Adjustment of long run--IT band issues??
I have continual issues with my IT band and have a plan (stretching, rolling, etc.) that usually takes care of it provided I'm consistent with these things. The stretching helped me survive the IMMT 70.3 run, but laziness over 1 week has it returned. Today I was able to run an hour before it flared up (caused by running downhill).
So here is the question: Does it serve any purpose to try and divide the longer run into 3 35-40 minute sessions on the same day? While not exactly the long run, will this serve a similar functionto the long run? My thought is that I can minimize the flare up of the IT band by stopping prior to pain, getting some good rolling/stretching, then repeat another run several hours later, followed by more stretching/rolling.
Thoughts?........and thanks for the feedback.
Comments
From a training perspective, I'll let others chime in on the training value of multiple shorter runs, but I would think that is better than nothing! Probably depends on how much endurance you have built up already. Another option is to try adding some walking in and keeping the runs long. Like walk a minute every mile or some ratio to let things cool down. That might be a better option to build endurance, if it keeps the IT band calm (works for some, others find that walk to run transition to be killer). Good idea to stop before the pain starts though, definitely agree on that- IT bands get angry! Also keep in mind that long bike rides can cause IT band issues as well with all that repetitive motion!