TBR. ITB. LOL.

I am going insane. Or, I think I’ve gone psycho already.

I realized a couple of days ago that, by February 7, it will be the 2nd anniversary of my knee injury. Since Singapore Marathon, I’ve been able to run easy 5ks with manageable pain on the left knee, but I haven’t ran any of those feel-good, lung-busting, I-want-to-scream-because-I-am-so-happy runs that keeps all of us runner’s alive and wanting more.

Out of panic, I dialled my PT’s number yesterday and yelled these exact words in his ear: “I need your help! It’s the 2nd month of my injury already and I don’t know what else to do!” By the afternoon, I was in Moro Lorenzo, this time for a consult with my lifesaver Dr. Canlas and my two favorite PT’s by his side.

With one look at the wicked knee and a brief exchange of words among the three of them, the good doctor said it was an ITB problem. No drama from me; I kinda knew it due to the ITB tightness I felt for the past few days. I endured the dreaded massage on my ITB, corrected my form on some drills, and learned more strength training exercises for my quads at the gym. After that, I headed home unsure of how long it will take for my ITB to cooperate and just loosen up. Aaaah!

So yes, TBR has an ITB problem. Wish I could say WTF but that is so not me. I’m more inclined to LOL with tears rolling down my cheeks. OMG, I am really going insane!

Posted on 02.03.09 to 07 Therapy & Injury. Tags: Injury. Subscribe to follow comments on this post. 22 comments. Add your thoughts or trackback from your own site.

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22 Responses to “TBR. ITB. LOL.”

Your hilarious!!!

Idnod said on Feb 03 09 at 8:43 PM Reply
Hahahaha i know deep inside you were gonna say WTF

You know prior to reading this I was gonna text you to invite you for a run at BHS tomorrow evening with Je, Hec, etc. But oh well.

marga said on Feb 03 09 at 9:17 PM Reply
Runner’s withdrawal syndrome? I know how you feel. Last year I had a severe hamstring pull that I couldn’t run properly even with 3 day’s rest. I then took 2months rest with absolutely no running at all. I just watched my food diet to keep my weight down. After 2 months, I was a little slower, but I could run painlessly.

You should ask yourself, “Do I want to run ASAP, or do I want to run for the rest of my life?” If you choose the latter, then you should take 1 to 2 months rest.

i2runner said on Feb 03 09 at 9:31 PM Reply
Wow! Galing ng adivse ni Nats. I remember when I was still 20 lbs overweight and struggling to lose weight thru dieting (wasn’t into running back then). I just ask myself whenever I was tempted to eat more than I should: “Do you want a happy tummy OR a happy YOU?”

In your case Jaymie, it’s more of “one step backwards, two steps forward”.

Be patient, my child.

Nora, the golden girl said on Feb 03 09 at 10:11 PM Reply
Jaymie, kami ni lang ni Marga magsabi ng WTF! hehehe

-wilbert-
@Seattle

ibetlacbay said on Feb 04 09 at 2:13 AM Reply
ITB is something I’m intimately familiar with I’m afraid. I pulled a hamstring muscle my first year running 9 years ago and it’s been with me ever since. These days it’s not so bad because of years of weight training and stretching but every now and then it rears it’s ugly head. It was only last summer because of another knee issue that the therapist traced it to the original hamstring injury. She said it never recovered fully and was the cause of my chronic IT band issue as well as other knee compensation injuries. It’s my understanding that ITB is usually a compensation injury. Something else is wrong somewhere, in my case a very weak left hamstring that forced the other muscles to compensate and the ITB would simply be the first link that would break first. Is it just because you have to strengthen the quads only?

So did the docs or therapist give you stretches to do? Do you have a foam roller? That was my life saver and it’s good for ironing out everything else. I’m terrible at stretching but I always roll. These days I’m doing specific stretches and strength workouts to rehabilitate the hamstring, so far so good but I still roll. One thing that has helped me, still helps me when it get sore, is a neoprene sleeve. You know the one that has a hole in the knee and extends above and below it. The IT band bows in and out as you run and walk and it’s main job is to stabilize your leg when you move. I found that a neoprene sleeve gave it some compression support as it did it’s thing. Online they sell elastic straps that you put above the knee but I found those to be weak and generally useless from my own personal experience.

Whenever I had a bad flare up. I would take off 3 weeks from running to let the inflammation die down and rest the tendon. Doesn’t hurt the biking though which what got me into triathlon. Don’t go back into running too quickly, otherwise you’ll just drag it out. These days it only takes a few days for me to get back. The strength and stretching workouts that you are doing now reduces your time off in the future as you get stronger and more flexible and hopefully get rid of the problem once and for all.

Good luck, if you want more info about it just email me.

rick gaston said on Feb 04 09 at 4:07 AM Reply
Well let me know if you want to do an LSD with HIV (Hair is Vanishing). TCCIC and JAPAN ok?

prometheuscometh said on Feb 04 09 at 6:22 AM Reply
I know it must be incredibly frustrating in your part not to run in longer mileage. But I suggest you follow your doctor’s advice. Don’t worry we all past through that stage of frustration but when your leg is better, injury free you will be hungrier as ever.

runningshield - patrick concepcion said on Feb 04 09 at 8:34 AM Reply
jaymie, todo! kaya mo yan… deep breathing then say WTF! hehe…

prom/jay – hahaha! mas type ko yung CHINA! hehe…

kulitrunner said on Feb 04 09 at 9:10 AM Reply
They say there is a thin line between insanity and genius. Let us all pretend we are geniuses. Maybe then we can invent a vaccine for injuries

ricov said on Feb 04 09 at 9:52 AM Reply
From Wiki …

ITBS can result from one or more of the following training habits, anatomical abnormalities, or muscular imbalances:

Training habits:

* Running on a banked surface (such as the shoulder of a road or an indoor track) bends the downhill leg slightly inward and causes extreme stretching of the band against the femur
* Inadequate warm-up or cool-down
* Increasing distance too quickly or excessive downhill running
* In cycling, having the feet “toed-in” to an excessive angle
* Running up and down stairs
* Hiking long distances

Abnormalities in leg/feet anatomy:

* High or low arches
* Overpronation of the foot
* The force at the knee when the foot strikes
* Uneven leg length
* Bowlegs or tightness about the iliotibial band.
o Excessive wear on the outside heel edge of a running shoe (compared to the inside) is one common indicator of bowleggedness for runners.

Muscle imbalance:

* Weak hip abductor muscles
* Weak/non-firing multifidi muscles

Idnod said on Feb 04 09 at 9:58 AM Reply
as ms nora, the golden girl said, be patient – yes be patient jaymie. gagaling din yan – take time to rest your legs!

odie said on Feb 04 09 at 10:42 AM Reply
This may sound controversial to some and I’ll say this with all due respect to others. This is just my belief/opinion.

All runners have been plagued by an injury one time or another especially those new in the sports. I always believe that these perceived “injuries” are the results or manifestations of our body’s unique way of adapting to the increased demands of running. Others adapt well and for some of us, unfortunately, poorly. I adhere to the theory that given enough time, our body will eventually absorb the rigors of running. Time, thus, is the essence of progress in this case.

In fine, I don’t believe in resting too much and for far too long if one is beset by injuries like shin splints, ITB, tendinitis and other muscle/tendon-related ailments (I have had my shares of pains too) neither do I subscribe to taking inordinately drugs/medicine and rushing to the doctor at the slightest sign of pain (no offense here). (My ortho once required me to undergo MRI. I never did and my knee is fine). If one rested for far too long, her/his body would never adapt. Just take it easy running but NEVER stop. Just slow down so one’s body still knows that the demands of running are still there. Resting excessively is, IMO, more of a retrogression than progress.

I always have an indomitable faith in the human body and what it is capable of doing far beyond our own limited understanding and imagination. Injuries are perhaps our body’s way of ridding itself of our own weakness and making us strong. How apt, thus, is “listen to your body”. I just call it “oneness”.

Thanks Jaymie for posting this one and I fervently hope you will find your own answers to your present situation and I know you will. Cheers!

atty. jon said on Feb 04 09 at 11:03 AM Reply
Hi Jaymie!
After bumping into you during the Happy Run, I went for my 4th and last PT session for ITB the next day. There was the tense machine with heat, ultra sound with ITB massage (love this), some ITB stretches. Stiff leg raises with tense machine for quads strengthening. The protocol worked for me. So far so good. I’ve been running longer and knee feels fine.
Hope the same goes for you.

Dorothy said on Feb 04 09 at 11:13 AM Reply
This post is so funny. At least you can walk well. Check out my latest injury at my blog. I’m in really bad pain. I hope they finally figure out the right treatment for your knee.

Mayi said on Feb 04 09 at 6:08 PM Reply
OMG! I’m LOL with this post. Hope your ITB goes BYE BYE soon so you can get back to R-U-N TBR!

dhenztm said on Feb 04 09 at 9:58 PM Reply
Something that might shed light to runners in pain …

“Exercise is a stressor,” Henderson told me. “The right amount of stress creates a positive adaptation”—that is, you become stronger and faster—”but if there’s too much stress, you go the other way.” Dealing with that stress—recovering—is a widely misunderstood but utterly essential aspect of fitness. Henderson spoke of pro-athlete clients who’d overtrained and ended up injured and depressed. Average Joes like me, on the other hand, get only a few hours per week to work out. We go hard, don’t allow time for recovery, and end up underperforming or supporting armies of physical therapists and chiropractors. “It’s not the workout that makes you better,” Henderson says. “It’s the recovery.”

— Excerpts from Outside

Idnod said on Feb 05 09 at 7:19 AM Reply
Jaymie – try this URL with some recommended stretching exercise for ITB.

http://www.nismat.org/ptcor/itb_stretch

Mark P said on Feb 05 09 at 12:22 PM Reply
hey…hang in there…hope you recover the soonest our dream skyway run’s coming up na, i’m kinda pushing my body to the limits nga training for it especially on my long runs grabe! super mind over matter not to mention a lot of heart just to keep going plus a whole lot of massage after coz I’m so scared my old MTSS injury will resurface… but you know what? i so like what atty. jon posted here… i look at injuries in a whole new light now but of course i don’t welcome it pa din… hay, if we could just invent a magic potion or probably an incantation to banish all injuries away then we’ll all run happily ever after!

Mary715 said on Feb 05 09 at 3:49 PM Reply
ROFL, TBR. Leave teh 1337speak to meh and you can say WTH(eck) you want. Just let me use the catspe, I mean chat5peak. 0h, 4 th05e wh0 caNt und3r5tand 1337speak/chatsp3ak, I mad3 a l1ttl3 d1cti0nary 4u. (Oh, for those who can’t understand leetspeak/chatspeak, I made a little dictionary for you) (It will be posted in TLC)

And on your ITB, I’ve no idea. Just stay strong and you’ll be able to RLC* again soon.

*RLC = Run Like Crazy

cougcat said on Feb 05 09 at 9:17 PM Reply