After a forced hiatus for most of last week, Coach Bennett gave me the green light to try 8 miles on Saturday. But he was very clear, if the knee/IT was causing any pain I was to shut it down, call J and have him come pick me up!
My friend E had 8 scheduled too – it was her second time going that far, so we decided to run together. I knew this way I would not be tempted to do anything but take it nice and easy. I did pick a route with a couple of rolling hills because I did want to see how my legs would feel on the downhills. I’m happy to say that for the most part it was an uneventful run. E & I ran and chatted and took a couple of walk breaks along the way. For the most part I didn’t feel my knee/ITB until about 5 miles in…and even then it wasn’t much.
It seems like the rest and focus on strength training helped. Bennett’s given me the go to continue with the training plan this week – keeping in mind that if the pain returns, the running must stop. I ran 7 yesterday with mixed results. My ITB was really tight and I had a hard time holding my target pace. But there was no real pain, so I’ll take that as a small victory.
I’ve got 5 more on Wednesday and Thursday’s hill work before my last double digit run on Saturday. In between runs, I plan to foam roll, ice and strength train like it’s my job 🙂 Thankfully I’ve got a massage scheduled later this week and my “yoga for runners” class is back! So fingers crossed, the knee watch continues…
no real pain is a HUGE VICTORY.
It’s so hard—for me at least—as I know Id be overanalyzing how it feels 24/7.
xo
Yay for no “real” pain!! I’m glad that the rest and strength training is helping…you are playing it smart! Here’s to a pain free week!
You answered my question in your last paragraph: you’re foam rolling like crazy. Yay. So sorry this is a concern for you now. Praying the pain stays away!
Hope your knee is doing much better and that the pain won’t come back again!
Those are great news! I hope your knee is still cooperating! Massages are great! During marathon training I get one every other week 🙂
Oh, fingers crosssed! I think my ITB issue is going to be chronic, but as long as it doesn’t spread, I can cope with it (and stretch, foam roll, and strengthen)
I hope this does it for you and that you can keep it in check. My ITB flared up about a week ago and I was lucky enough to have one massage do the trick. Good luck!