Wayne’s World: Give injuries time to heal

LAST week I mentioned an injury that had kept me off the road for a good part of three years, I called it ITB (iliotibial band syndrome).

I was preparing for the 2006 Comrades Marathon and the mileage I was doing was high and always fast as my aim was to complete the Comrades with a silver medal.

Three months prior to Comrades I ran the Hillcrest marathon in a relatively slow time of three hours 15 minutes, and then raced the Maritzburg marathon two weeks later.

I started the Maritzburg marathon like a racehorse and was covering each kilometre in under four minutes a kilo.

That ended abruptly at the 36km mark, and that was my first sign of ITB.

It is one of the most common injuries caused by overtraining. It is the ligament that runs down the outer thigh joining the hip to the knee.

In layman’s terms, the pain occurs when this band becomes inflamed at the knee and creates a painful burning sensation on the outside of the knee.

There is almost nothing you can do about it.

I ignored the injury and continued to hobble all the way to the finish.

The advice I was given was to stop running and give my injury time to heal but, as my wife would tell you, I never listen, hence the injury became chronic.

My advice to experienced and novice runners alike is to rest immediately. That means lower your mileage or stop running altogether.

While training, stay off cambered surfaces, replace badly worn shoes, and if you are doing trackwork, alternate the direction of your lap so it releases the continuous strain of the band on the knee.

Remember, always warm up and stretch before you run because ‘every stride counts’.

 
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