It's been a rough few weeks.
After the run at Golden Gardens, I had a series of physical breakdowns that had me sidelined for quite awhile. My right foot, right glute/hamstring and left knee/IT band all ganged up at the same time. Wight the advice of one of the running coaches, I decided to sit out for a couple weeks to let things heal up.
My foot and right hamstring came back quickly enough, but my left IT band continued to plague me. There were days I couldn't even manage 30 minutes on a treadmill.
At the end of April, I tried a long run at the gym instead of going to the organized group run (knowing that I'd not be able to complete it). I got 50 minutes before I had to stop. Taking that as a measure of improvement, I decided to do the next Saturday group run on May 7th. We ran part of the Burke Gilman, starting at Matthews Beach heading south towards the U-District. I did pretty well through the first 40 minutes or so. I made it to the water stop, turned around and headed back. I was going glacially slow and focusing on my posture as much as I could. As I passed 50 minutes, I counted this run as a win. I got to 60, 70 and then 80 minutes. I had gone farther than I thought I could, so I was pretty happy. Of course, as soon as I decided that the run had been a success, my IT band came calling and my knee gave out at 85 minutes.
Walking back to home base, Shelby, one of the coaches found me, and walked with me for awhile. We talked about my IT issues and he offered to "dig on me" once I got back to home base. He is a pro coach and runner, owns a running shop and has a degree in this stuff. He knows his shit. He had me lie down on the ground, fold my left leg over and proceeded to dig his elbow into my left glute. Good Lord, the pain was insane. I either had to cry or laugh, so I was kind of giggling like a fool. He told me to get a lacrosse ball and use it do the same thing on my own.
I got the ball and added it to my daily foam roller routine. It hurt like hell, but it was worth it. I slowly increased the time I could go before the pain caught up to me.
The following week, we had a longrun out at Lincoln Park, 160 minutes. I made it 140 before my knee gave out. I did a walk/run mix to finish out. I ended up doing 13.94 miles in 2:48:47. An amazing piece of progress. I also realized as I finished the run that I had just complete a half marathon. I was pretty pleased with myself.
Probably too pleased.
The weather got much nicer and being that it was Ride to Work week, I decidedmto ride my bike to work on Thursday and then again on Friday. My legs were tired, but I didn't feel any pain.
Yesterday, we had a group run at Genessee Park. A "short" 110 minute jaunt. I felt confident that I'd be able to do the whole run. I was wrong.
I made it to the second water stop and turn around point in good time, right at about 55 minutes. The route is kind of hilly with long, gradual climbs and one abrupt climb. Going out, I did fine. Coming back, not so much.
As I got to the first long downhill, my knee gave out pretty quickly. I'd gone about 60 minutes. I tried stretching and doing the run/walk thing, but I couldn't run for more than a few minutes at a time. I was cursing a good clip every time my knee gave out. I was able to hobble through until the last part of the course which was mostly flat tending to a slight uphill. I was able to keep my run going and finished the last 10 minutes or so without stopping.
Next week is our longest run - 3 hours total. It's out at Redhook and the Sammamish River Trail, which is mostly flat with a couple small hills. I'm hopeful that I can get a better result. I definitely feel like my energy and stamina are there and I would be able to do the marathon if it weren't for my IT band.
We are 5 weeks away from the marathon. I'm going to complete it one way or another. I'd like it to be running the whole way.
