I'm taking this bull by the horns....

The bull named "ITBS," that is.

This IT band stuff is really frustrating me. It was doing so great, but I just pushed too much today--an eight-mile run WITH hills. It would be easy to say, "Well, I'm just overtraining"--if I didn't have a half-marathon in seven weeks.

So I just spent some money on Amazon (thankfully only a bit since I had leftover gift certificate money and bought one book used) so that I can attack this thing on multiple fronts. I'll report back later on how all this works for me.

Here's what I ordered:


Since I'm so in love with my foam roller, I think this book will be right up my alley. It should help me identify trigger points I don't know about it, and should teach me more about working them out.


This book has excellent reviews (as does the first book) and looks like it'll give great, practical advice on getting my muscles healthy and preventing injury. (This one will take longer to arrive, as I ordered it used.)


While I'm hoping the principles in the books above will help me get permanently past this IT band stuff and other annoying aches and pains, sometimes before a problem is totally fixed, you just need to get through a workout with less discomfort. KT Tape will hopefully help me on my long run next weekend so that I don't end up with IT band pain at the end of it like I did today. I've heard great things about this stuff, and while I know it doesn't work for everyone, I hope it works for me.

Run #173

Rough run! I had to stop about 7 million times for 5 million different reasons. But I got in my miles (actually a little further than I'd planned.) I'm happy about that.

I put some old sneaker insoles into my ZEMs because I have this little bruise on the bottom of my foot. The insoles gave me just the right amount of cushion, but they insoles didn't fit well in the ZEMs. A lot of my stops were to adjust the shoes, take socks off, put them on, etc. I think I'm going to get some Nike Frees or some other type of minimal shoe that has a bit of cushion just for those times when I need it. Not sure which I'll get. I love the Altra Eve that is coming out but it's not available yet. (As I'm writing this, their site is down, but hopefully it'll be back up soon.) The Terra Plana Evo is supposed to be great but the price is not right! I need to look at my options and decide what I want.

Honestly it was a rough run. There was the shoe stuff. And I had to stop in the middle to go home for 5 minutes to (ahem) answer nature's call. My knee bothered me a bit but I put on a new knee wrap I have which seemed to take care of that. Then at the end, that same IT band tightness came back; I think it was just the distance hurting me. Maybe I still need to stick to mostly flat routes for these long runs; I don't know. It wasn't BAD today but I did have to stop and stretch several times in the last mile and a half or so. I did notice my body just wasn't as relaxed as it was last Sunday; I wonder if that is what led to my issues today.

It was the type of run that discourages me. It makes me wonder if I can handle long distances. Why can't I just get past all these aches and pains? I think I'm increasing mileage more quickly than my body wants me to, but I have a race coming up. Can I even handle the half marathon in seven weeks?! I really wish I had more time to train for it.

I have to remind myself that last week's long run was wonderful, beautiful, awesome. Hopefully this was just an off day and I'll feel great next weekend (9 miles, if all goes as planned!) I'm also recommitting to doing those hip exercises I was doing so regularly for awhile; I felt like they helped stabilize my knees. And the foam roller and I will continue to spend lots of quality time together. I'd like to get past this IT band issue once and for all.

And beyond that...all I can do is take it one day at a time, try not to freak out about the adjustments my body is making, and try to be smart about my training. Hopefully it'll all work out well in the end.

8.05 miles, 1:41:18 (12:35/mile)

Run #172

Short little Saturday run.

1.55 miles, 16:30 (10:45/mile)

Run #171

Great run, and I'm happy to see my time under 11 minutes a mile. I didn't push much until the very end. I'm back on hills with not even a twinge in my IT band. Knee is totally recovered too. Feeling good!!

I'm looking forward to my long run Sunday--hoping for 7.75 miles. I'm a little nervous but also excited! Tomorrow I'll probably do my short, 1.5 mile run, just so that I'm totally back on track with mileage this week. And next week I'm looking forward to my schedule being more normal, running on all my regular days, and getting in my Saturday Starbucks run. If all goes as planned, my 10/23 long run (next Saturday) will be 9 miles...my longest run ever, with OR without shoes!

4.01 miles, 43:38 (10:52/mile)

Run #170

Wow, run #170! Always fun to hit another "round number." In a couple of months I should be up to 200!

Had a nice run in downtown Kalamazoo, MI, where I'm attending a blogger summit for Kellogg's. It's a really pretty area!

I was barefoot for about 2/3 of the run, but I had a really sore spot on the ball of my foot, so I put on my ZEMs (which didn't help much.) I think it's just a bit bruised or something, not a big deal. The 6.6 miles on Saturday was a lot for me, so my body's still recovering! It'll be fun when those long runs are just normal and don't affect me much, but I'm not there yet.

3 miles (est.), 33 minutes (11:00/mile est.)

Run #169

What I wrote this morning on DailyMile after my run:

Bliss...starting in the dark with almost no one else on the streets. Warming up my legs as the sun gradually lights up the world. Praising the One who paints the morning sky orange. What a wonderful run!

And here are more details now that I have time to share! I decided I wanted to do my long run in the morning (had considered an evening run), because yesterday the pulled muscle (or whatever it is) at the back of my knee hurt more in the evening than the morning. That was a good call; it only bothered me a little during my run. As I mentioned yesterday, it isn't a running injury and doesn't seem to be an area I use a lot while running, thankfully.

I spent plenty of time with the foam roller before my run, and stuck to fairly flat ground during the run, with the result being that my IT band handled the miles really well. I can tell that I still need to keep working to get rid of all the tightness, but I'm getting close.

And...6.6 miles. This is a huge milestone to me! My first 10K+ run since going barefoot/minimalist! And no bad pain or anything during the run. Overall I felt nice and relaxed. I think I'll be a little sore tomorrow from all the miles, but I don't think it'll be too bad. I iced my legs afterward, and I'm hoping that will prevent too much soreness.

I wore my ZEMs with socks. I like them better with socks than without, since my feet do sweat in them. I could have taken them off about 3 miles in, when it was light outside, but I was really enjoying running in them so I kept them on.

Beautiful, wonderful run. I loved it!!

6.6 miles, 1:16:20 (11:33/mile)

Run #168

Nice, SLOOOOOW run with Chickie. Lots of stops and starts (which--I'll be honest--I'm not very patient with.) She played in the park for about 10 minutes in the middle, which is good since this was a LONG run for her! I'm proud of her!

My knee felt really good where I "tweaked" it Thursday (by contorting to get toys from under the couch or something.) It seems that the part that is tender is a place that isn't bothered by running! IT band doing well too. Excited to do a nice, slow, LONG run tomorrow.

1.76 miles, 31:31 (17:54/mile)