ITBS

Patrick Forte

Hello!

I am a new triathlete living in the U.S. in California, 30 year old male, weighing about 180 pounds. I am training for my first full Ironman in St George, Utah on May 2, 2020. I just did the Ironman 70.3 which was my first Half in December of 2019 at Indian Wells, CA. I had trained for like 5-6 months leading up, knowing in the back of my mind that the 70.3 was just a stepping stone for St. George. The big one has always been on my bucket list. I was pleased with my results with the half aside from my run. The swim was freezing in the 58 degree water with a sleeveless wet suit but I finished in 42:02 which I was okay with, the bike was 3:01 and then I imploded on the run, just felt crazy heavy. Walked all of mile 9 and most of mile 11 and just didn't feel capable of moving fast at all. Run time was 2:35 which actually wasn't as bad as I thought but my goal was a sub 2 hour half marathon so not great. Overall finish time was 6:34. I felt pretty broken after so just rested a couple days but then 4 days later, stupidly decided to go for an 8 mile run with my wife. About 2 miles into the run I felt pain on the outside of my left knee. I had the same thing happen when I ran a full marathon 3 years ago so I knew it was my IT Band, but continued to run anyways. I finished what we set out for and did 8 miles, hobbling, and it's been bad ever since. I've been rolling it out, stretching, yoga, and icing my knee and it does feel better at times, but yesterday I was walking down some steps and the pain returned. I'm staying off it for now but I know I need to train a lot more if I'm going to finish the full in May and am just fearful that it could take some time to heal. I think it's smarter to be under-trained than overdoing it and risking a worse injury, but I am still new to the sport and not certain how long all this stuff takes. Any advice on healing and moving forward with training and how to survive St George will be greatly appreciated! Though my time wasn't incredible for the swim, I do feel like that's my strongest leg. I swam in high school and swam in the Navy and feel comfortable in the water. I'm a newer cyclist but I've gotten a lot better in the last year considering my bike is definitely below average. My biggest hurdle and stresser comes from the run. I've fallen more in love with running over the years but I feel like it's for sure my weakest of the three. I know it's silly to say I don't want to be in pain during the Ironman, but I can handle fatigue and just don't want to get off the bike and feel my IT Band giving me trouble in the very beginning of the run. That's my biggest fear as of now.