Not long ago, I went for a 10K training run with my wife's Uncle Rob. Before we ran, he asked if I was going to stretch. "You never see race horses stretch," I joked. "That's why their careers are so short," he shot back.
Later I developed a severe pain in my left knee. The injury cost me two weeks of running, during which time I could feel the fitness drain out of my body. After the pain subsided, I tried to run again, only to have the problem recur within 2km. I was scared and frustrated that I would never run again.
My brother Aaron competes in triathalons. So I decided to ask his opinion. "It sounds like an iliotibial band syndrome," he pointed out, "Basically you need to stretch and use an IT band roller." A visit to a physiotherapist who also happened to be the Canadian 10K cross country champion confirmed the diagnosis. The solution: stretching along with ice.
I call it my "aftercare", the stretching, yoga, rolling and icing that I do after every run. I now spend more time on my aftercare than I do running.
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