Marathon Recovery. ITB pain. Barefooting it.

The road to recovery from a marathon can be a tricky task. Some marathons you run them and recover perfectly so that you don't even need a day off from running. This has been my experience after the majority of my marathons.

Unfortunately the Denver Marathon recovery has not been quite so easy. A twinge in my right ITB at 20 miles was not the best start. The pain got worse over the last 6 miles and left me limping at the end. It had been a long year of racing and travel so it was a great excuse to have some much needed time off from running.

The problem was how to maintain some fitness without adding more stress to my IT Band. I tried a light jog a few days after. Bad move. Stabbing pain in my right knee. Next i tried spin class. Bad move. Resulted in tighter hamstrings, hip flexors and ITB. Next swimming...still put stress on my IT Band. Lastly i resorted to the most simple of all exercise -Walking! At first i was sore to walk but after a week or so i found i could walk with minimal pain. Living right beside Chataqua Park in Boulder i started to hike some of the trails. However i kept getting sore in my knee or worse feeling sharp pain in my hip on the same side. The more cushioning i had in my shoes the worse the pain. Hmmm. I thought. Must be something to this. So i went to my big sports bag and got out my old trusty VIBRAM FIVE FINGERS. Woo hoo! After a 2 hour hike in the Vibrams i felt the best i had felt for 2 weeks. Being able to feel the dirt and rocks under my feet must have improved the proprioception to my legs, hips and spine and so i had found the perfect recovery exercise post marathon. Barefoot hiking!

So a combination of ICING, BAREFOOT WALKING, MASSAGE, FOAM ROLLER and HIP EXERCISES helped me get rid of that horrid IT BAND PAIN. Today i went for my first proper run post marathon. 30mins on the flat grass. No pain during or after. That really put a smile back on my face :-)