Monday, July 29

Marathon Training Part II

 
The day after my ten mile run my inner thighs hurt as well as my right knee.
Trust me, I've ran where everything hurts. But this was new, only my inner thighs?
 So I looked it up.
 

The pain was right where the "vasus medialis" is. Now, I have no idea what this is or what it does so I goggled.
Cause Google knows everything...
 
According to Livestorng:
The vastus medialis muscle is one of four quadriceps muscles. It is located on the inner part of the front of the thigh. It attaches to the medial aspect of the femur and runs along the inner front down to the base of the patella, or kneecap, via the quadriceps tendon and by the patellar tendon onto the tibal tuberosity. The lowest part of the vastus medialis, called the vastus medialis oblique (VMO), achieves its maximum contraction during full extension

The vastus medialis works along with the vastus lateralis to stabilize the kneecap. The VMO helps to keep the kneecap in its grove, which is located on the lower part of the femur, by pulling it inwards. The vastus medialis muscle, along with the other quadriceps muscles, also extends the leg at the knee to a straightened position.

Hmm, inner thigh and knee pain. Sounds like I'm in the right direction.
 
Weakness in the Vastus Medialis muscle is thought to contribute to chronic knee pain, or “runners knee”.

Ok, so I do think I found the culprit.

Here is one exercises I am going to incorporate with my shin exercises to see if it helps out.

via Livestrong

Basic VMO Exercise

Before performing advanced VMO exercises, specialists on the Sports Injury Clinic website suggest checking to see if the muscle group is functioning properly. Sit with your legs extended in front of you, with a towel placed under the back of one knee. Start with the knee slightly bent. Place your fingers on your VMO, and press down against the towel to extend your leg. If the muscle is activating correctly, you will feel it contract under your fingers. If you don't feel the VMO contract, it may not be strong enough for weight-bearing exercise. This sometimes happens after anterior cruciate ligament surgery. Continue practicing the towel pressing exercise until the muscle gains strength. Perform 20 repetitions every day.


 
"How often do you get aches and pains from running?"
"Do you shake them off or do you look for ways to fix the problem?"

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