Day One Hundred Seven - Oh ShIT
It happened yesterday. I joined the club. Or the band, rather. The non-exclusive ranks of Team In Training members with screwed up IT bands grew by one more. Dammit.
Your IT band is a ligament (I believe) that runs down the outside of your leg from your hip to your ankle. So far Jen has struggled with an IT injury as has Drew. Yesterday, halfway through my planned run mine acted up on me and I understood their pain.
The run started off just fine. Woke up a little later than I expected but got out there around 11:00. I was going to do two 6 mile loops in the park as we had an "off" week after our 18 miler last Saturday in Jersey. I started out slowly as I was looking to conserve some energy and complete my second loop faster than my first. Like Saturday I was having some problems really getting into the run and feeling good. A couple of times I found my zen area and lost myself in the day, but mostly I was right there, running, feeling every step and working the whole way. Around the 3 mile mark I noticed my ankle was bothering me, but I practiced a little mind over matter and wouldn't let myself get obsessed with the notion that I was aware of the pain because I was convinced I had 9 miles to go. After that I was able to knock out the next two miles without incedent and only realized that the day wasn't really going my way until I had to promise myself I'd take a break once I crested the Harlem Hill, about half way through the run. I still had a ways to go before the break, but knowing it was there kept me moving...slowly.
I took my break half way up the hill at a water fountain that I realized had been shut off. I had brought a bottle with me, but woulda liked something colder. I slurped down my goo, took a couple gulps of water and headed back out to finish up the run. I knew immediately that things were not good. My knee was very tight and every step hurt quite a bit. It was more than discomfort - it was pain. I finished the hill and hopped off to the side and stretched a bit. I was scared that I had hurt my IT band and thought I would feel it in the stretch we do that isolates the ligament. Nothing. I contemplated "sucking it up" and running the six miles I had left but decided that if I was hurting now I would be hurting a lot worse if I forced things and that would probably mean a longer recovery. With just 6 weeks until Phoenix, I decided to err on the side of caution (and feel like a big baby in doing so). I walked about a half a mile or so and felt OK, only really feeling the strain on my knee when I was going downhill. I stretched and had trouble balancing on my left leg. I headed home, less than thrilled with the day and nervous about an injury this late in the training.
Ice, ice, ice. My knee was achey throughout the day but I iced it three times and elevated it for the most part, staying off it when I could. Watching the Giants lose miserably yesterday did nothing to better my mood. I slept fitfully last night (although that didn't really have much to do with the leg I don't think) and woke up feeling surprisingly better this morning. It's definitely under the surface though and I know that the next time I run it's going to come back. I just don't know how bad it's gonna be.
Taking today off and then we have a rescheduled Team practice tomorrow night instead of Wednesday. I'll talk to some coaches there and hopefully they can give me some advice and I can get this behind me ASAP. Might be a lot of cross training in my future. We'll see.
The Good News: I came back from Thanksgiving break to find that I have crossed the $3400.00 mark in fundraising! Only $375 to go to my minimum and getting dangerously close to being close to my goal of $4500.00. Huge huge huge thanks to Jeff and Tracey Sutch and Toni Lee, who are all amazingly generous friends who I hope I can repay someday. Also thanks to mom for the new training sneakers. Christmas came early and I can now break in my race shoes. Let's just hope I can do so without a limp.
DAY 107
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 6.2
TOTAL MILEAGE: 252
Your IT band is a ligament (I believe) that runs down the outside of your leg from your hip to your ankle. So far Jen has struggled with an IT injury as has Drew. Yesterday, halfway through my planned run mine acted up on me and I understood their pain.
The run started off just fine. Woke up a little later than I expected but got out there around 11:00. I was going to do two 6 mile loops in the park as we had an "off" week after our 18 miler last Saturday in Jersey. I started out slowly as I was looking to conserve some energy and complete my second loop faster than my first. Like Saturday I was having some problems really getting into the run and feeling good. A couple of times I found my zen area and lost myself in the day, but mostly I was right there, running, feeling every step and working the whole way. Around the 3 mile mark I noticed my ankle was bothering me, but I practiced a little mind over matter and wouldn't let myself get obsessed with the notion that I was aware of the pain because I was convinced I had 9 miles to go. After that I was able to knock out the next two miles without incedent and only realized that the day wasn't really going my way until I had to promise myself I'd take a break once I crested the Harlem Hill, about half way through the run. I still had a ways to go before the break, but knowing it was there kept me moving...slowly.
I took my break half way up the hill at a water fountain that I realized had been shut off. I had brought a bottle with me, but woulda liked something colder. I slurped down my goo, took a couple gulps of water and headed back out to finish up the run. I knew immediately that things were not good. My knee was very tight and every step hurt quite a bit. It was more than discomfort - it was pain. I finished the hill and hopped off to the side and stretched a bit. I was scared that I had hurt my IT band and thought I would feel it in the stretch we do that isolates the ligament. Nothing. I contemplated "sucking it up" and running the six miles I had left but decided that if I was hurting now I would be hurting a lot worse if I forced things and that would probably mean a longer recovery. With just 6 weeks until Phoenix, I decided to err on the side of caution (and feel like a big baby in doing so). I walked about a half a mile or so and felt OK, only really feeling the strain on my knee when I was going downhill. I stretched and had trouble balancing on my left leg. I headed home, less than thrilled with the day and nervous about an injury this late in the training.
Ice, ice, ice. My knee was achey throughout the day but I iced it three times and elevated it for the most part, staying off it when I could. Watching the Giants lose miserably yesterday did nothing to better my mood. I slept fitfully last night (although that didn't really have much to do with the leg I don't think) and woke up feeling surprisingly better this morning. It's definitely under the surface though and I know that the next time I run it's going to come back. I just don't know how bad it's gonna be.
Taking today off and then we have a rescheduled Team practice tomorrow night instead of Wednesday. I'll talk to some coaches there and hopefully they can give me some advice and I can get this behind me ASAP. Might be a lot of cross training in my future. We'll see.
The Good News: I came back from Thanksgiving break to find that I have crossed the $3400.00 mark in fundraising! Only $375 to go to my minimum and getting dangerously close to being close to my goal of $4500.00. Huge huge huge thanks to Jeff and Tracey Sutch and Toni Lee, who are all amazingly generous friends who I hope I can repay someday. Also thanks to mom for the new training sneakers. Christmas came early and I can now break in my race shoes. Let's just hope I can do so without a limp.
DAY 107
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 6.2
TOTAL MILEAGE: 252
posted by Demps at 1:05 PM
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