Pain PAIN Pain and what to do

Yesterday morning I was anxious to get up and out to run before my day began.  The day before I already passed on my run day.   My knees felt tight and uncomfortable  and my legs stiff from what I attribute to the Monday morning barre class.  Cross training is important, but I do not want it to interfere with my running program.

I listened to my body and quit trying to run.  Instead, I  road the stationary bike while watching a movie on TV.  If I hurt, if my knees hurt, I don't run.  My philosophy is that there is  no reason to risk injury or worsening pain.  So instead of a run,  I decide I  need an  extra rest and stretching day.    I have been extra stretching my ITB.  This is what I believed the problem to be still.  My ITB is tight and strong, but this morning  after rest and ITB stretches I found that the current  problem was no better.  To the internet I went  and found several Utube videos and articles  on running pain and what to do about it.  I did ITB stretches and massage as suggested, and again not only did the pain and stiffness not improve, it did not seem to correlate with area of discomfort/pain at all.   Hmmmm.  I have been to a physical therapist who addressed SI joint and ITB, when my pain ran down the outside of my leg to the knee.  My ITB had settled down with regular use of the running stick before and after runs.  The SI area is common for pain, but nothing I tried relieved the pain I had suspected was from that area.  This pain was deeper.  Hard to pinpoint but ended up causing enough discomfort that  I have been unable to ignore.  I must stop and stretch my right leg frequently all during the dayto keep spasm down especially on run days.  I have been told many times stretching is boring, but it is more necessary as we get older to stretch, and when you think you have stretched enough, you need more.
I continued to research causes of pain seemingly near the hip, and  deep glutes.  On the Internet, I read that  a common source of post run pain is from the Piriformis and Gluteus Medius muscles.  I learned these muscles stabilize the pelvis when running.  I did as suggested,  moved to the floor and got out the foam roller.  On my roller I bought at Academy, it is illustrated which muscles and how to massage and stretch them.

 Perfect.  I position myself as close as I can to the illustration and low and behold, I feel the exact location of pain, the tightness and the sensitivity that has been plaguing me. For 30 secs as indicated, I tenderly rolled these areas.  I put a hot pack on for a few minutes, roll with foam roller again. I felt much better.  To try this out, I  headed out to run a 10 min mile pace for 4.5miles on a gravel track.    After wards I stretched, used the roller  and heat/ice again, followed another 30 secs of rolling.  Ahhhh, much better.  Today, discomfort is nearly a memory.


I found one area that suggested exercises to relax and strengthen those muscles.
One exercise that was suggested was to put a band around your ankles and walk wide stance around the house for a while.  Another suggested the bridge pose in yoga, with pulsations at the upper end of the bridge.  I am trying both.  Stretching/rollling is a good thing to do while watching TV in the evening, to gain more stretch time,  not just after the run itself.  More is better to keep you pain free!