Can you imagine having IT band pain for months when running, going up stairs, and even walking? Here’s how one runner healed her ITBS pain and is now running stronger than ever.
Tamanna after her longest run ever – 10 miles – with no IT band pain
Tamanna was a casual runner who covered 3-4 miles per day to stay fit. But early last year, she signed up for a 10k and decided to start running even more.
That dream was short-lived as IT band pain quickly hobbled her training. She still ran the 10k – but finished in severe pain.
You see, Tamanna believed that the more running you did, the stronger you got. While this is partly true, she ignored the muscular strength you get from strength training:
I always imagined runners needing to be incredibly lean with minimal muscle mass.
I didn’t think that strength training was particularly necessary. My workouts consisted of static stretching, a run at more of a tempo pace than an aerobic pace, followed by more static stretching and a series of crunches and maybe a few planks.
Of course, with this approach it’s only a matter of time before she got injured!
That’s because Tamanna made quite a few training errors:
- She didn’t do any strength training
- Her running was structured poorly on a day-to-day basis
- She was running too fast on her easy, recovery runs
- All that static stretching was likely putting her at an increased risk of injury
She needed to optimize both her strength workouts and her training to stay healthy.
Like I recently shared in the video below, how you plan your running is the most important element of long-term injury prevention:
When you can systematically improve your training with a proven process (while also adding runner-specific strength training), it becomes very difficult to fail.
This is how Tamanna committed to that process – and got rid of her IT band pain.
How Tamanna Focused on Process
One of the most valuable principles for any runner is to “focus on the process.”
Instead of worrying about every minute detail of your training like ground contact time or exact pacing, you instead prioritize the boring task of doing your best every day:
- You don’t skip runs, strength work, or warm-ups
- You treat your body right, rest well, and practice active recovery
- You do your best executing your plan to the best of your ability
So Tamanna committed to following the principles outlined in our Injury Prevention for Runners program (learn more about it here):
I was listening to Jason’s Strength Running podcast and was introduced to injury prevention with strength training. I knew that I wanted to keep running and had already signed up for my longest race yet, a 10-miler in May 2018, so I bit the bullet and purchased his program.
Soon, she was making several concrete changes to her running, including:
- A proper warm-up before every run
- Regular, runner-specific strength and core exercises
- Fewer days of running (but a similar mileage level)
- Slower recovery runs
Moreover, she knew that the pattern and structure of training would help her prevent injuries like her IT band injury.
Having a training plan that prioritized injury prevention helped Tamanna accomplish her goals – and it saved her a lot of time from having to build her own program:
The most helpful part about the program was the structure. I loved having a plan for my goal and not having to to think about what workout to do.
The night before a run, I pull up the training plan on my phone and go over what the plan is for the following morning. I know the days I need to do fartleks, sprints, long runs and easy recovery runs and don’t have to spend the time creating my own plan.
It wasn’t always easy, though! Tamanna realized that she needed to wake up a few minutes earlier every morning to fit in this extra work.
Though she’s the first to admit that the extra time was worth every second:
After I started Injury Prevention for Runners, my workouts changed drastically without requiring too much additional time.
I workout in the morning and I do get up earlier than I used to to ensure I can perform the strength routines. I NEVER skimp on my pre-run exercises.
Waking up slightly earlier than before to avoid injury is a small price to pay to keep running strong.
Now it’s time for the moment of truth: did the investment of time, energy, and financial resources pay off?
Was she able to run her goal race with no IT band pain during or after?
Tamanna’s Victory Over IT Band Pain
Soon, it was time for Tamanna’s longest race of her career: the Chicago Soldier’s Field 10 Miler.
If you noticed the photo at the beginning of this article, you saw a big clue: she’s proudly wearing the finisher’s medal!
Her race was clearly a big success. She finished the longest race she’d ever done up until that point – with absolutely no IT band pain. Plus, she’s been completely pain-free for the last four months after the race!
I asked Tamanna about her experience with Injury Prevention for Runners and she said:
It helped me realize that strength in running doesn’t come from increasing running volume alone – you have to be strong to run.
This past Memorial Day, I finished the 10-mile race in 1 hour and 45 minutes – my longest run ever – remaining injury and pain free throughout training and the race!
I bounded across the finish line with my arms in the air and felt like I had not only accomplished an incredible goal but realized that within only a few months, this program helped me go from not being able to run to running 10 miles in 80 degrees nonetheless!
Not only was the program helpful, but Jason was accessible to answer all of my questions. With this program and Jason’s advice, I was able to accomplish my goal of running 10 miles and (knock on wood) have remained injury free!
Woot woot! Now that’s progress we can all celebrate.
But just as important as progress is education. Did Tamanna learn anything that she’ll take to her future training? Is she a smarter, more informed, and thus more strategically advantaged runner?
Yes, she sure is. She told me:
The top 3 results from the plan are
- Injury prevention and learning about your own body
- Education about running and strength training
- Developing a relationship with a fantastic running coach
I thought I knew my body until I did this program but now I know what my body needs and when – I can anticipate when I need to take an unplanned recovery day.
I’m stronger than before and that’s because I trusted this program and the process.
The knowledge that Tamanna has – and her willingness to apply it to her training – will serve her for years as she runs longer distances and faster finishing times.
Sign up here to learn what she learned (and hopefully be SR’s next big success story)
How to be Successful like Tamanna
Tamanna celebrating her longest race – with no IT Band pain
Tamanna is not a unique snowflake. Her results – longer races, personal bests, and healthy pain-free running – can be yours, too.
The “secret” to her success is that she committed to the process of getting (and staying) healthy. There are no magic workouts or secret training ideas that will improve your running. Just a set of universal, proven principles.
Tamanna realized this after her 10-mile race:
All the random article-reading and podcast-listening wasn’t enough to help me determine how to remain injury-free. I had to commit to a program and the process.
After that commitment – as you can see – her results skyrocketed.
I asked Tamanna about her experience with our Injury Prevention for Runners program. She told me:
It began with a financial commitment from purchasing the program and has turned into a personal commitment to myself and my body so that I can keep running and staying active for as long as possible!
It only takes feeling pain to remind yourself that your health and your body are priceless. Purchasing a program that can lead you to an injury-free future is money well spent!
Perhaps most importantly, Tamanna will use this program and her new strength for years to come.
She’ll continue gaining endurance, injury resilience, and endurance by training well and prioritizing injury prevention.
Goal times will become faster and faster.
Injuries will be less frequent.
And she’ll be a much happier runner.
I want you to have every advantage that Tamanna had during her brief encounter with debilitating IT band pain.
Sign up here to get your first coaching lesson and I’ll also send you:
- Runner-specific strength routine examples of how to get stronger
- A free ebook: The Little Black Book of Prevention & Recovery
- Case studies of other runners who have beaten injuries
- Mistakes to avoid and what not to do
- And more…
Soon, you might be our next big success story!
