Runners, grab your tennis balls!

In my post last Thursday, I mentioned that I sit on a tennis ball to help prevent and treat injuries. A few of you asked what in the world I was talking about and I realized that I should have gone into more detail so that a) you all wouldn't think I was one bizarre mama and b) you could enjoy the same (often painful) treatment!

The tennis ball thing is a self-massage technique (trigger point massage) that helps to break up the knots in your muscles that can cause pulling and injuries. I tend to get knots and related tightness in my right hip and butt and these can lead to pulling and soreness around my knee. When I feel any tightness creeping into my hip, I break out my tennis ball.

Here's what I do:

I sit on the floor with my legs extended, leaning on my right side (side of pain). Then, I place the tennis ball under my right hip, around the area where I'm experiencing the pain. I roll around until I feel the most painful area and then stop and allow my body to sink onto the tennis ball. This hurts! I try to stay on the painful area for as long as possible, but often have to release the area and move to another one before the pain has completely subsided. And it does subside. When you find a painful area to release, it will be painful at first and then the pain will gradually reduce. I usually have a few knots that need to be released and so I'll roll around for a bit, looking much like a wacko but knowing I'm saving myself from future injuries.

After I use the tennis ball, I stretch my legs and often give them a gentle rub-down with the foam roller.

Now, I am far from a doctor or specialist of any sort but I have read a bit on trigger points and lower body ailments common to runners and this technique is one that is often recommended. It works for me. I don't know all the science behind knots and trigger points and all that but I do know that since I started doing this I have had far fewer ITB and knee problems. And I'm all for that!

Good luck!

~ Felice

PS: It's National Running Day today. Get on out there!

Running injuries and treatment.

Take it and Run Thursday topic: Running injuries and treatment. OK, Runners' Lounge, I'll give you what I've got!

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you probably know that I have a nagging, painful injury: a bunion on the big toe of my right foot. That one is chronic. Chronic, annoying and, after stopping the yoga, not getting much worse. But not getting better, either. There is little I can do (aside from avoiding high heels and using my yoga toes) while waiting for my appointment with the podiatrist but when I finally do get in to see that Magic Foot Doctor, and he magically takes away all my pain, I'll be sure to share whatever I learn.

Until then, what do I have for you? Well, you may recall that I've had several other minor running injuries that, unlike the bunion, have come and gone in a flash. If, that is, you consider a day or two a flash, which, when referring to running injuries, I do. Yes, aside from a twisted ankle last fall (which was a shopping, not running, injury) none of the injuries have kept me from running for long.

I believe that I owe my (mostly) injury-free running to the following:

• Rolling -- not stretching -- before a run. This may make some people cringe but, for me, stretching before running just wasn't working. My muscles need to be warmed up before I can stretch so I use The Stickto roll out my out my legs pre-run and save my stretches for afterward.
• Sitting on a tennis ball. OK, the humble tennis ball may just be my favorite running gadget of all. For real. At the first sign of a tight ITB, hip, or hamstring, I'm on the ball. Nothing works better (well, maybe weekly massages would but that's not in the cards . . .)!
• Resting when necessary. What I have found is that rest is often necessary. I rarely run more than three days in a row and never more than four. That's what works for me. My body operates best when I balance quality runs with rest. And when I feel an injury coming on, I'm not afraid to take an extra day (or more) off. I would much rather skip a run or two than a month of running.
• Taking on the hills. Maybe it isn't normal to love hills as much as I do but I swear by them. Hilly routes, hill repeats, hill fartleks -- I love them all. I believe that hills helps improve your form and strength and when you run them for speed, there is much less impact on your legs so the workouts are less taxing on your body. Hills are your friends!

That's what works for me right now. I hope some of it can work for you, too!

~ Felice

Sunday long run.

Seven miles may not be long for most people, but that's what I ran today and it was the most I've run since I got back into running post-pregnancy. Today's run also pushed this week's mileage to 22.2 -- another post-preg. high!

It was a pretty good run. Very hilly (of course) and even though I went out in the afternoon, it was quiet. A few cars passed by when I was running on a main road, but not many. There was only one little glitch. As I was running down one of the hills on my route, I stepped awkwardly and felt it almost immediately in my left ITB. I cursed to myself and then stopped to stretch. I stretched my ITB, my quad and my calf and then I walked a little and stretched again, adding in an extra ITB stretch for good measure. Then, I began to run again. A few minutes later, I felt that pesky ITB so I immediately stopped and stretched/walked/stretched. This time, I'd gotten it. When I picked up my run again, I felt fine and I didn't have any problems for the rest of the run. Good thing, because my misstep was only about two miles into my run! I would've really been upset if I'd had to call it a run at that point.

Even with the ITB break, I finished my run in 1:05:45. I guess those cocktails didn't hurt me after all!

Pumping.

The ITB and ham are still feeling good! I took them out for another run last night and they ran strong. This morning, we're still good. Talk about relief!

But, I think I learned something yesterday. It's called pumping your arms when you run. Did I somehow miss the lesson on really using your arms when you run up a hill? Has this always been the thing I should have been doing?

Seems like it.

I was heading up a big hill yesterday when I just started to pump my arms -- really work them, not like how I normally run. As soon as I did, everything changed. I was running faster with what seemed like less effort. Of course, the effort was still there but it had shifted from my legs to my arms. So, by engaging my arms more, my legs had less work to do.

Wow. I couldn't believe what a difference it made in my run. What's more, I couldn't believe I had been letting my arms get off so easy, for so long. Well, no longer. These arms having been pushing me up for a good 8 weeks now, so they should have the strength to contribute to a run. I'm going to use that strength from now on!

Is this totally geeky?

So, I mentioned that I was out of town for a few days. This meant that with all the family action, I missed the last days of the Olympics (Thurs -- Sun). I knew this was going to happen before we left, so I made sure to DVR the coverage from Friday and Saturday evenings.

I've been watching it since I got home.

Sunday night, it was the men's marathon and the men's and women's 4x400 relays. Last night, the men's 800 and 5000. Tonight? Not sure -- I think there are a few events from Friday's coverage that I still have to watch.

Yes. I am keeping these Olympics going.

In other (non) news, I was back to running yesterday and feeling really good. I've been hampered by my right hamstring and left ITB, as well as all the family events we've had going on. But yesterday I was back! No soreness at all with the hammie or ITB. What a good start to the week!