I apologize for having not posted anything in awhile. Training has been... anti-climatic to say the least.
I have been having endless iliotibial band issues since my 9 mile run. They have mostly haunted me in the leg I used to love because it never has any problems. Once it took hold it won't let up, so now it's commonly referred to as "the sucky leg".
I have been managing the knee pain, even doing well with it, so I felt good enough to try for 12 miles today. I would have even been happy with 10.
This run was doomed before I even started for many reasons: 1) My knee sucks, as mentioned above. 2) I have a cold and have the past couple days. 3) I was underfueled and tried to force food down right before I walked out the door. (Here's Your Sign! - Bill Engvall)
I did not go 12, I did not go 10... I quit this run after 3. I fought for every step of the 3 miles too. When I stopped to walk because of the pain I figured, "I'll run again when the pain subsides and I'll get through 10 or 12 just walking and running. No shame in that." No dice. I almost had to drag my leg when I stopped to walk because bending my knee hurt so much. I was three blocks from home at this point, so I cashed in. (I did do something productive, I observed the sidewalk where this pain often kicks in... it's slanted! Jerks! Of course I have problems on that 1/2 mile stretch. The sidewalk isn't flat! Grrr.)
I cried in the street on the way home. I'm pretty sure it was more over the pain of having quit than actual pain. I'm not good at quitting, but I know it was the right thing to do. It didn't prevent me from being pissed for the last few hours either. Good friends helped me out and now I'm not feeling as bad about it. I'm still disappointed.
Strength training and a sports doc/PT are in my future. Woohoo! At least we're coming up on the last 3 weeks of craziness at work, so I'll have time to make some appointments and get a referral.
I'm sorry I don't have something awesome to report, but this blog was about the journey and sometimes the journey is all uphill.
