After my last post I was about as discouraged as I could have been. What a difference a week and a half makes. The greatest pluses in terms of making my ITBS manageable I believe have been well timed rest, Motrin, ice... a lot of ice, and my big blue foam roller.
I am definitely a creature of habit and the foam roller is now a part of my daily routine. I wake up, brush my teeth, start coffee, then I start rolling my butt and IT bands on the foam roller. The first couple time I used the roller I could tell how much I needed it because of how bad it hurt. Now I can roll my legs for a few minutes and there is little soreness. To me that is a sign that things are getting better. After I roll my legs in the morning I put it in my backpack to take it to work to do the same thing on my lunch break. I always have to make sure the door to my classroom is locked during lunch because I can only imagine what my students would think if they walked in and I was using the roller on either one of my buttcheeks. Finally one more time before I get in bed and I am good to go. On the days I go on runs I also roll my legs before and after.
I took off 5 consecutive days from running last week and also helped a ton. Since then here was how my week looked...
Sunday - 8 miles
Monday - 4 miles
Tuesday - 6 miles
Wednesday - 5 miles
Thursday - 7x800 meters intervals (Yasso repeats) w/ .25 miles rest in between. Totaled 5 miles
Friday - off
Satuday(today) - 20 miles
After each run I put ice packs on my hips where it is an IT hotspot and I also rubdown my legs with ice that I freeze in a cup.
Today my run was great, despite it raining/drizzling for the first 18 miles. I ran at a pretty slow pace, which is actually what I am supposed to do on my long runs. What I was happiest about the most was that I ran this route over some bigger hills and I felt great running my last mile at my race pace of 8:52/mile. At mile 20 to have something left in my tank, no matter what the pace, I must be doing something right.
Now I am just hoping that my body responds well in the time after, because usually it gets most sore about 24 hours after a run.
Thanks to those of you who wrote me encouraging emails after my last post, I really appreciate it.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
IT Band issues
Last week I only ran 3 of the 6 days my schedule due to the tightness from my IT band. After taking those days off I felt pretty good and was able to do my long run of 19 miles on Sunday morning. I averaged a 9:45 mile which is 50 seconds slower than the 8:55/mile pace I hope to keep during the marathon. I was pretty pooped at the end and I thought, "How in the world can I run 7 more miles at a much faster pace than what I just ran?" I hate when self-doubt creeps in because it can really mess with my head. I was done with that run though, and in my mind that is all that counted. Post run was nice as I took an ice bath while eating fried eggs and a Coke that my wife brought me. Yes, it sounds as odd as it probably looked.
The bad news is how my body, more specifically my legs, reacted afterwards. I took the day off after the run and then tried to get out there again yesterday. My plan called for 10 miles but all I could muster was 8.5. The only way to describe the pain that I have in my upper quads and knees is debilitating. After this last run I could hardly walk. At night I could hardly sleep as my legs and knees ached. As I moved my legs from a bent to an outstretched position it hurt like all hell. When I walk down stairs my knees scream at me to stop.
It seems that at this point all I can do is not run for a while. This is hard because I have my first 20 mile run this weekend and I really don't want to miss it. I need to balance the need to try and get better with the need to keep up my fitness. I am stubborn and that doesn't help. It does help that my wife is more than encouraging but also practical in the advice she gives me. After work we are off to go find a foam roller to do some stretching. Hopefully that, along with other stretches I have found on the internet combined with some time off things can get better. If not I feel like all bets are off for my even running in the NYC Marathon, and that is the biggest blow in terms of self-doubt after 11 good and hard weeks of training.
The bad news is how my body, more specifically my legs, reacted afterwards. I took the day off after the run and then tried to get out there again yesterday. My plan called for 10 miles but all I could muster was 8.5. The only way to describe the pain that I have in my upper quads and knees is debilitating. After this last run I could hardly walk. At night I could hardly sleep as my legs and knees ached. As I moved my legs from a bent to an outstretched position it hurt like all hell. When I walk down stairs my knees scream at me to stop.
It seems that at this point all I can do is not run for a while. This is hard because I have my first 20 mile run this weekend and I really don't want to miss it. I need to balance the need to try and get better with the need to keep up my fitness. I am stubborn and that doesn't help. It does help that my wife is more than encouraging but also practical in the advice she gives me. After work we are off to go find a foam roller to do some stretching. Hopefully that, along with other stretches I have found on the internet combined with some time off things can get better. If not I feel like all bets are off for my even running in the NYC Marathon, and that is the biggest blow in terms of self-doubt after 11 good and hard weeks of training.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
the good, the bad and the ugly
While my blogging hasn't been very consistent, keeping up on my training has... for the most part. The latter has proved to be more and more difficult in the last few weeks. Let me break it down for you.
The Good:
1. I am more than halfway done with marathon training.
2. I have finally lost a few pounds... 3.5 to be exact. Anything at this point is welcomed.
3. I have had some awesome runs where I really kept a consistent "race pace" and felt good afterwards.
The Bad:
1. Knee pain, especially in the last week or so. This Friday I ran 9 miles at race pace and I could hardly move my left leg later that night. The pain has persisted all weekend. I think it is an IT problem because the pain goes up the outer upper thigh. I am pretty concerned about this being a lingering problem at this point. I don't know how to balance taking time of to heal (hopefully) while keeping up my training/fitness.
2. Over the next 7 weekends I have one 19 mile run and three 20 mile runs. If I felt healthy I wouldn't be as weary about this. I felt great after a 17 mile run a week and a half ago, but that was before my knee problems.
The Ugly:
1. My top of middle toe on my left foot. No matter what shoes I wear or what I do I get a nasty blister. You can thank me for no picture.
2. Me running in "hot" weather. I have stated this before, I don't do well in heat. And since I live next to the coast where it is perpetually overcast this time of year, I classify anytime the sun is shining on a clear day as hot. A few weeks ago it was one of those clear days and I was miserable. As I was running my wife drove by on her way to the dentist. Since she knows my disdain for running while its sunny out and the fact that I looked like crap, she made a point to look at the temperature gauge on the car. It read 65 degrees. Seriously, 65 degrees. Most people would give anything to run in weather sunny and 65 but not me. Am I the biggest wimp or what?
3. I forgot band aids over my nips for an 8 mile run. I had scabs the next day. Enough said.
Hopefully it won't be another month until I update this blog again :-)
The Good:
1. I am more than halfway done with marathon training.
2. I have finally lost a few pounds... 3.5 to be exact. Anything at this point is welcomed.
3. I have had some awesome runs where I really kept a consistent "race pace" and felt good afterwards.
The Bad:
1. Knee pain, especially in the last week or so. This Friday I ran 9 miles at race pace and I could hardly move my left leg later that night. The pain has persisted all weekend. I think it is an IT problem because the pain goes up the outer upper thigh. I am pretty concerned about this being a lingering problem at this point. I don't know how to balance taking time of to heal (hopefully) while keeping up my training/fitness.
2. Over the next 7 weekends I have one 19 mile run and three 20 mile runs. If I felt healthy I wouldn't be as weary about this. I felt great after a 17 mile run a week and a half ago, but that was before my knee problems.
The Ugly:
1. My top of middle toe on my left foot. No matter what shoes I wear or what I do I get a nasty blister. You can thank me for no picture.
2. Me running in "hot" weather. I have stated this before, I don't do well in heat. And since I live next to the coast where it is perpetually overcast this time of year, I classify anytime the sun is shining on a clear day as hot. A few weeks ago it was one of those clear days and I was miserable. As I was running my wife drove by on her way to the dentist. Since she knows my disdain for running while its sunny out and the fact that I looked like crap, she made a point to look at the temperature gauge on the car. It read 65 degrees. Seriously, 65 degrees. Most people would give anything to run in weather sunny and 65 but not me. Am I the biggest wimp or what?
3. I forgot band aids over my nips for an 8 mile run. I had scabs the next day. Enough said.
Hopefully it won't be another month until I update this blog again :-)
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