Toughing It Out Through 8 Miles

I went for my weekly long Saturday run. My goal was 8 miles, and, lo and behold, I actually did it. I was gone about 1:20 but the last five minutes or so I was walking off the pain and cooling down.

My Route

I ran up Campo Bello to 20th Street and north to Grovers, then west to 7th Street, as usual. But this time I crossed 7th Street and ran all the way down past the ward building and the end of the road where it curved around to Villa Rita, then back up to Central. Then I went north to Union Hills, and finally west to 7th Avenue before turning around and going back the same way.

But right as I got to 7th Avenue and turned around, my IT Band started tightening up on my left leg... AGAIN! As usual it felt like a really sharp pain on the lateral side of my knee, but I continued on.

In fact, the last four miles I really pushed myself through that. I didn't really know I had that it me. As I was running back, I was constantly saying affirmations to myself to really hold the pain off. I said things like:

"My legs are loose and feel great."

"The longer I run, the looser my legs get."

"The longer I run, the looser my IT band gets."

I was really able to hold off the pain. That is, until I got to my last mile. Holy moly, was that hard. A few different times I thought my knee was going to give out on me from the pain. Soon after that, my other knee started feeling some of the same pain. By the time I was finally finished, I could not believe I really pushed through all that pain.

I was kind of impressed that my pain threshold was that high, although I don't want to test it anymore while I run. I have to really be consistent with my stretching every day, as well as get enough sleep. The last time this happened to me, I did not sleep a whole lot that night. Last night I went to bed at 10:30 and woke up at 2:30. Why? I don't know... I just couldn't sleep. But I took a snooze this afternoon and when I woke up, my legs felt slightly better.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed I ran 8 miles. A year ago, I had a hard time running 3 miles. Now? What a cakewalk! ;-P

Thursday Run Results on Friday Morning

The last two weeks, I haven't been that great at getting my Tuesday runs in. This week has been crazy with our van's transmission crapping out on us and all, but that shouldn't be an excuse.

Anyway, I ran 4 miles yesterday. I have to say that after running 7 miles on Saturday, 4 miles felt relatively easy. Getting up at 5 am to do it wasn't easy, but who cares. I didn't have to push myself at all and just kind of lost myself in my thoughts, which was nice. In fact, my run felt very relaxing and therapeutic.

I will say I started getting that felling in the back of my left knee where I had that Baker's cyst a year and a half ago, but it went away toward the end of the run, so I'm not going to pay it any attention.

Before work yesterday, I went to Dr. Force's office for the AK class he teaches his associate doctors. I volunteered to be the guinea pig for thoracic adjusting techniques. I'm glad I did. Dr. Force adjusted my 1st rib, T1-2, and T7. I felt great the rest of the day and I'm looking forward to seeing how that rib adjustment works for me on my run tomorrow. Everytime I run, I'm constantly out of breath and I'm always having to catch that last little breath of air in my lungs. It get pretty old sometimes. But that rib adjustment should really help.

Another doctor that was there taught me to stimulate my lymphatics by rubbing really hard at the area where the deltoids and pecs meet, as well as up and down alongside the sternum. He also showed me this place on the top of my head where I can rub very slightly to stimulate more relaxed blood flow to my lungs. Needless to say, I will be trying all this when I run tomorrow.

I'm shooting for an 8-miler tomorrow, so we shall see how that goes. I might have to go a different route... The route I've been going is getting pretty bland and shabby to look at. I'll have to re-route tonight.

Holy Moly! 7 miles This Morning!

Wow! I ran 7 miles this morning. It's kind of hard to believe I did that, but I did. I have to say I felt really good the whole run except for the last mile. That was just plain hard. When I finished and cooled down with a short walk, I really felt like I had been hit by a bus. Sheesh!

My Route

I ran up Campo Bello to 20th Street, headed north to Grovers, and then went west to 7th street. I ran back up to 20th street, turned around and went back to 7th street, before coming back. Then I ran back down 20th street to Campo Bello and home.

It was kind of interesting... when I would run toward 7th Street, I felt on top of the world and almost like I could run forever. But when I would turn around and head back in the direction of home, it felt harder.

I think this could have something to do subconsciously with me feeling like my run is almost over and the end is in sight, even thought it's not. I'm not sure why that would be. Another thing was that when I ran west, the sun was to my back and I was in the shade periodically. Heading east, I wasn't in the shade and the sun was beating down on my face and chest.

On my second go-around toward 7th Street, I was feeling like I could push it to 8 miles today. But on my way back, especially on my last mile, that was just not going to happen. I was really laboring to finish.

I took my squeeze bottle with me and filled it up with some Vitamin Water. That stuff is filled with sugar, but that's a good thing when you're running for a long time. It really helped me with my energy, so that's good.

All in all, I was running for about an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and twenty. It felt great to accomplish that, but man I've been feeling it since. Not so much that my legs and feet hurt, but just my body overall. I can tell I really pushed myself.

Another interesting thing was that the whole time I ran, I felt fantastic. The instant I stopped, and this is no joke, my allergies flared up. I was sneezing and my nose tickled like crazy. Obviously running suppressed that for a while.

4 Miles This Morning

This morning I went for a 4 mile run. I felt really good in my new shoes. during the last mile, I started feeling that darn ITB pain in my left knee. I just bore down and pushed through it, though. That was really just a by-product of not stretching enough. I just have to make sure that ITB gets stretched thoroughly.

First Run With New Shoes

So last week was a rough week and I didn't run any day except for Monday. That's all I'll say about that.

But yesterday, I finally got new running shoes. It's been a year overdue so I'm very grateful to have the new shoes. I was going to get the same shoes I had, the Mizzuno Wave Alchemy 6, but the store was all out. So I got the Wave Alchemy 7s instead. They felt really springy and gave my feet a lot of cushion. I tried on a different, cheaper pair and they didn't give me the same support.

When I ran last night, I just went for a 3 mile run. But with the new shoes, I really realize how hard my legs had to work to run before. These shoes have so much spring that they really made it easy for my legs to move. I had the fastest 3 mile run I've had since I started running again. I think it was about a 10-minute mile pace.

I felt really good during the run, but toward the end of it, I could tell I was wearing new shoes. My feet started getting hot and my left middle toe started feeling tingly, but I realized that was because my sock bunched up under it for some reason.

Overall, it was a great run and thank goodness for new shoes!

Short Run Tonight

When I got home from work, I went out for a 3 mile run. Nothing special, nothing exciting. Just a basic run to keep my body in the training mode.

My Route

I ran from our complex on Campo Bello up to 20th Street, then north to Union Hills. I backtracked to Grovers and headed east to Cave Creek, then back to 20th street. I finished up to Campo Bello then west back to our place.

I definitely wasn't in the mood. I used to prefer to run at night, but since I started running in the mornings last week, I've changed my mind. But, the point is that I went.

My biceps were still a little sore and fatigued from my long run on Saturday.

I kept my pace up as much as possible. At times, I think my body just slowed down on its own, against my will. That's OK, because my left buttock was still fairly sore.

All in all, I feel good that I went out and ran tonight.

About Yesterday

Nothing major to report here. However, yesterday was the first day all week that I did not work out in some form or capacity, be it running or calisthenics.

I felt it. I just felt off and didn't feel all that energetic. Even on days when I don't start out the day exercising, just knowing I will later seems to be enough to keep me going. Like today for example. I didn't run this morning, but I plan on going for a short 3-3.5 mile run tonight when I get home from work. Because of that, I feel really good today. It's almost like a pre-run runner's high.

Anyhow, just an observation I had.

My Best Run Yet... Finally!!!

No ITB syndrome today.

So, finally, I could run... and run... and apparently run some more. I avoided going down Union Hills today, which means I avoided the "ITB Hill."

I didn't have the energy I had on Thursday. In fact, for almost 2/3 of the run, I had to really push through a wall and talk myself into going a little further. I almost stopped several times, not wanting to push myself too hard because of my ITB issues this week. But I told myself to shut up each time and reminded myself how much I wanted to run earlier in the week. So needless to say, I didn't stop, until much later.

Here was my route: From our town home complex up Campo Bello to 20th street. Then north to Union Hills and back to Grovers. West on Grovers to 7th street, then all the way back to Cave Creek (which is the same as 24th street). Then I ran back to 20th street, headed south to Bell, then back to Campo Bello where I finally stopped and walked home. All this added up to a total of 6.3 miles! My all-time best!

Halfway into it, I felt really thirsty. My energy wasn't what it has been either. This week I would eat a couple pieces of the healthy cake January made, as well as a banana, and I would load up on water. This morning we didn't have any bananas, so I ate an orange that tasted only like the pith. very dry, very blah. Yuck! I also had a piece of cake. I had a few tall glasses of water. I had a feeling I should've had more. I didn't listen to my gut, so I started feeling pretty parched as I was running back up Grovers to Cave Creek. Needless to say, I like my morning banana and tons and tons of water.

A few times I noticed my pelvis was rocked forward, causing me to tense up in my hip flexors. When I noticed, I would rock my pelvis the opposite way and my legs loosened up, especially my hip flexors.

One funny thing happened as I was running down Grovers to 7th Street. A guy in his little red Hyundai pulled over on the side of road opposite the side I was running on. He got out and offered me some reading material. Judging by his Sunday's best, he was a Jehovah's Witness. I said I wasn't interested and chuckled to myself. I have to give the guy some credit... he had some serious cajones to ask someone if they wanted to religious material while they were running. He had two other people in his car, and I saw them driving back and forth, here and there, etc. At one point, when I was running back up Grovers, a different guy got out and approached a woman walking her dogs. She wasn't interested either. Hmmm.... Maybe witnessing to people on their morning walk or run isn't the greatest strategy. Seriously.

The Learning Experiences Continue...

I was going to title this post "This is Pissing Me Off!" But I opted for the positive tone, since I'm a positive person.

Having suffered an unexpected bout of ITB syndrome Tuesday, I was aware of the possibility for more of that today. Tuesday was a bit of a hellish day for me. My legs were killing me all day. I had to walk around a lot that day when all I wanted to do was sit and rest. I got a good night's sleep and yesterday I felt much better. I felt some slight lingering effects in my lateral knee area once in a while yesterday, but nothing serious.

I woke up this morning feeling great physically. I ate a banana and some of the healthy pumpkin cake January made. I loaded up on a ton of water to get hydrated. My goal was to run that 5 miles I was going for Tuesday.

I stretched really well, especially my ITBs, calves, and hamstrings. I wanted to make sure nothing would tighten up and rub my ITB over my femoral condyles. That sucks!

So I started my run going the exact same way I did Tuesday. Physically, I felt as good as I've ever felt on a run. I wasn't felling that wall at all, so that was great. I had a good pace going as well.

As I was coming down that hill between 16th Street and 12th street that's when I felt it. That ITB pain started coming back, but this time in only my left knee. My right leg/knee was the big problem Tuesday, but felt completely fine today.

the pain wasn't too bad, so I kept going past 12th Street. I noticed it started progressing a little but so I turned around, slowed down and walked down 12th Street to Grovers and eventually home.

I was extremely frustrated because I was feeling great. I probably got about 1.6-1.7 miles of running in before I had to walk the rest of the way.

When I was researching this pain, I found that it can be caused by circular tracks or crowned surfaces. I remember running on a lot of crowned sidewalks Tuesday. But I made a point of avoiding those surfaces this morning. I also saw that when you have patellofemoral pain (chondromalacia) that it's triggered by going down hills. But that kind of pain is behind the kneecap and on the medial side of the kneecap. That's not what I felt. So I was frustrated that going down the hill seemed to trigger my ITB pain.

I think there are some factors as to why this is happening:

1. It's been cold in the mornings... maybe my legs are tightening up from that?

2. I need new running shoes really bad. Seeing as how I should be replacing them every 350-500 miles or every 6 months, I'm really overdue, like a year overdue.

3. I noticed that my left calf was much tighter this morning than my right calf. This can trigger ITB syndrome sometimes.

4. I also noticed that my left ITB was tighter than my right. I thought I stretched it out enough, but maybe not.

5. I have to avoid hills. Going up hills is no big deal, but going down is tough. It keeps my quads constantly loaded and obviously that's not good, At least for me right now. This will be tough when we move back to Dallas. All it is out there is hills.

6. I exercised my legs pretty hard on Monday. I think doing this and running is too much for my legs to handle. I trained my calves too hard and I did a lot of squat reps. My legs have probably been too sore and tight because of this. No more leg workouts.

So these are the things I think caused it. I think I just need to rest my legs for now.

Back Into the Swing of Things

It's been 40 days since my last post. I got a little lazy with my posting, along with moving and work. My running schedule has been very off. Not long after my last post I ran over 5 miles, but then things got a little crazy and I allowed that to be an excuse as to why I didn't run.

It's been hard because our financial situation has been really frustrating and we had to move again (the 4th time in the past 10 months)! This time into Poppy's town home, which has been a HUGE blessing. Because my pay scale since I've been licensed has been sporadic at best, I can't count on a fixed amount every week, so living in the town home will allow us to breathe a little bit.

But enough of the excuses. The main reason I haven't been running is because I allowed myself to get out of the habit since we moved. That led to me losing some, or most, of my drive to run a marathon.

But a funny thing happened over the weekend. I was reading some stuff on Tim Ferriss' blog and in one of his posts he mentioned an article about a guy named Dean Karnazes. He said something about this guy running an ultra-marathon, which is a 135 mile trek through Death Valley in the summer. This guy sleeps 4 hours a night, runs a marathon every morning, gets back in time to make his family breakfast, and takes his kids to school. He's basically a family man who also happens to be a bit of a genetic freak that can run for 350 straight miles, not sleeping for 3 days!

His most recent mind-blowing experience was running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. I watched the clip of him on the Conan O'Brien show the day after he finished his 50th marathon (New York City Marathon).

I'm going to get his book, but I have to say, what I saw on his site really, really, REALLY lit a fire under me. I was so motivated to get up and run this morning that I hardly slept, although half of that can be attributed to Trent keeping me up for 2 hours.

I got up around 3 am and ate a banana and a piece of toast. I stretched, bundled up (it's cold this morning), and went running.

My goal was to go up Campo Bello to 20th street, go north to Union Hills, then west all the way to 7th street, south to Bell, and then either stop at our town home complex or continue on to 20th street before heading north to Campo Bello and back home, depending on how I felt.

At about Grovers, I started to push through my wall and I felt like I could go forever. However, at the same time, I started getting a sharp, swelling pain just under my right kneecap. It didn't feel very good (still doesn't... I got ice on it as I type this) and got progressively worse. I know exactly what it was. My glutes started to tighten up, which led to my IT band tightening up, which affected the muscles around my knee. As I ran, it felt like a knife was stabbing into my knee. It was also swelling up and I had a hard time bending my leg.

I made it past Bell and all the way up to about 12th Street before I had to slow down to a walk. I walked for about 100 yards, then ran again. I didn't get very far before I had to stop. I thought about how much pain Dean Karnazes had to push through to do all the long distance runs he's done, and I figured I could push through another 4 1/2 blocks. I started to run again, but the pain and extreme tightness in my IT band was too much to bear. I had to walk the rest of the way home, and it was not easy. I think the cold temperature didn't help much either.

I felt pretty bummed out because I wanted to run 5-6 miles this morning and really push myself beyond my normal limits. I didn't know how far my goal for this morning was at the time, but I figured it was between 5 and 6 miles. I was frustrated that I probably barely ran 3 miles, if that. Or so I thought.

After I ate, drank a ton of H2O, stretched and recovered a little bit, I went and drove my route and discovered, much to my surprise, that I actually ran 4 miles. I was shocked I actually ran that far. If my legs had cooperated with my mind and lungs, I would have easily accomplished my goal.

Oh well.

That's OK because I know I can and will do it later this week.