Get Fit Slowly

39 responses so far ↓

• 1 Edmund // Jul 19, 2008 at 1:04 pm

  That’s a very frightening post. I went to see my doctor for a physical years ago and he told me two things: 1) you’re in great shape and you could run marathons, and 2) please stop running altogether.

  I was pretty shocked by this, but he explained that he had seen so many patients age with debilitating joint injuries and reduced cartilage, that running was no longer a viable exercise in his eyes, regardless of age (I was 21 when he told me this).

  So my doctor gave me two photocopied pamphlets. One was on speedwalking, and the other on rollerblading. He encouraged me to pick up something that put less impact on joints. Personally, there’s no *way* I would do either one of those…rollerblading *maybe*.

  I did stop running, and moved into low-impact martial arts. There’s still a risk of injury, but I feel like the people I work out with are watching out for my own health as much as their own. One of the healthiest guys I know does Tai Chi and Aikido, and I’m sure he could transition to the Iron Man without much trouble. But he wouldn’t.

  Sorry for the long comment, but I just wanted to suggest that you should pay attention to what your body is telling you, and consult with medical professionals about your goals. Good luck and I hope you’re out of pain soon.

• 2 dI // Jul 19, 2008 at 1:51 pm

  Listen to your body! We aren’t all cut out to be long distance runners, some of us are natural sprinters.
  This is the second injury you’ve picked up from running. It seems like too much too soon. If it were me, I’d shift my focus to the other goals and put the marathon on hold till I got back to peak fitness, THEN start training for the marathon.

• 3 bRobert // Jul 19, 2008 at 1:52 pm

  As someone who has been greatly benefited by Get Rich Slowly (I will be debt free this year), let me introduce you to a fitness blog that has equally changed my life. It’s called Strong Lifts, at stronglifts.com

  Two years ago I reached my max fat weight of over 300lbs. I could barely walk because of pain in my knees and hip, and had extremely painful shoulder and wrist injuries. I was a mess. I am a network administrator and web developer, so I spent the bulk of my time letting my muscles waste away while I lived behind my computer.

  Strong Lifts is simple, focusing on the big lifts and compound exercises. I weight about 300lbs again, but now I can squat and deadlift 1.5x my bodyweight, and benchpress a bit over 1x. I feel great, have no pain, I have a lot of energy, and can visually see a huge reduction in fat.

  Anyway, it appeals to me most because of the focus on compound lifts. I like the idea of working more muscles in the shortest amount of time.

• 4 Sheamus // Jul 19, 2008 at 3:07 pm

  It seems you’ve got some pretty big decisions to make. Absolutely I think you should put off the marathon.

  The thing about running is while it’s arguably the greatest thing you can do to get your heart into shape, it screws up your knees and lower-body joints big time. Pretty much every serious runner goes on to have problems in those areas. If you’ve already got problems - and as you say excess weight does not help at all - then you need to address those now.

  You have to lose more weight, as you say. I’m around your height, but at 176 I’m still too heavy for serious running and I know it. I’ve had a bit of a dodgy left knee most of my life from years of basketball and tennis and while it’s not a real issue for me right now, it’s pretty tender and sore for most of the day, and as my run workouts increase in duration and length it’s going to get worse. I need to get down to 155-160 to satisfy my running goals, which are varied (running a few marathons, at least one below 3:30, triathlons, Ironman, and eventually ultra-distance). To do this, I’ve had to take serious steps. My problem isn’t fat – it’s muscle. Years of lifting weights have given me a non-runners body.

  Don’t give up. It can and will be done. I weighed 218 pounds just over six months ago. I’m 176 now, as said, and I plan to be 160 by the end of the year. My running should take care of that, but, from what I’ve seen on this blog my advice to you is you need to prioritise. You’re not superman – why are you running AND lifting weights AND doing yoga? Decide what you want the most and focus on that for a while.

  My advice would be to place a greater emphasis on eating well and maybe some power-walking/light jogging, possibly on a treadmill to save your knees, until the weight comes off. Remember that when you run, each time you place a single step down your knee is taking TWICE the weight it normally does, multiplied by the force of your run speed. No wonder the knees give in for virtually every runner!

  But I don’t think strength-training is the answer. It might have been in years gone by, but you’ll likely do more damage to your knee right now. You might need to do as much as you can to rest it for a while before attempting any kind of lower-body program. It’s absolutely true that stronger, bigger quad and hamstring muscles will take a lot of impact and stress off of the knee joint. Maybe you should focus on swimming or even cycling (on a gym bike) for 4-6 weeks? This will lower the impact on your joints but ensure you still get a good workout. Keep the times similar to your run times if at possible (obviously work up to it – swimming for a long time is really, really taxing).

  Combine this with an excellent eating program – you need to be strict here – and get those pounds off. When you get down to 180, and 4-6 weeks has passed, go back to the gym. Get those legs built up. After a while, re-introduce some running/light jogging back into your routine. But focus on getting that knee strong, otherwise you’re just going to go through an endless loop of doing this over and over.

  Above all, don’t quit. Don’t feel like you’ve failed. And don’t let this depress you. Just think of it as a challenge – a necessary and ultimately small step on a broader journey. You can and will get through this, but you need to make intelligent decisions about what matters to you and what needs to be done to accomplish those goals. You wrote recently about liking how you look in the mirror – if that’s the most important thing, then I’d just focus on eating well and lifting weights. But being buff isn’t going to make you a better runner. And being a better runner isn’t going to make you lift the weights you need to look buff.

  Ask yourself: what do I really want? At this point, it’s a working knee, I’d wager. So get that taken care of first – lose the weight, strengthen up your leg muscles, and get back to running. Then nail that marathon. Put the other things to one side. You’re only 39. I’m 37 this year. I feel like I’m on the cusp of doing all the things I ever wanted. And so should you.

• 5 Amy Jo // Jul 19, 2008 at 3:42 pm

  Yoga Project in Sellwood @ 10

  Yoga Project in Sellwood, behind Grand Central, Sundays @ 10:30, Yoga 1. Join me.

• 6 elisabeth // Jul 19, 2008 at 3:51 pm

  Great idea to see a physical therapist — I started seeing one because of lymphedema in my arm (side effect of my cancer surgery) but she’s also helped when I had a frozen shoulder, and the neat thing is that PTs really do want to keep you exercising, but safely!
  My PT does triathlons — you like to bike, and the running in a standard (not ironman) triathlon is a lot less (10km) than a marathon, but might be as interesting a goal as a marathon….

• 7 Israel // Jul 19, 2008 at 4:38 pm

  If you train you will lose weight. Just try and train a bit at a time until you can do a sustained workout. you shins, man that sucks. I had that. Change my footwear, stretch, and they went away.

  also try stretching them. site down on a chair or coach. with ur foot flat on the ground bring ur toes up as high as you can for 15 reps. do that for 3 sets each leg. do it a few times a week. you need to make them stronger.

• 8 Israel // Jul 19, 2008 at 4:39 pm

  oops, when you bring your toes up, your foot is going to lift off the ground, its not just your toes. the end flex is your toes point up and your heal on the ground.

• 9 greenman2001 // Jul 19, 2008 at 9:03 pm

  Pain: the best teacher.

  You seem to find goals helpful in motivating yourself. I’d like to suggest a goal that can help guide you both in the exercise that you undertake and the resources that you turn to as you go forward: “I’d like to be pain-free in my knee when I run.” When you talk to your sports doctor, your physical therapist, your marathon trainer, your yoga instructor, let them know your goal, and ask them what you can do to reach your goal.

  For what it’s worth, I had identical pain to yours: pain on the outside of my knee when walking down stairs. I assumed it was a consequence of a dance injury, aggravated by running, or vice versa. It was diagnosed as a tendon pull (not an IT band pull), specifically because I experienced the pain when walking down stairs, which I gather indicated an attachment injury. I was told by a sports doctor to do nothing for six weeks, including hamstring stretches. Stretches stress the tendon. I was told to let it heal, then begin back walking and stretching after six weeks. But everyone’s different, and I think diagnosis by blog is probably stupid. You should return to the doctor who you saw the last time (the one who told you not to increase your mileage by more than 10% a week) and provide him with the new info he needs to refine his diagnosis and his treatment plan for you. I wouldn’t jump to the physical therapist before doing that.

  I’d love to hear more about your weight lifting progress. And I’d love to hear your thoughts on why you’re so much more inclined to practice with modest weightlifting goals while pushing so much harder with your running. I wonder if the peer pressure, cultural affirmation, and group influence around marathon running is actually working against your common sense, while you are lifting weights more or less in a vacuum, alone in the gym, and are coming up against your limits in a much safer context, one that isn’t so inclined to push you to keep going beyond your limits.

  I also wonder what it is exactly about running a marathon that is so important and satisfying to you. One reason I wonder this is that, if I were you, I’d be spending energy trying to get that satisfaction without paying the price you are right now. I don’t want this to sound judgmental; I want it to sound very, very practical: you’re clearly highly motivated by this goal. Let’s unpack it and figure out what’s behind it, then meet the goal in a way that doesn’t damage your body.

  By the way, I think it’s important that you’ve acknowledged that you’re interested in more than fitness. That comment and this post in general is the kind of honesty I love about this blog, JD.

• 10 Andrew is getting fit // Jul 19, 2008 at 10:48 pm

  Some great responses already.

  For what it’s worth I’ll second the endorsement of stronglifts.com. The 5×5 program really works.

  And how about starting with a half marathon this year and doing a marathon next year. That’s what I’m going to do.

• 11 Pam // Jul 19, 2008 at 10:49 pm

  Sheamus- awesome comment. But runners have a lower incidence of knee replacement than non-runners, so please don’t say the knees give on virtually every runner. Running can be stressful on the joints, but many runners learn to manage this very well. And being overweight is a lot more stressful on the joints.

• 12 Metroknow // Jul 19, 2008 at 10:56 pm

  Wow, what incredible comments. Here’s my two cents.

  I reached this point shortly after running my one and only half marathon. My original goal was a full marathon, but I could tell that injury was guaranteed if I continued to train so hard, so I opted to complete the 1/2 marathon and feel like I had reached a goal that was reasonable for my weight.

  The problem is, even in that process I was injured seriously enough (knees, big surprise) that I really couldn’t run for over a year, and by that time the addiction was long gone.

  Weight, I am convinced, is only half of what sacked me. The other half was overtraining - I ran too far, too soon.

  But more importantly, in my experience while exercise is important, for me it always comes back to eating habits, sad to say. I read all over the place the gung ho training devotees who say if you just train hard enough you don’t need to worry about what you eat so much. My honest opinion is this is shortsighted BS. Exercise is great, and critical, but in the end you cannot count on it because it can be such an all or nothing thing with the possibility of injury always looming no matter what you’re doing. Learn to retrain your eating habits first, and supplement that with healthy levels of exercise. Simple. Because it’s pretty hard to injure yourself by eating well.

  On your goal, my opinion is make it 2009, with interim goals between here and there. And while you’re at it, shoot for something grand. Although our Portland event is great I am sure, why not shoot for a marathon a little sooner at a destination you’d have to really plan for? Something far away - a real event? (I’ve been reading Chris Guillebeau’s manifesto and such, so I’ve got a little of the travel bug right now.) It is a great motivator. Not to mention, you could then shoot for a marathon that is a *little* sooner than next year’s PDX marathon. And, if you time it right, you could conceivably do both.

  I don’t think it’s unreasonable for someone 20 lbs overweight to run a marathon, with appropriate training. Hell, I was 65lbs overweight when I ran the 1/2. And I did next to no cross training.

  In the short term, find a pool and get your cardio that way. It’s a hard workout without the systematic destruction of your knees.

• 13 Sheamus // Jul 19, 2008 at 11:07 pm

  @ Pam - I wasn’t going as far to suggest runners all require knee replacements. And absolutely being overweight is going to cause more problems for more people. No disagreement there, although I would suggest that there will be more examples of overweight people requiring knee surgery than runners simply because there are more overweight people than there are runners!

  I was simply stating that a lot of runners have problems with their knees and lower-body joints. Not that it’s terminal or requires major surgery - just that approaches the norm, at least from my perspective. Googling ‘running knee pain’ returns three-quarters of a million pages.

  However, I guess my opinion in this instance was fairly anecdotal; nearly every runner and indeed every athlete I’ve known who has been involved in a sport that requires a lot of running (basketball, say) has ultimately had problems with their knees and lower body joints. This seems to materialise on the approach to middle age. But my experiences may not concur with that of others.

  Again, though, as above, if you’re already having problems with your knee(s) - as I have in the past - it’s not going to get better by itself. You need to take steps. (Or not, perhaps, as rest might be the best medicine for JD right now.)

• 14 greenman2001 // Jul 20, 2008 at 6:11 am

  Pam and Sheamus’s exchange is interesting, but let’s look at it from JD’s point of view. I’m assuming (JD, correct me if I’m wrong), that JD wants to minimize the likelihood of needing a knee replacement, no matter what he does — whether it’s a consequence of exercise or of being overweight. So the statistic that runners have a lower incidence of knee replacement than the general population isn’t really helpful for him. What he wants to know is, “is marathon training going to increase the likelihood of MY needing a knee replacement?”

  Pam, I think there is a problem of selection bias here: runners with bad knees select themselves out of the sample of marathon runners, leaving the population of marathon runners full of people with stronger knees than average. If I were JD, I’d be talking to a doctor who sees lots and lots of knee injuries: those among marathon runners and those among non-marathon runners. And, while frugality is generally prudent, I’d see that doctor MORE THAN ONCE so that he or she can modify the treatment plan in response to JD’s actual symptoms.

• 15 greenman2001 // Jul 20, 2008 at 6:13 am

  Just out of curiosity, JD, what are you carrying for health insurance now that you’re self-employed? What are thse doctor visits costing you?

• 16 Eden // Jul 20, 2008 at 10:50 am

  Sorry to hear the bad news JD. Take some time to think, the marathon will still be there this year or next.

  It sounds like maybe taking a break now and attempting the half marathon could be a good compromise. I’m considering this myself as I have only about 4.5 months left to train for the marathon I signed up for and I’m doing horribly at preparing for it.

• 17 Susan // Jul 20, 2008 at 1:37 pm

  J.D.,

  39? You are a young buck! And … all your goals are achievable.

  I realize that sometimes it may feel that way, especially when you’re injured. 4 years ago I shattered my left foot (12 breaks in all). I was told I may never walk w/o a cane, nevertheless run again. Well, phooey on them. It took alot of hard work and a great surgeon and physical therapist, but today I’m in the best shape of my life.

  Instead of Body For Life, take a look at Turbulence Training. Seriously, I’ve done them both and hands down, nothing beats Turbulence Training.

  Be well.
  Peace.

  Susan
  http://www.catapultfitnessblog.com

• 18 Randy // Jul 20, 2008 at 5:03 pm

  Runners actually ave lower rates of arthritis as non-runners. I don’t think you need to throw out running as a nonviable exercise.
  I have been concerned since the start of following this blog that your exercise plan would not support the marathon training. You are getting plenty of exercise, strength and aerobic training. But running longer distance requires more frequent running than twice a week. You need plenty of “time on your feet” to build up the muscles, ligaments and tendons to be in running shape. As helpful as your other training is for your health, it doesn’t do this .
  I would advise you to wait until the marathon is your primary goal, not one of many.

• 19 greenman2001 // Jul 20, 2008 at 7:07 pm

  Lots of competing advice here, JD. How are you going to choose?

• 20 mamaw // Jul 20, 2008 at 9:34 pm

  This is from the oldest and less fit of all of you and I think all of your opinions are excellent albeit conflicting. Here is just a bit of common sense. Running is a great source of exercise for a physically fit person who is basically in shape and on the leaner side. I truly believe that you should be focusing on a form of exercise and diet that will help you get to your goal weight first. Do the strengthening routine while you are getting there ( whatever form you LIKE the best and then begin your running regime. But to start off running when you are 40-50 pounds overweight on joints that haven’t been stressed in years sounds a bit absurd and dangerous. You and Mac have been an inspiration to all of us so please don’t get down on yourself but do re-evaluate and restructure your plan and you’re are going to do great. 2009 is just around the corner.

• 21 Andrea >> Become a consultant // Jul 20, 2008 at 10:09 pm

  I’ve been working with a personal trainer to help me move beyond just physiotherapy in my car accident recovery. What a huge difference it has made! The trainer has emphasized that I get enough cardio the rest of the week and that it’s strength training that will help me move beyond injury and really set myself up for a great life. She’s been able to suggest really efficient exercises that build muscle without causing injury or boring me. I’ve been doing exercises all along in my recovery, but these ones are making a huge difference. (Of course, I’m much further from the accident now, too.) I cannot recommend a trainer enough. JD, you know how frugal I am, but I am happily spending money on a trainer once a week. I’m thrilled to be in a position to do this.

• 22 Noah // Jul 20, 2008 at 11:44 pm

  Whatever else you decide to do, spend at least five minutes -every day- stretching. Ten is better. But good luck, I’m enjoying reading about your progress. And don’t forget how much progress you’ve made already.

• 23 SJG // Jul 21, 2008 at 6:59 am

  JD,
  I’m in the same boat, but I’m without injury…so far. I started BFL this winter and really enjoyed it. I also started training for a marathon and found the strength training getting in the way. I also need to lose weight to make the marathon training easier on me and my body. I also wish to be more flexible. I love running, but I don’t love marathon training. I joined a training group which has made it a little more fun. I really miss the BFL routine I used to do and I want to try new things, but find myself pinned in with running. If I had an injury I would do exactly what you are doing. I think you need to get healthy again and find the right fitness balance to allow you to do a spring marathon. You now know what to expect. Keep up the good work.

• 24 J.D. // Jul 21, 2008 at 7:23 am

  Greenman wrote: Lots of competing advice here, JD. How are you going to choose?

  It won’t be easy. The general consensus — from commenters, from my wife, and from myself — is that it’s time to cut back on the running. That part seems pretty obvious. I’m not sure what to do about biking.

  I was telling Kris last night that part of me wants to put off the Oregon bike tour, too, and simply focus on what I’m calling “core strength” (but I don’t mean it in the normal sense — I mean basic strength and fitness, not just the core muscles). I want to focus on moving toward a healthy weight, building some muscle, and obtaining flexibility.

  This doesn’t mean I have to give up running — just that running should take a back seat for a few months. I don’t actually know what I’m going to do other than that today I will do my pushups, bike to the gym, do my upper body workout, bike home, and call the physical therapist.

  After that? I’m not sure.

• 25 Summer Fey Foovay // Jul 21, 2008 at 8:59 am

  I was born with knee problems - although we only found out when I tried to compete as a distance runner in track. I always loved bicycling, so it was no big deal for me to switch. As an adult, a bicycle has been my transportation of choice when living in a city. When my knees became a problem anyway (because of my work) the sports specialist chiropractor who treated me informed me that riding the bicycle was the best exercise in the world for me as it is low impact and builds the muscles that support the knee. I, personally, cringe when I see a big man - any big man, whether it is muscle or fat weight, jogging along pounding those joints and bones - especially on paved roads as is common. I can just hear those bones crunching. Try the bicycle, really. Yoga also sounds like a really good idea given the injuries - sounds like you could use some flexibility to go with the muscle from weight training. Whatever you do - the best of luck to you. You are an inspiration to many!

• 26 Pam // Jul 21, 2008 at 10:28 am

  Sheamus and Greenman - you are both right, runners are a select group of (usually) thin healthy people, which is what puts then in the lower risk group for long term knee problems, not the runningitself. But the running may be what keeps these people thin and healthy.

  Second, something needs to be said about the nature of IT band syndrome. This is caused by irritation and inflammation due to constant friction. This is really not what I would call a true “injury” as the tissue is still all intact and in the right place. What JD has is a lot of pain, severe pain that I am not discounting, but it is not like his knee is going to blow up into a million pieces if he goes on another long run.

  I am in the minority for sure when I say that I don’t want JD to rule out the marathon in 2008. JD knows your don’t have to run a marathon to call yourself fit, but it is still something that is important to JD, something important enough that it made his top 101 things to do in the next 3 years. BFL was certainly not on that list, I am not even sure if ‘lose weight’ was (JD?). And JD has expressed how much he actually likes to run, too.

  I think he needs to make changes - absolutely - there is no way he can continue on as he has been. But I don’t think he has explored all options: physical therapy, orthotics, intensive cross training, maybe even a one time cortisone shot (I am not a proponent for ongoing cortisol therapy), etc.

  Maybe the 2008 marathon is not to be, and that is OK, but does it have to be excluded NOW? Why not try a couple things first, or restructure the goals for the marathon (such as run and walk it) before throwing in the towel on this year completely?

• 27 bethh // Jul 21, 2008 at 10:45 am

  JD, I’ve done Cycle Oregon twice, and am doing it again this year, and take it from me - it is VERY achievable for an extremely wide range of body types and fitness levels. The hardbodies start fast and finish hours before the rest of us mere mortals, but it’s a challenging, rewarding, and heartwarming event for everyone.

  If you DO need an interim cool/fun goal to have, CO is a great one. You’d better get riding, though - they recommend having 1000 miles ridden before you start. I’m at 644 and counting; I hope to see you there, but of course you’ll make the best decision you can for yourself!

• 28 Lauren Muney - fitness and wellness coach // Jul 21, 2008 at 11:14 am

  I haven’t read all the responses, but let me give my 2c… I have been keeping up somewhat on your blog.

  1) Yes, everyone’s body is not cut out for marathons. That being said, there are still other options for exercise, including half-marathons, bike-run races (like a triathlon but no swimming), roller blading (very good all-over conditioning), multiplicity of classes, race-walking, etc.

  2) IT problems can come from a myriad of sources, one of which may be running on the side of the road where the road slants, which makes your foot slant in your shoes, wears the shoes funny, which wears your muscles funny, and causes the IT issues. There are lots of solutions for this also. Do research or contact me for ideas.

  3) We all have dreams, yes, but dreams can be modified and/or explored. See #1. You may need someone well-skilled in gait to see why you are having so many issues - is Coach Pam a gait expert? (She may be, which may be why she is helping you). If she isn’t a gait expert, if may be useful to locate a foot-leg specialist to can look at your gait, running conditions, and shoe wear to see what your body is doing and why. Yes, your body may be not cut out for these activities, OR you may just have a foot-leg-conditions set of patterning which need re-learning.

  I am not a [road] runner, despite my being a sprinter in high school. Yet I have found joy in doing other activities which allow my body to train: barefoot running on grass surfaces, stair-running, walking, hiking, and more. Sure, I’d like to be cool enough to be in a race with others, but it’s not right for me - so I find things which work with my body. I just work on finding workouts.

  Best wishes,
  Lauren

• 29 Allison // Jul 21, 2008 at 12:09 pm

  JD, I checked out the Portland Marathon website and I see that they have a 5-miler and a 10k walk. Have you thought about participating in one of these? Maybe you could do the 5-miler in October, a 10k in the winter and a half-marathon in the spring/summer, and then run the marathon in 2009…set some smaller milestones leading up to accomplishing your Big Goal.

• 30 Alison // Jul 21, 2008 at 12:40 pm

  JD, this post hits a nerve with all of us, because who hasn’t had the moment of “this sucks, I quit” and then come back to say “I’m not quitting! I’m just getting started!”

  I don’t see a recommendation here yet for using elliptical machines. I like the elliptical machine, though I have to say I really like running more because I just don’t feel like I get as hard a workout with ellipticals. My husband has knee issues and he used to blow off the elliptical by calling it a “fem-glider” - I guess elliptical machines are girly to some people. But then he started using it, and now he refuses to exercise any other way. Well, honestly I am lucky if I can get him to exercise at all.

  Speaking of which, I know it’s not the topic of this post, you guys ought to do a post on what to do if your spouse is not interested in exercising, as a follow up to the one about spouses not interested in dieting. I don’t want to be a jerk about it, but I think exercise is so important physically and mentally, and my husband has high blood pressure and depression. (and we’re under 30 years old!) any tips? I’ve bought an elliptical machine for our house and dropped some hints, but so far he’s not taking the bait.

• 31 Metroknow // Jul 21, 2008 at 1:01 pm

  On IT band - one thing I was told, that made a lot of sense to me, is that when you have an injury like that it is true that it is not a tear or something doing a lot of physical damage. But the real danger is that you will compensate for that pain by taxing other tendons, muscles, etc., which will likely lead to other, potentially serious injury. So even though it may not be in and of itself particularly damaging, it may cause unforeseen injury.

• 32 Sally Parrott Ashbrook // Jul 21, 2008 at 1:59 pm

  You’re in this for the self-care long haul, JD, and I think it would be brilliant if you were to recognize that what you need in the long-term may not fit a short-term goal you’ve had.

  When I am tempted to push myself too hard (or mistreat myself in other ways), I remind myself I have this and only this body to make it through my entire life with. If I stuff myself with chocolate or blow out my knees by overtraining or whatever else, I am the one who will pay for the rest of my life.

• 33 greenman2001 // Jul 21, 2008 at 3:59 pm

  Pam, thanks for clarifying and putting this in perspective. I took the drastic step of reading a little more about IT band syndrome, and it seems to be something that can be helped strictly with stretching and strengthening. It also seems to be a frustrating treatment regimen because the stretches are so simple and the lack of “stretch receptors” in the IT band make it feel like you’re not stretching anything. Likewise, the strengthening exercises seem minimal and boring, but are clearly crucial. This link:

  http://www.aafp.org/afp/20050415/1545.html

  shows a stretch that has proven in clinical studies to be the most effective.

  Also, the recommendations about returning to running are quite specific: no downhills, flat surfaces only, softer surfaces rather than hard, and — significantly — run fast or walk, but no slow running — this last is from JD’s original link from his June 17th post, in which he reported on his doctor’s visit:

  http://www.lwcoaching.com/library/runnersguideitbs.htm

  It may be that the slow pace of the training runs JD returned to actually aggravated the problem rather than helping.

  I don’t think we’re going to have to amputate, JD.

  Eager as I am to blame and cast judgment, I don’t think JD could have seen this coming. It’s a consequence of friction, meaning that after a certain number of passes over the lateral femoral epicondyle (a protuberance of the thigh bone near the knee), the IT band gets irritated. The shorter training runs started the process, but any warning signs would have felt like regular old soreness from using muscles hard. It wasn’t until JD got to the big race that he would have generated enough friction to realize he had a problem. So, in earlier posts, when I gave JD a hard time for increasing his pace, I was completely off base. It was a matter of the length of the run. When JD objected that he increased his pace and distance because he felt fine, he wasn’t lying: he would have felt fine until he hit that friction threshold.

  Now I’m going to have fly out there and give him hug.

• 34 Elaine // Jul 22, 2008 at 12:34 pm

  Your post really hit a note with me. I’ve felt that way so many times. Running is downright painful — and I even have prescription orthotics. I’m only 25, and I’ve had to take the last month or more off from running to recuperate from the Reno Tahoe Odyssey!

  I’m sure you can meet your goal to run a marathon. If not this year, maybe next. I hope your physical therapist can help you out.

  You might want to ask what low-impact sports condition the same muscle groups as running. I’ve been biking and using the elliptical machine, and that’s helped me maintain my running mileage even though I’ve only gone out running maybe two or three times since June.

• 35 Elaine // Jul 22, 2008 at 12:35 pm

  Oh, and I’m sure someone mentioned this — but training on a track at a local high school or university is great!! So soft and springy. It’s easy on the knees, but keep in mind that you run faster on a good track because the springiness assists your stride.

• 36 Brigid // Jul 22, 2008 at 1:32 pm

  I think its a good thing that you are slowing down a bit. If I’m not mistaken, the key word of this blog is “Slowly”. Sure it’s admirable to dive and train for a bunch of different things, but you could be scaring away the people who are looking for the small step approach. Now that you are listing all your maladies you really have them on the run (so to speak).

  Back in the day - I’d get about 3 hours of sleep a night, up at 4am, crew for two hours, hit the gym for another hour (BFL routine) and then finally have breakfast around 9am. I saw very minimal results. The only thing I have to show for it is a pinched nerve in my L-5, some nerve damage and a numb left leg. So I’ve got something to show for it.

  Moral of the story - train for one thing at a time. A person who serves two masters will end up betraying both. I’m not sure if my analogy is quite right, but I think you get my drift.

  Cheers!

• 37 Cynthia // Jul 24, 2008 at 6:06 pm

  Hey, listen to your body, but never give up! You may have to alter or postpone some dreams or find other motivators, but keep on exercising, keep on finding ways to stay fit and healthy. In the long run, that’s more important than whether you can or can’t compete in a marathon.

  Chances are though, if you give your body a chance and work with it, you can achieve that dream too. Anyway, your plan looks reasonable, I don’t think you have to stick to doing just one thing at a time… cross training is usually beneficial, as long as you don’t go overboard. Just give your body some time to get used to new activities.

• 38 Four Pillars // Aug 1, 2008 at 7:09 pm

  I can relate to the age thing - I’ve been pretty active all my life and at age 39, things do start to break down a bit. However, we’re not that old!

  I have a friend who did a marathon with a similar physique to yours - he says that a lack of good training helped him avoid injury. How he managed to finish the run, I have no idea.

  I’d love to run a marathon as well but with a problematic knee I might have to give up on that idea.

  I think you have to give up the 2008 run unless you have a huge recovery - but keep training as you can - and maybe 2009 will happen?

  Mike

• 39 Ryan // Aug 13, 2008 at 3:23 pm

  I’m a long time GRS reader and just getting into fitness myself began reading the GFS a month or so back..
  I do think you need to focus on the slowly part. Don’t push yourself too hard and burn out, I want you to continue to be an inspiration for those of us just getting into it.

  That said, I think it’s good you are reevaluating your goals.

  (I’m in the process of removing 35lbs of fat. and gaining some extra muscle using the body for life program)

Leave a Comment