The years shortest day is appropriately the coldest so far. The car read -4 on the way to swim this morning and a balmy -3 on the drive home. Sheesh.
Well its been a while so allow me to quickly update. A sudden bout of ITBS forced me to drop the Phoenix Marathon from my schedule. And thus another attempt at a BQ is quickly swept out the door.
The iliotibial (or IT) band begins at the hip and extends to the outer side of the shin bone (tibia) just below the knee joint. The band functions in coordination with several of the thigh muscles to provide stability to the outside of the knee joint.
Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) occurs when there is irritation to this band of fibrous tissue. The irritation usually occurs over the outside of the knee joint, at the lateral epicondyle--the end of the femur (thigh) bone. The iliotibial band crosses bone and muscle at this point; between these structures is a bursa which should facilitate a smooth gliding motion. However, when inflamed, the iliotibial band does not glide easily, and pain associated with movement is the result.
And mine wasn't gliding easily. In fact when my knee was completely flexed I could feel the band snapping over the bone. Sounds gross and felt worse. It came on suddenly and I went from running the best I've run the last few years to being completely shut down.
All this happened the week of Thanksgiving and I haven't run since that Saturday. I was on vacation that week and didn't get back into town until 12/6. That week I contacted Dr. Larry and we went to work on the problem.
-Him
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