Running analysis at Drevelin

Today I had another interesting and fun experience that I want to share while it's still fresh in memory. I had a running analysis at Drevelin, conducted by Kirsten Marathon Melkevik.

During the last three kilometers of Oslo half marathon, my legs, especially right behind my knees started to hurt really badly. After the race, the pain stayed for a few days, and then slowly disappeared. Unfortunately about ten days ago, it came back, and this time it seemed that it was here to stay. I was blaming myself for not resting enough after Oslo, as the pain came during the last of four consecutive days of long uphill running. My physiotherapist suggested that my feet might not be correctly positioned during running so that my knees could be bending inwards. When I mentioned this to my trainer Ketil, he immediately recommended that I talk to Kirsten at Drevelin.

I called last week and got an appointment for today, and in the meanwhile I kept searching the Internet on what might be causing my pain. I concluded that it must be ITBS, and the remedy seemed to be extensive massaging with a foam roll and stretching properly. I did this for a few days without getting any improvement, but then I read the information again, and realized that I should be massaging somewhere completely different than behind he knees: the side of the thighs! And boy did this hurt!! I was very happy that I had found the source of the pain and how to deal with it. During yesterday's personal training session, Ketil put special emphasis on strength exercises targeted for this injury, and today I was feeling better than in many days. Almost no pain! Now it was time to find out the cause of the injury and whether I needed insoles.

So there I was today at Drevelin and was greeted by a smiling Kirsten. I must admit I was a bit starstruck at first (for my friends out in the world: Kirsten is a big Norwegian star in long distance and uphill running),  she turned out to be the nicest person on earth! Before the running analysis, she examined my feet, hips, and legs, and concluded the same injury and the same remedy that I had figured out, so that was reassuring. She also predicted that there was nothing wrong with me except my running shoes! I went on the treadmill with my usual running shoes, she was watching and filming, and afterwards we watched it together.  It was easy to see that I was not stepping right, I was pushing my weight inwards, although when I am standing still my natural inclination is to do the opposite. So my knees were indeed bending inwards during running. Then we tried again with a pair of shoes Kirsten suggested, and I was quite shocked to see the difference. With the new shoes, I was running with my feet nicely leveled and no imbalance. And this despite the fact that both shoes are advanced running shoes made for normal feet. The problem with my old shoes was that they were a bit too much built up on the inner side, and a bit too soft. Who could have known??

Kirsten was very reassuring that my injury would soon be gone with proper shoes, no uphill running for a while, and a lot of massaging and stretching. I am really really happy about that, especially the fact that flat running and all other exercises are OK to go on with. She was also extremely positive and supportive, and complimented me generously on my balance and running style, and the strength of my legs and ankles. You can imagine how inspiring and motivating it is to get such feedback from a star. She definitely made my day!

If you're struggling with recurring injuries, you might want to get a running analysis.