I hate my IT band

Today was one of those days.  Got up.. ate a good breakfast.

(cottage cheese with cinnamon)

  Got my kids to school. 

 Went and stocked up on things and Sams Club.

  Then headed out for a run.  Was suppose to go 10 miles.  My legs were tired from the 21 miles I did on Saturday.  I kept telling myself go slow... it will be ok.  At about mile 3 I could tell my IT band was tight.  My knee was feeling some pressure.  Stopped at mile 5 to have a Gu and stretch.  Then right at mile 8 I had to stop at a light.  As soon as I got the OK to cross my knee was so tight I had to hop across the street on one foot.  It was so EMBARRASSING!!  It was at a very busy intersection. Luckily I was very close to a gas station were I limped to and to wait for a ride.  The rest of the day I spent on the foam roller.

I need some help!  I will not let this get me.  I need to figure out how to fix it so that I can start running pain free and have a good marathon.  Any suggestions??  Please let me know what has worked for you!

-Heather

Foam Roller

When I first started running I knew nothing about it. I ran in my Nike Shocks for an entire year before I realized that I needed different running shoes. So I stepped up, bought new shoes and was on my way. I didn't even run with a watch, I guess you could have called me a purest in some sense. I started training for my first marathon and began having shin splints. I had my coach give me some stretches but didn't look any further into it. It wasn't until Jen started running that she informed me of the Foam Roller. Of course I had heard of it but never bought one. Jen likes to research about everything. So when she first started running and ran into major IT Band problems she looked into it and found the foam roller, and then proceeded to tell me to get one pronto. Now I can't go without it!

Long story short is that the Foam Roller is vital for stretching your muscles and preventing injury. I have a small travel size one because I live in a small apartment but the longer ones are great too. There are tons of videos on YouTube about how to use the Foam Roller. If you are a beginner runner or even advanced and don't have one, I recommend buying one! It is well worth it.


I made a little video using a Vintage Video Maker app (thx Reagan for showing me this!) on my phone. Really I just wanted to experiment and I didn't have anyone to help me so please forgive me for the poor footage(my head cut off in the beginning) and it being a silent video, I am talking but all you can hear is the music. But to see more informative and longer videos go HERE.