Training injury

[Darrion Yang]

Wasn't really sure where to post this, but I'm a senior in high school applying for a Marine Option NROTC scholarship. I've been training around 4-5 days a week for the past few weeks, and recently hit some knee pain while i was running. I think it might be a problem with my IT band or some tendon. I wanted to know if there are any Marines here who have run into tendon injuries and what they did about it. Did you Marines, (not guys) just run though it or did you rest and recover? I'm afraid to rest because i want to be at the top of my game when I take the PFT, but I will if I don't have another choice.

[BGW]

If you never ran this much before in your life then yes this might be a shock to your legs. You might want to consider giving your body couple more days of rest. Trust me your not going to improve that much for the run time anyhow. Getting max set of 20 pull ups should be your top priority and is way more easier to improve on.

Perhaps your not stetching very well either?

[Gunstream]

I ran into massive IT band problems on the Crucible and during SOI. That band is virtually indestrucable, so you can't truly damage it by overworking it. You will, however, make it more progressively sore if you don't allow it to rest (I couldn't bend my right knee through all of week 13 in boot camp). Know this - if you're having IT problems just running, you're going to have severe IT problems when you have to carry a pack. Also, it's more stress on that band going downhill than uphill. So if you have a 10 mile hump, and it starts hurting on the way up the mountain, it's going to be excruciating on the way back down.

If you want additional help running with the issue, there are IT braces available online. I purchased a simple IT strap from www.chopat.com (http://www.chopat.com).

[Rocky C]

Darrion,
The Marines and Docs here are going to give you some Great answers and suggestions but keep in mind that we are not " Doctors ".

If it doesn't get better seek advice from your Dr.

Good luck and don't take any chances of it getting worse.

[Gunstream]

Darrion,
The Marines and Docs here are going to give you some Great answers and suggestions but keep in mind that we are not " Doctors ".

If it doesn't get better seek advice from your Dr.

Good luck and don't take any chances of it getting worse.

Also this^

I relayed my personal experiences with IT problems. I'm not, in any way shape or form, qualified to diagnose your problems or provide medically or empircally proven solutions.

[MOS4429]

Wasn't really sure where to post this, but I'm a senior in high school applying for a Marine Option NROTC scholarship. I've been training around 4-5 days a week for the past few weeks, and recently hit some knee pain while i was running. I think it might be a problem with my IT band or some tendon. I wanted to know if there are any Marines here who have run into tendon injuries and what they did about it. Did you Marines, (not guys) just run though it or did you rest and recover? I'm afraid to rest because i want to be at the top of my game when I take the PFT, but I will if I don't have another choice.

As Rocky said, we are not doctors. That said, as a cross-country and distance track coach, I have worked with high school kids who have had many injuries from running. Just because you have pain in the knee area does not mean IT band. Have you researched IT band injuries? The IT band runs from the outside of the hip all the way down to the outside of the knee. It is a nagging injury that frequently manifests itself in the hip more than the knee, but it can be aggravating the entire length.

Overuse injury is the most common. If you have not had a history of running before, and you are now running 4 to 5 days a week, you more than likely are in that category. The first thing I do when a kid comes to me complaining of nondescriptive pain is back him/her off and apply the age-old remedy of RICE.

Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. You fear if you take some time off you will not be ready for a PFT, but if you keep on pounding it, you are going to get a real injury and not be able to run a PFT at all. So think about it.

What your post doesn't say is how many miles or duration you train, the surface you run on, what shoes you are running in, what type of runner you are such as heel first impact or midfoot or ball of foot, what type of warm-up drills you do, post-running stretches, etc.

If an athlete came to me complaining of generic knee pain, I would be looking at all of these aspects and work to train not on cement or blacktop, evaluate the shoes and how old they are. It is easy to get knee pain if you have been pounding the same pair of shoes for 6 months. I would look at his/her running style and make adjustments. THEN, I would give them a couple days of rest, up to a full week, with directions that they are to ice the area bothering them for 20 minutes at a time, 2 to 3 times a day. If it was in the muscle area, lower leg, upper leg, I would have them wrap it for compression, and when sitting down or sleeping, keep it elevated. Nine times out of ten, they are running in old shoes, and I have them get a new pair of quality running shoes, not the cheap ones. Sometimes they need inserts, and I have them buy a pair of superfeet inserts from a running store.

If after that period of time it does not resolve, then I tell them to see a doctor. The caveat to this is if the athlete comes to me with severe pain, then I tell them to see a doctor immediately.

Bottom line, though, is nobody here can tell you if it is an IT Band, and if it is, IT Band injuries generally are aggravating and last for a long time. Google IT Band Syndrome.

Your safest and best source is to start with your family doctor and go from there.

[MOS4429]

Darrion, another thing you might do is go talk to Coach Blockhus and see what he thinks.

[Darrion Yang]

Marines, Thanks for the answers. To answer MOS4429's questions, I generally run 5-6 miles on roadsides once or twice a week, and hill training once a week. All my other training days are for wrestling, or increasing pullup and situp count. The pain is on the outside of the knee, right next to the kneecap. My shoes are new so it shouldn't be that. I realized the roadsides are sort of uneven, so that might be it. I'll be doing hill training tomorrow, and I'll see how I am then.

[MOS4429]

It is not so much uneven surface but hard surface that creates hard impact, especially if you are a heel to toe runner. If you can change your surface to dirt trails, grass, even rock road base it is better. Roadside can be off pavement but is often sloped. That slope shifts your hip out of alignment.

Pain outside knee next to kneecap is something a doctor will need to diagnose.