golfpunk wrote:it seems my IT band syndrome has gone after a good 6 month rest and the foam rolling/stretches I was doing towards the end of last year.
This is what you need to do. Rest up and do some foam rolling therapy.
I'm almost certain you are describing IT band inflamation. (Iliotibial Band Syndrome). Basically you've been pushing your pins too hard recently.
Your muscles will be feeling strong, however because of certain repetative patterns in your gait, you are experiencing inflamation along your ibiotibial band. This is the ligament which runs down the outside of your leg from hip to ankle. Things you can do to get it mended quickly are; massage the outside of the knee joint using a foam roller, support the area under a soft pillow when sleeping. When walking during the day try using a toes outward/ heels inward gait. (this sounds strange, but I recently found out that the alignment of my pedal cleats on my road cycling shoes were causing my IT band to inflame at the knee.) It may be the case that when moving up hill you have been unwittingly pointing your toes inwards slightly?
Rest up and allow the inflamation to recover before attempting more long days hiking. When you do get back out for big hills, use a pair of poles for both steep ascents and descents, this will take the pressure off areas normally susceptible to inflamation.
Hope this is of some help.
