Ice, roll, repeat.
No running. No physically exerting activity. Just #kneehab… and felt craft projects (I’ll get to that later).
At this point, my knee and I are in a Katy Perry song; we’re #hotandcold. One minute things are great, and I get excited that my luck may be changing. Then the next minute, sharp/nagging discomfort. Bottom line: my knee is not being a team player right now. #selfish
I found this interesting internet article about IT band soreness. The takeaway was that if you completely imobilize the leg for three days (leg brace, crutches, the whole deal), then gradually rebuild your mileage, you can easily, and quickly alleviate your IT band pain. This was derived from a 1993 U.S. Marine Corps study. The results (according to the Internet) showed a 99% success rate.
I bet you are thinking that this post will be about my experience with this method…
Wrongo Pongo!
To say that I tried this method might be an overstatement. I don’t own a knee brace or crutches, and I’m painfully frugal #savethatmoney, so I tried to rig something up. Results: Wooden paint stir stick tied up with bandage wrap < knee brace.
I tried using my massage buddy, which seems to help. (Pictured below)
All in all, this recovery process is slow and ongoing, but I’m doing my best and I can see that it just needs time. This “time” is frustrating and inconvienant, but necessary. So for right now I’m square in the middle of #kneehab.
What better to pass the time in kneehab than to make crafts with my new favorite material: felt! Check out these felt slippers we made this weekend!
Try to contain your jealousy. These bad boys are made out felt fabric and cardboard, and they are supreme. My slipper game just hit new heights.
In other none-running news, I acted (stared really, but I’ll be modest) in my friend’s student film project. Takeaway from this: My daughter flat knows how to act.
Truthfully, I was hoping to see more progress with my knee this weekend, but c‘est la vie. Hopefully I can try a very short run (1/2 mile) near the end of the week. Until then, yoga, ice, roll and repeat, and as always, let’s #sub3!
Sub 3 
Sorry to hear about your IT band; I’ve experienced that one firsthand and it’s stubborn and no fun. Keep at the yoga, even just spending some time each day in pigeon pose helped me, along with hip/glute/core exercises and running only on flat surfaces. My first successful week back was run entirely on a half-mile flat dirt loop. It was boring but effective. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the advice! I’m trying to do more yoga poses (per the suggestion of many), and it seems to help. I read that a lot of times the IT band pain comes from the tightness in the surrounding muscles. A flat dirt track sounds perfect to ease back into running. Thanks!!!
LikeLike
Ouch! I offer zero advice on the IT Band issue, I’m sorry. It also plagues me anytime I hit the 15 mile mark. But you do have a good sense of humor about it. Rest up and heal quickly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ooh that sucks – I’ve been there, overtraining in 2014 led to a tight TFL, glute med and IT band – I had needling done on those muscles two times a week which really helped – not sure if you can find a physiotherapist or massage therapist who does that? Might be worth a shot. I’ve also heard that sometimes you need to stop stretching and rolling out for a day or two and just let the muscle chill out a bit and stop being poked and prodded. Otherwise rest up – and stay positive (you already seem to be positive already!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the advice! I like the idea of leaving my leg alone for a day or so. I do feel like I’m messing with it too much (to try and speed things up), but it really just needs time and rest. Thanks again!!!
LikeLike
You are most welcome! I haven’t read many of your other posts but if you are still a few months out from your marathon id also suggest swapping some runs for running specific gym work – work on your strength in a safe environment which is lower impact. I’m doing that for my ultra marathon and have had no injuries – one long run a week, two interval or threshold sessions, 1 high intensity gym session and 2 running specific strength sessions (instead of additional running).
Alternatively aqua jogging is a good cardio replacement while you are injured or hurting.
Hope it is a bit better after a day of rest!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like that plan a lot. I thought that I was strong enough for the kind of miles that I wanted to put on in training, but I found out that wasn’t the case. I need more gym (strength) time in my training. Thanks again for the great advice! I think my new training plan will look VERY similar to what you’ve outlined.
LikeLike