Photos: The fall team, me with Gwen, the Wasatch Walkers 5K.
Yes, it's hurting again. The fall TNT team started their workouts today (about 1/2 of the team made it even though it's Memorial Day weekend!), and I ran about 1 mile w/2 of the participants who were a bit faster than I like to racewalk (probably doing 8:30-9:00 miles). Then I proceeded to do a total of 16.6 miles, because the summer team was doing 18 today (I drove my car to catch Gwen, who was the only participant in town, and we did the rest together, hence my mileage was less than 18). The route was quite hilly (700 feet+ of elevation gain and 700 feet+ of loss) and the first really steep downhill brought on the lovely ice-pick stabbing in my left knee. Gwen and I slowed down, walked slowly a bit, and stretched. I was able to resume racewalking and it was OK, but it gave me trouble a couple more times during our workout. UGH! By the time I finished, I was not a happy camper. I did use the foam roller and stretch a lot, but it's still hurting a little if I move the wrong way. I have GOT to either 1) stop running, or 2) see my PT and try to figure out how to run w/o aggravating it.
Fortunately for me, TNT is getting an assistant to help out a bit because I have to be out of town on a few critical days closer to the race. Her name is Sue, and she did Nike Women's Marathon w/me last year. She's very experienced and quite good, and best of all, we get along really well. She's awesome. Perhaps she can run w/the fastest participants so that I can stick to racewalking and heal my IT band.
Sadly, this afternoon our walking club had our 2nd handicapped 5K race. I *really* wanted to do it, but had to bow out. I knew my leg would not take any more abuse today. So I went to the race and timed my friends, and cheered them on. They did great! We had a good finish yet again :). Here are some pictures. Oh well... we're doing another 5K on June 20th, so I'll just have to plan on that one. It's going to be at 6 am, BEFORE the TNT workout, so I will be able to do it :) :) :).
4 comments:
Stupid IT bands...they are the worst. I know your pain...I am sorry it is still bothering you.
Oh yeah, that IT band will bother you from time to time; I found that once I have injured something, it dogs me for a year or two, even if I can work though it.
One question: how was the weather? You'll find that weather changes (changes in humidity during the summer) will bother it; scar tissue expands at a different rate than regular tissue.
I saw the photos too; they were good to look at. I see that I am not the only one that has "straight knee" problems; I might decide to work on that during the summer.
Have you tried Active Release Technique? I had chronic IT band problems for 5+ years, all the stretching and rolling helped some but never completely eliminated the pain. The ART was painful, but I had signifcant improvement after one treatment and total relief after 3 sessions. I was pretty skeptical going in, but had tried everything else, so I was definitely surprised by the results. Everyone's underlying issues are different, so it may not work the same for you, but it could be worth a try.
Thanks for the comments, everyone. It's feeling much better after a rest day and 2 easy days. It was probably a combination of the weather, the running, and the hills that did me in.
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