ITB Belly

I went to Frankie at lunch time. My ITB was still tight, although thankfully, I was able to run some hill loops last night.

So we focused an hour just on the ITB. The knee hurt, but it was really a result of an upward pull of the ITB and not the knee cap or bones per se. So we started with relaxing the entire ITB first. Then worked on the upper end of the big bulky muscle group - near the hip. After that, we found the belly of the ITB. Bingo! I could already feel the tightness when rubbing down my entire upper ITB side, on the side of right thigh. There was a certain 'piece' or hardness in the middle.

Basically, when a muscle cramps or tighens up, it pulls on its two adjoining ends, thereby causing pain to the joints around those muscle ends. It is usually the belly (aka the middle segment) of a muscle that contracting and pulling inwards. (Image of a human with stomachache, bending over.)

We attacked the 'belly'. It was a really deep muscle, very hard to reach. Luckily Frankie was strong, thumb attack! Like a thumb print along a 10cm length alongside my right thigh. Continuously. And it felt really good that we managed to isolate and target the problematic spot area. Spot attack!

Ooooh lightness. I did not feel like there was something rubbing against the side of my knee now.
Ooooh happiness. :))

Let's see how it goes after a few more rest days. *fingers crossed*