Repost: The least favourite part of my training...

... is very important but painfully (really!) boring!

I know I *have* to stretch after my training sessions and this is not because Katt recommend it or because I've been taught and told it's necessary. BUT because I learned the hard way....

I ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon last year - I'm very proud of that achievement - and the last thing on my mind after struggling past the finish line was cooling down or stretching. All I wanted to do was get my medal and my goody (rubbish) bag, find my way home, eat a whole chicken from Nandos (ok, I was only able to eat half because I was exhausted), shower and go to sleep... and that's exactly what I did.

I woke up with aching, heavy legs the next morning and barely made it to work. I was proud of my aches and pains because it was proof I ran a HALF MARATHON (woohoo!)! I was not pleased when my knee suddenly hurt like hell (stick with me and you'll get used to Adura the Drama Queen) when I landed heavily while taking part in one of our classes. I thought I had damaged my knee permanently and stopped high impact exercises... including my favourite: running :/

After a week of the pain not subsiding, I followed much needed advice and went to see a Physiotherapist and surprise surprise - my knee wasn't the problem! My ITB (Illio Tibial Band) was very tight and my Gluteus Medius was weak (I was surprised by this and if you know me, you'll understand why). This meant I was overcompensating with the wrong muscle groups while doing many exercises. I was given boring homework - I had to stretch and foam roll everyday (to ease out the knots and tightness in my ITB & calves most especially) and do certain exercises to strengthen/awaken my gluteus medius.

Those were the most boring weeks of my life but after only 2-3 weeks, my knee wasn't hurting even a tiny bit and my Gluteus Med & Max (the sleeping giants) were finally awoken ;-)

So the moral of the story is:

• Always include stretching, SMR (Self Myofascial Release) or what I still don't feel comfortable doing (mainly because I am always the least flexible one) - Yoga or Pilates in your training regimen. Sports massages are very effective too and I try to make sure I get 1 at least once every 4-6 weeks.
• If you have an injury, don't assume it's just that, there's most likely a less obvious cause than you think - consult a professional.