Happy Birthday IT band.

This morning I joined the CycleU Triathlon team for a running clinic at Greenlake and learned a ton from Toby Swanson. Thanks Toby! One thing I realized is that I never had a clue what the hell I was doing when I ran races years ago. I didn't train, I just went out and ran fast a few times a week and that's likely what did me in with the IT band.

We did some pacing drills around the Greenlake track and surprise, surprise, I WAY out ran myself. I was supposed to do a 2:10 400m lap. 2:10? I used to run the 400 in high school in 1:05. I fought with myself the whole lap to slow down and clocked 1:45. Why can't I just slow down sometimes? Being aware of "goal pace" is really something I need to work on.

Today was the perfect day to have a "track day" since I consider it the 3rd anniversary of IT band hell. Hard to believe, but 3 years ago today marked the end of my running career at the Pumpkin Push 5k race at Seward Park. About a week prior I developed horrible knee pain and couldn't run, let alone walk down stairs. I took a week off, then lined up for the start of the 5k thinking it surely had to be healed. Wrong! I remember hobbling the entire course, running on one leg down the steep hill, and gimping across the finish line. After that, I made several lame attempts at running to salvage my Seattle Half that year, but alas, I finally gave in.

About a month or so ago marked my return to running and today just reinforced what I already know: I need to keep a careful eye on myself and exercise some serious discipline. I love running, but I'm already increasing mileage too quickly and I need to back down and take it easy. That said, I know Boston was a long shot for next year anyway, but I'm officially killing it. I'd much rather postpone a year to get myself injury free than risk another 3 years of IT band hell.

Now I'm thinking of turning that Surf City Boston Marathon Qualifier into a half-marathon instead. I think I can be ready for that by February. So anyway, happy birthday IT band. Now it's time to mountain bike...

Looking ahead to Boston? Maybe?

This week might actually mark a turning point in my three year battle with ITBS. If you haven't heard of ITBS or read my blog before, I can best describe it as a horrible, painful, completely crippling injury for runners involving some stupid piece of connective tissue that runs from hip to knee. And it doesn't like to heal, that's for sure.

Early this week I hit the pavement and ran a mile for the first time in a long time completely pain free. The next day I did it again. And the next. Woo! I'm not necessarily running fast, and I'm not always running continuously, but just the fact that I can do this now with NO pain and NO funny hip or knee sensations means amazing progress. I wish I could explain how thoroughly excited I am to be jogging again! I was born to run!

I've already talked to Joe at Headquarters since he's wanted to sponsor someone at Boston for a long time. I came very close to qualifying for Boston at the Seattle Marathon years and years ago, and if I can get slowly trained back into shape, I fully intend to do it this time. I'm especially motivated by everyone who tells me how tough it is to qualify with Seattle. Hills? I love hills! :) So maybe in another year or two, I'll be running the Boston Marathon covered in Headquarters logos. Awesome!

Here we go again

Today I had my first appointment at Therapeutic Associates. This is my third attempt at alleviating the ITBS I've endured for almost three years. This time for some reason, I feel confident it'll be resolved. I started seeing a new doctor at the UW Med Center who has much more aggressive treatment options. I had an MRI that only showed patellar tendonitis and a very inflammed IT band, so at least nothing else was horribly wrong. He's starting me on a 6-week PT program, and if I don't see improvement, then we'll move on to blood injections and some other things.

The PT today consisted of ASTYM, which was excruciating to say the least. The therapist basically "scraped" my entire right leg with plastic instruments. It is supposed to break up any scar tissue that has formed and encourage healing. It felt very bumpy and gravelly and areas over my IT band were the most painful. I do have some mild bruising tonight and my leg feels like it's been beaten by a 2x4. Good times.

Afterwards I got an ultrasound and a thorough icing. I also have a set of prescribed strengthening and stretching exercises that will aid in healing. The therapy will continue twice a week for the next few weeks. Even though it supposedly gets easier, I'm certainly not looking forward to the next time. I've since read a lot about ASTYM and it seems very productive, so I'm really stoked to see if this finally gets rid of the ITBS. Running again seems like a dream to me!

IT band blues

Physical Therapy today made it official that it's pretty much impossible for me to run the Half Marathon this year. Ugh. My knee has been horribly sore since running on Saturday and I didn't even make it over two miles. My therapist said I'll be lucky to get back to running in 3-4 months. I was also told not to bike for at least two weeks (which sucks since it's nice and sunny out).

I guess I'm done for the year and I'll start looking ahead to the Whidbey Island Half Marathon in April. Depending on how therapy goes I *might* be ready then. Whoever thought a stupid piece of connective tissue could cause so many problems...geez. I guess this will be a nice time to work on swimming for a while.