Yep. That's right. Painless. I ran 5.5 miles with the running spot group last night and my knee/IT band did not bother me one bit. I wore the strap and stretched it out really good right before. I also had to look busy because Karrie wasn't there to chat with me so stretching came in really handy.
It was supposed to be a 7 mile run but I (and I'm not the only one) skipped the "second lap" by Sawyer Point. It was also supposed to be a Fartlek run where you alternate between your 10k pace (slow) and your marathon pace (slower) for 1 minute then two and so on. Well since we were, as JoeF put it, "the rest of the people in the slow group" we took off with Kathy as our leader and we were making good time, I was staying with the group (unheard of for me) and we were just trucking along at I would say a pace between my 10k and marathon pace. Then we hit the park and Kathy decided to start the intervals. It was like the roadrunner took off and left poor Wily E. Coyote at the water fountain panting. So enough with the intervals. I think 3 miles at a faster speed than usual counts, no?
I have physical therapy tonight so I will get stretched out and massaged more. And I will KEEP stretching. I can only hope this recovery continues...
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Stuck at 9
I can't seem to get past 9 miles this time around. My knee really starts to hurt and I just call it quits! On Saturday there was a 9 mile loop and then we were supposed to go on and do a 4 mile loop for a total of 13 miles. Well, when I got back to the car after 9 there was nothing that was going to make me go back out and do 4 more!
I iced and rested the rest of the day--I could barely walk...stairs were a nightmare. I hobbled around the farmer's market up in Dayton. Not feeling well.
Sunday I felt much better and today no pain at all. I am still resting and looking forward to my run tomorrow night with the Running Spot group.
Oh, I stopped by Mojo Running in West Chester and got "The Stick" to roll out my IT band. I'll keep you posted on if it helps or not.
I iced and rested the rest of the day--I could barely walk...stairs were a nightmare. I hobbled around the farmer's market up in Dayton. Not feeling well.
Sunday I felt much better and today no pain at all. I am still resting and looking forward to my run tomorrow night with the Running Spot group.
Oh, I stopped by Mojo Running in West Chester and got "The Stick" to roll out my IT band. I'll keep you posted on if it helps or not.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
moist
I just went for a quick little run on the Cape Cod Rail Trail again. I wore my strap which seemed to help and I got through about 4 miles fairly pain-free. I did take it off at the end back in my parents' neighborhood and tried to run to see how I felt and I had immediate pain. So I guess the strap helps.
The weather was interesting. It's about 70 degrees, about a trillion percent humidity and occasionally raining. I don't think I have ever been this moist on a run and I couldn't tell if it was sweat, rain, moist air, or all of the above. My hair in a ponytail also frizzed out to about the size of a cheerleader's pom pom. I looked classy.
On a side note, I got to go on two boat rides yesterday: first my dad took us out in his boat into Pleasant Bay and we walked around the sand bars at low tide and ate some cold pizza. Then my parents' friend Mike took us out in his 40 foot sailboat for a "sunset" cruise. I use the quotes because the visibility was about 20 feet due to fog. But we had fun and had some drinks and appetizers and then came back to the house to grill up some food. Overall it was a pretty nautical day.
Today we're on our way to Western Mass. to visit my Nana and Grandpa. I hear from Ryan that it's about 100 degrees back in Cincy and Tash reports the same from Nashville and that's just not good for all us runners. Our coach emailed and said instead of the tempo run he had scheduled for last night they were just going to do a regular-paced run and not push it. I wonder how that turned out.
The weather was interesting. It's about 70 degrees, about a trillion percent humidity and occasionally raining. I don't think I have ever been this moist on a run and I couldn't tell if it was sweat, rain, moist air, or all of the above. My hair in a ponytail also frizzed out to about the size of a cheerleader's pom pom. I looked classy.
On a side note, I got to go on two boat rides yesterday: first my dad took us out in his boat into Pleasant Bay and we walked around the sand bars at low tide and ate some cold pizza. Then my parents' friend Mike took us out in his 40 foot sailboat for a "sunset" cruise. I use the quotes because the visibility was about 20 feet due to fog. But we had fun and had some drinks and appetizers and then came back to the house to grill up some food. Overall it was a pretty nautical day.
Today we're on our way to Western Mass. to visit my Nana and Grandpa. I hear from Ryan that it's about 100 degrees back in Cincy and Tash reports the same from Nashville and that's just not good for all us runners. Our coach emailed and said instead of the tempo run he had scheduled for last night they were just going to do a regular-paced run and not push it. I wonder how that turned out.
Monday, August 6, 2007
so
It's been a week since I've last written and some of you know what's up and some of you don't. To put it simply, this IT band thing is NOT going away or remotely getting better. It's NOT letting me complete my long runs and it's frustrating me to no end.
My physical therapy appointment was somewhat successful. It involved stretches and a massage of the area and an ultrasound of the area and some electrical pads which kind of scared me a little bit. But the thing was, it didn't hurt THEN. It DID hurt on my Saturday long run which was supposed to be 12 miles (at the very least) and I only did 9.3. And it was a tough 9.3 let me tell you. When I got home and took a shower I sat down on the couch with my ice pack and my ace bandage and said, "I've been looking forward to this moment since mile 2," (about when the pain began) and Ryan said, "That's not good." I know it's not good. I had rested for Thursday and Friday so I thought all would be well. It was not.
So I've been resting since. The pain continued throughout the day on Saturday (thanks to 2 plane rides and miles of airport walking) and most of the day on Sunday as well. Today I feel fine. I will try to run tomorrow but I don't know what to expect. I did buy an IT band strap to go above my knee that hopefully reduces the tension on my knee from the IT band itself. My next step is to look into getting arch supports, at least for my right shoe and see what that does.
This is all very frustrating and has made me realize that I should have appreciated my good health during my last training and run a bit harder. Now that I can't, I really want to be out there. Bummer.
My physical therapy appointment was somewhat successful. It involved stretches and a massage of the area and an ultrasound of the area and some electrical pads which kind of scared me a little bit. But the thing was, it didn't hurt THEN. It DID hurt on my Saturday long run which was supposed to be 12 miles (at the very least) and I only did 9.3. And it was a tough 9.3 let me tell you. When I got home and took a shower I sat down on the couch with my ice pack and my ace bandage and said, "I've been looking forward to this moment since mile 2," (about when the pain began) and Ryan said, "That's not good." I know it's not good. I had rested for Thursday and Friday so I thought all would be well. It was not.
So I've been resting since. The pain continued throughout the day on Saturday (thanks to 2 plane rides and miles of airport walking) and most of the day on Sunday as well. Today I feel fine. I will try to run tomorrow but I don't know what to expect. I did buy an IT band strap to go above my knee that hopefully reduces the tension on my knee from the IT band itself. My next step is to look into getting arch supports, at least for my right shoe and see what that does.
This is all very frustrating and has made me realize that I should have appreciated my good health during my last training and run a bit harder. Now that I can't, I really want to be out there. Bummer.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
new shoes
I ordered new running shoes last night--it has been on my list of things to do for awhile. I got the same exact ones I have been wearing because they seem to be working fine. Tonight I think Karrie and I are skipping our speedwork (Yasso 800s) and doing a regular run around Mason. We are both dealing with injuries. On that note, I have an appointment at Oxford Physical Therapy on Thursday so we'll see what they say!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
pain
Today I was set for the run. I was planning to do the 8 mile loop and then the 5.75 mile loop for a total of close to 14 miles. The only problem was that about halfway into the first loop my knee (IT band issue from last Saturday's run that sidelined me a few days this week) started hurting. I ran through it and surprisingly the pain lessened. Then I stopped to get a drink of water and thought I would be doing myself some good to bend the knee. OUCH! Apparently that was NOT what I was supposed to do. The rest of the run was slow, and limping. I also talked to a girl who has the same problem and asked her about the band on her leg and physical therapy and got some good answers. The second loop did NOT get completed. Running-wise I felt like I could keep going. Knee-wise I did not.
On a good note, there was conveniently a free injury clinic at our group today and they had all sorts of people on hand (physical therapists, massage therapists, etc.) to help us out. The complaint I was hearing from everyone all around was the same as mine. Looks like I'm not alone! I had a physical therapist massage and stretch out my leg which left it feeling quite good and if I did not have to get home to Madison I may have gone out for the second loop. It quickly stiffened up again and I have been icing it on and off since I've been home.
I will likely call a local sports medicine place on Monday and see what can be done for me. I will rest it until then (if you call chasing after Madison rest!).
On a good note, there was conveniently a free injury clinic at our group today and they had all sorts of people on hand (physical therapists, massage therapists, etc.) to help us out. The complaint I was hearing from everyone all around was the same as mine. Looks like I'm not alone! I had a physical therapist massage and stretch out my leg which left it feeling quite good and if I did not have to get home to Madison I may have gone out for the second loop. It quickly stiffened up again and I have been icing it on and off since I've been home.
I will likely call a local sports medicine place on Monday and see what can be done for me. I will rest it until then (if you call chasing after Madison rest!).
Friday, July 27, 2007
I had forgotten...
how wonderful yoga is. Also how hard it is for me, a very unflexible person, to do the simplest thing like a downward-facing dog. But it felt good to get really stretched out.
The running? Well, on Wednesday I set off to do my 3 mile easy run. I ran about .5 miles when the outside of my right knee started killing me--the same spot it hurt after I did my long run on Saturday (although it hadn't hurt at ALL since then). So I slowed it down to a walk and proceeded to go around my loop, trying to run at various points in time, only to be forced to walk after a few steps of running. It was a bummer.
I went home and R.I.C.E.d it for the rest of the afternoon. Stairs were impossible. It was almost comical to watch my try to chase around my puppy. But, by Thursday morning, no pain! So Karrie showed up at 8am on Thursday morning for our longer run of the week. Same thing--about a half a mile and then pain! I didn't push it though and I'm totally resting today for tomorrow's long run. I have to do about 12 miles tomorrow and I'd really like to get through it with no problems.
From researching, talking to Ryan who works with a lot of sports medicine people and Karrie who knows about this sort of thing, I think it might be my IT band. I've been doing some stretching and massaging of the area as most sources tell me to do. I just hope it's not something I will continue to have a problem with. Hopefully it will go away as suddenly as my achilles pain during training for the last marathon!
Long run tomorrow--let's hope the showers and thunderstorms are few!
The running? Well, on Wednesday I set off to do my 3 mile easy run. I ran about .5 miles when the outside of my right knee started killing me--the same spot it hurt after I did my long run on Saturday (although it hadn't hurt at ALL since then). So I slowed it down to a walk and proceeded to go around my loop, trying to run at various points in time, only to be forced to walk after a few steps of running. It was a bummer.
I went home and R.I.C.E.d it for the rest of the afternoon. Stairs were impossible. It was almost comical to watch my try to chase around my puppy. But, by Thursday morning, no pain! So Karrie showed up at 8am on Thursday morning for our longer run of the week. Same thing--about a half a mile and then pain! I didn't push it though and I'm totally resting today for tomorrow's long run. I have to do about 12 miles tomorrow and I'd really like to get through it with no problems.
From researching, talking to Ryan who works with a lot of sports medicine people and Karrie who knows about this sort of thing, I think it might be my IT band. I've been doing some stretching and massaging of the area as most sources tell me to do. I just hope it's not something I will continue to have a problem with. Hopefully it will go away as suddenly as my achilles pain during training for the last marathon!
Long run tomorrow--let's hope the showers and thunderstorms are few!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
