Today I decided I wanted to do a speed run, so browsed the NRC app and decided on 'Slow Down 2 Speed Up', with Coach Bennett and Andy Puddicombe from Headspace. Great choice, talk about mind, body, spirit. It's been forever since I've done a speed run and after this morning the only question is 'why have I left it so long?'
By the time I got home I suppose I was on a bit of a runner's high. This last week has been full of ups and downs but the run totally cleared my head and put me back on track. I settled to do my cool down exercises and had a bit of a revelation.
Since seeing the doctor the other day and posting on here I've done a lot of reading about ITB problems. I realised as I stretched that while I was away I had more or less dropped my warm up and cooldown routines.
There were good reasons for this. On our boat the floor isn't flat, and of course, being on a boat it doesn't keep still, so balance exercises are a challenge. In comparison to a house there's not much space which again diminishes what you can do. Whilst I have no imposter syndrome when I run, the idea of doing exercises in public stops me from doing them outside. I toyed with the idea of bringing a yoga mat with me to encourage me but I just felt too shy. Silly I know (but in my defence there isn't a flat surface that big anywhere on the boat).
Anyway, the realisation regarding the lack of stretches hit me as a revelation. I've been trying to do the stretch that the doctor ordered and today my cool down stretches were a lot easier. My reading told me that you can't actually stretch the ITB but you have to exercise all the muscles around it and these are the ones I target in my stretching routine. It's all starting to make sense.
I think the moral of all this might be that while stretches aren't necessary short term (controversial I know but there seems to be evidence to back it up) you have to make sure you don't neglect the muscles that need stretching and strengthening.
It's such a relief to work out why I've had so much discomfort.
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We can give those youngsters a run for their money ('scuse the pun). Maybe we should go to that nightclub, Volks, on Brighton sea front and show them (my son assures me that's the place to go for drum & bass!)
I’m pretty sure that was me! Rene LaVice was back on the Radio 1’s Drum and Bass Show this week and he was a brilliant running companion. Always glad to find a fellow D and B fan!
A great post and so interesting... certainly we make our own decisions re-stretches etc etc...but the benefits, in certain situations do make themselves clear.
Well done you!!
I did find, when I was researching some info for our new runners , on S and F, find some exercises for boat dwellers... I will try and find them!
The video that I found most helpful for understanding the ITB bands and how to strengthen them (I had knee pain at that time) is this one (and you may have found it already, by the sound of it):
After running, I use an app for my post-exercise stretching routines to ensure I keep the stretches long enough. And I have several routines programmed in, including one I can do horizontal on the made bed, as there have been times (especially after rowing) where I feel I couldn’t stand up any longer after an intensive session.
My post run stretch list of stretches are listed in this post, but as I mentioned, I have an equivalent one whilst lying down :
Thanks CBDB , I hadn't seen the video before (if I could do that second last stretch at all I probably wouldn't need to 😂)
I already do the ankle warm ups plus other things before I run and always do a five minute warm up walk, so we are both on the same page here. I discovered a stretch I can do in bed too so am trying to make that a habit! The only problem with a lot of these ITB stretches is that you need to have the balance of a ballerina to make them work and I am sadly lacking in that direction.
I've got a cooldown routine which includes your calf, hamstring, lower back 2 and inner thigh, plus a glute bridge and the one where you stand on one leg and pull your ankle towards your bum. I also attempt a few yoga moves which I'm probably doing all wrong lol.
I'm pretty sure the cause of all my problems was in only doing the warm up walk and the standing on one leg to cool down. Couple this with being totally sedentary in a confined environment (sounds like I was in jail rather than having the time of my life on a boat lol), recipe for disaster.
I think I've learned my lesson. I've added the ITB stretches and putting ibuprofen gel on before bed and this morning I realised I no longer feel like I'm walking like an old lady. Thanks again for all the advice, you are a fount of wisdom
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week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
