2-5 miles at this point. I have been running 4-6 days a week at a more conservative pace and it has helped me greatly with my running form.

I now have a new 5K PR of 20:31 (not that it's that fast, but an improvement) and feel that in the next couple races, I will break the 20 min. mark. I am amazed that training at a slower pace but training every day has been so beneficial to me. It has greatly improved my form and I do most of my runs off the bike so I am getting more and more confident in my run for triathlon season. I have a couple olympic races that I have planned with St. Anthony's being the biggest. The other is a local race here in Daytona Beach, the Daytona Frogman. Frogman is 2 weeks before St. Anthony's so it will give me a good idea of what to expect at St. Anthony's.

I will update more often as my training progresses through the spring.


10/22/2010

Well I finally got my Plantar Fasciitis problems in check and now I'm having a minor (so far) problem with It Band on the other side. I was planning on my first full marathon next month and was up to 17 miles for my long run. I made the mistake of doing a hard speed workout with just one recovery day and I felt the pain near the end of the intervals. It was very slight so I actually forgot about it and tried to do an easy run the next day. Two miles into it and the pain was very noticeable. I walked home and iced it right away.

I went to see the chiropractor on Tuesday and she did some stretching and Graston and found some painful trigger points in my piriformis. I had a feeling it was something originating in my hip area because it had been a bit tender the last couple weeks. I have been stretching 2-3 times a day and icing as well. In the evenings, I do 30 minutes of yoga to really stretch things out. I have scrapped the full marathon as this week would be my 20 mile run and I am not willing to risk a worse injury that would put me out of my tri training for next season.

I will probably do the half marathon though, as I feel fit enough to cut my mileage back a bit before then and still be able to PR (I hope). I will try an easy run this weekend and probably get back on the bike. I want to start building my bike base back up as I have been focused purely on my run the last couple months.

I'm starting to plan out my race season next year. St. Anthony's will be on the list again. I have raced, if you can call it that, the last two years and two horrific races. I WILL redeem myself this year. I have a local olympic distance two weeks before St. Anthony's so I should have a good gauge at where I stand. I am focusing on St. Anthony's as my main early season race. The summer will be full of sprints so I plan to have a busy season.

I have to improve my swim this year. I slack every year and every year it costs me placings. When I'm racing my friends that are even on the bike and run but get a couple minutes on me during the swim,I have to hear it from them for the rest of the year. Friends suck sometimes. I'll keep things updated as I progress through the next few weeks.

Operation Changing Lives 5K

Click here to visit Geek Publishers by Julian Dean

November 20th was the first annual Operation Changing Lives 5K. I am very close to this charity, as the surgeons that I work for are the doctors that provide the great services for Operation Changing Lives. OCL provides surgical services to those in need in our community as well as abroad. Our doctors provide cleft palate and facial surgeries to children in third world countries and to those in need in Volusia and Flagler counties. Our annual toy drive will be helping the children in Volusia and Flagler counties this year. If you are planning to donate to a charity this holiday season, please consider Operation Changing Lives. Donations can be sent to:

Attn: Craig
Operation Changing Lives
549 Health Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114

I had not run in 2 weeks while I battled an IT Band issue so I was not sure what my pace would be or if I even was even going to make it through the 3.1 miles.
I started off easy and as I felt like I was going to make it, I picked up the pace. I ended up with a time of 21:04, so not too bad afterall. I ended up winning my age group and 12th overall, but more importantly, I was able to run the full 3.1 miles and even ran back through the course to encourage the other runners.

I am still backing down on the running until I can get my IT Band and peroneal issues under control. I have been riding the trainer everyday so I don't feel like a total slacker. It was good to see that even though I had 2 weeks off from running, I had enough cardio fitness to run fairly well.

I'm off for more PT and a swim in hopes of picking up my swim for next season and ridding myself of these aches and pains I have been dealing with. Base running will continue at a slower pace but a more consistent six days until mid January when I start training for St. Anthony's.