2nd
You guys are right. If I want to get serious with running I have to stop making excuses! Being sidelined by an injury is another thing though. I still remember how excruciatingly painful it was to walk when I got ITBS and sometimes the fear of going through that again stops me from pushing too hard.
Question, though. In your experience, how do you know when you can push some more and when to stop? People always say, “Listen to your body,” but how are you able to interpret correctly what your body is trying to tell you?
Personally I generally only stop whenever I absolutely feel I need to. My shins been on and off lately and my run on Monday consisted of me stopping probably .15 miles short of what I actually wanted to run. Normally I would just run through the pain but I knew well enough I should stop. If something doesn’t feel right for me in the beginning of the run and I run 10-20 minutes or so and its still not going away it usually is a sign that its something I shouldn’t be hurting further. The whole “run through it” thing can work in some situations but it can be extremely detrimental in others.
In your case, although I haven’t personally dealt with ITBS, you know your limits on it. You don’t want to stress your body out and especially with the IT band its not something you want to mess around with. If it starts hurting more and more during a run, that’s a bad sign. If it starts off hurting and as you run it “melts” away I would say continue on ahead.
When your form breaks down, is when you should stop. If you are favoring one side more than another, you will do more damage. There is video and picture evidence of me running my first marathon. I’m having hip problems and my whole body is swaying. I ended up needing Physical Therapy to fix it all, which I don’t regret because that’s where I met my girlfriend.
If you back off and it still hurts then somethings really wrong, but if you can push through the pain and maintain good form, then you are just trying hard usually. Bad form = more problems.
