Managing injuries is one of the challenges of making it to the starting line on April 11. My left leg is the weak link. It is the one that I broke years ago on Christmas day on a ski mountain in Austria and while it healed well enough for 'normal' activities, the training required for my first marathon revealed its limitations, mostly through the ITB.
A common problem for female runners due to our natural shape, the ITB is a band that runs down the outside of your thigh from hip to knee and the injury often reveals itself through knee pain. I thought the time off from training since Canberra would have alleviated the problem. I haven't yet had knee pain but often feel quite tight through that part of the leg. I manage this with a foam roller, quite a painful exercise, but laying on the roller has become addictive for the relief it provides.
The other therapy is massage and I have had some weird looks as I use the palm of my hand to repeatedly bang up and down the band.
In addition to the ITB, I also sprained my left ankle back in July and the flexibility just hasn't returned. After the 10k last weekend there was some light bruising but thankfully no pain. Hopefully this won't cause too many issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment