Knee

So, I tweaked my knee yesterday. Nothing serious, and nothing to do with my IT band (which is doing well.) But I'm thinking I might have to skip my run tomorrow. It's a bummer...but my body seems to be just needing breaks this week for some reason. IT band stuff, plus not feeling great at the beginning of the week, and now this. We'll see how it's doing tonight & in the morning but I probably shouldn't push it unless it's a whole lot better.

Edited--Looks like I may have spoken (well, blogged) too soon. Found a trigger point at the back of my knee; after a bit of massage I'm so much better. I think I'll be able to do my long run, but not sure if I'll do it Saturday or Sunday. We'll see.

Run #167

Yaaay! I have been working so hard with my foam roller, and found some fantastic tight spots to work on--one in particular yesterday that "hurt so good." And I've also been PRAYING that this IT band tightness would go away!

I got out today for a nice, easy run. Stayed very close to home so I could stop when necessary. And my IT band felt good! A little tightness but no actual pain while running. A WORLD of difference from a day and a half ago. So thankful!!!

I think I'll be able to do my long run Saturday. Not sure if it will be the 6.6 miles I planned, but I think I'll be fine with 4+ and we'll see from there. Just glad it looks like my IT band hasn't gotten the best of me after all.

By the way...still loving my ZEM booties for running on these dark mornings. I think I'll use them a ton this winter.

I think I'm a running hypochondriac. I get so worried about aches and pains. It's just that I love running, and I have this deep fear that something is going to stop me from meeting my goals (like running the whole way in that half marathon in December.) I have to find a way to relax more and just take the aches and pains as ways to LEARN to stay loose, have better form, etc. My husband said he thinks my second year of running (which starts at the end of this month!) will be entirely different than my first, with things really coming together for me. I hope so.

3.27 miles, 40:45 (12:27/mile)

Run #166

I'm so sick of this stupid IT band tightness. Had to cut my run short. BLAH.

1.43 miles, 16:53 (11:48/mile)

Run #165

Recovery run--first half was with Chickie. IT band still giving me some issues, but I seem to have found the tight spots with my foam roller, so I'll really be working on those this week. This time the IT band/knee stuff seems to be stemming from tightness WAY up high on my leg, and in my glutes.

I felt bad--Chickie wanted to run barefoot and ended up scraping her toe. It started bleeding, and I took her home so Daddy could bandage it. Pretty traumatic for her (though the injury isn't severe at all.) She doesn't want to run barefoot anymore, which I understand! But hey, life is full of calculated risks; if I tried to protect my kids from all of them, my kids wouldn't have much fun.

2.11 miles, 28 minutes (est.), 13:16/mile (est.)

Run #164

GREAT, long, slow run! Temp mid-60s. Felt awesome, out there in the dark with almost no one else. Until 4.5 miles in when my IT band decided to freak out on me. Stopped several times to massage, but didn't help. Finally sat down and stretched, and that loosened it up really well so that I could end the run feeling great! No Starbucks today--heading out to an early event for church.

5.75 miles, 1:10:54 (12:19/mile)

Run #163

This is one of those runs that I love--I woke up with just a slight headache from sleeping wrong, and it was hard to get out of bed. But running made me feel great! I wore a jacket today--a JACKET! Yippee! 57 degrees.... Hello, fall! I know we'll still have warm days but I'm enjoying this cold front. Still warm enough to go barefoot though I did the first mile or so with ZEMs until it got light enough to take them off. (Another thing I love about running with a lightweight waistpack--I can shove my ZEMs or huaraches in the band and forget about them.)

Going to start doing more ankle exercises--that seems to be the one part of me that's having trouble with these longer distances. Nothing bad; they just get achy during the run.

Here's a quick update on my half marathon training: This is my last week of increasing distances during my weekday runs. This week's run distances are 3.6 miles, 3 miles, 5.75 miles, and 1.5-2 miles. Next week and thereafter, my weekday runs will be 4 miles and 3 miles, and I'll just focus on increasing that Saturday run distance every week (except one "down week" with only a 5 mile run, and one "taper week" before the race with much less mileage than usual.) The last run is my "recovery run" the day after my long run, and that will just be 1.5 miles or so each week. My longest "long run" will be 12 miles, which should leave me in great shape to run 13.1 on December 5...if all goes well!

3.62 miles, 42:34 (11:45/mile)

Run #162

Chickie and I ran to and from the donut shop to get a Sunday morning treat. She did GREAT on this run! I'm proud of her! I went barefoot (except in & around the donut shop, wearing my ZEMs.) Chickie wore her water shoes on the way there and wanted to go barefoot on the way back. I'll probably start often taking her on Sundays. Having a 4-year-old to run with is a great way to make my "recovery run" (the day after my long run) nice and slow; plus, she enjoys it, and it's so good for her.

1.51 miles, 28 minutes (18:32/mile)