Sweat Therapy

This week sucked.  There are no two ways about it.  It was crazy busy and stressful.  There were a few bright spots - I got to reconnect with friends I hadn't seen in a while for one - but on the whole it was a terrible week.

Usually stressful stuff like this doesn't get me down, but as you may know, I was on a running hiatus this week.  While nursing my irritated IT band, I didn't get my normal morning runs in.  It had been 6 days since I'd worked up a proper sweat, and boy, that really took its toll.

I spent practically the entire week wallowing and so tonight, I decided it was time to get over myself.  I planned a pretty slow and easy run around the neighborhood, just in case I ran into trouble.  I laced up my brand new running shoes and off I went.

Now normally, I have a "Move Your Ass" playlist that I listen to on my runs, but tonight I just let my iPhone give me what it would.  Incidentally, my iPhone's name is Hermione - because she always has the answer.  Well, tonight Hermione was reading my mind.  Every song that came up seemed to be a message to my troubled mind.  Here's the playlist:

1. Urgent - Foreigner
2. Vertigo - U2
3. I'm the Only One - Melissa Etheridge
4. The First Cut Is the Deepest - Sheryl Crow
5. Pictures of You - The Cure
6. One Less Bell to Answer/A House is Not  a Home - Kristen Chenoweth and Matthew Morrison
7. Julia - Chocolate Genius
8. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
9. Heartache for Everyone - Indigo Girls

After that does of sweat therapy, I feel like I can tackle those things that have been plaguing my mind.  It feels so good to be back!  Now, if you'll excuse me - I need to go work my plan.

Everything You Wanted To Know About The IT Band...

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been having some trouble with pain in the outside of my knee when I'm running.  Being a total newbie, I'm always paranoid about doing "permanent damage" to myself. Because of that I always jump on the internet to do some research at the first sign of trouble.  In my search, I found Digital Running Club.  This site is full of great tips and ideas - including one of the best Couch to Half Marathon plans I've seen.  My favorite feature is "Ask the Experts."  What a great resource!

When I saw it, I couldn't resist.  Being the curious person I am, I dropped an email to their expert asking how to treat this IT band ailment?  DO I rest or push through?  Here's what Run Coach Brian had to say:

The short answer is definitely to rest it. There's really no way to stretch the IT band itself because it's not a muscle. It's a fibrous band of tissue. Here's some background:
 

The IT band runs from your Illium (hip bone) to your tibia 9one of your shin bones), hence the name "Iliotibial band'. Although it runs alongside your femur (thigh bone), it is not attached to it. If you probe your knee with your fingers, you'll find that you've got a "knob" on either side of your knee. The inner one is the medial condyle of the femur and the outer is the lateral condyle of the femur. Your knee cap slides between the two. When the muscles of the hips, thighs and/or calves get too tight or imbalanced, the IT band gets pulled tight and begins to rub against the lateral condyle of the femur. This rubbing results in inflammation and pain. When the tissue gets inflamed, it begins to swell, which exacerbates the friction between the IT band and the femur making the problem worse.
 

So, if you don't rest it now, the problem will get worse and you'll only be in for a more extended period of rest later. Ice will help with the inflammation. When practical, ice the outside of your knee for 10-15 minutes at a time every 3-4 hours. Use of the foam roller will also help. Focus on your butt and your hips. In all likelihood, that's where the problem is originating. Of course, a visit to a massage therapist will also help greatly. Describe your symptoms and he/she should know what to do.
 

I recommend taking at least 1 week and probably 2 weeks off from running. After a week, start some strength training exercises to help prevent the problem in the future.

He even sent a link to a specific exercise - the single leg dead lift - to help get me started.   I've been starting slowly without weights with that one, just to get used to the motion.  Had my first run in a week tonight.

So, thanks Brian!  Your advice was extremely helpful, and greatly appreciated!

A Snag... A Painful One!

If there was ever a week where I needed to get some miles in, it was this one.  This week had been a rough one.  From Ken's eye surgery to the death of The Boy's new puppy, from the hectic pace of getting ready for the start of a new school year to the complex feelings I've been sifting through - this week was an A-Z tour of emotion: from Angst-filled to Zapped.  

My runs are a form of therapy for me.  Getting out on the trail allows me time to sort through what's going on in my head.  Working out those feelings of frustration is such a wonderful thing.  I'm fortunate to have found an activity that is both good for me physically and mentally.  I've come to crave the time and the exertion.

I was prepared - I'd downloaded the audio version of The Great Gatsby a few weeks ago, and was ready to immerse myself in Nick Carraway's world.  The weather was perfect - cool and a bit overcast with no threat of rain.  I was feeling good and so ready to work it out.

I got about 2.5 miles into the 10 mile course when I was seized with an overwhelming pain on the outer side of my right knee.  Every time I lifted my foot to take a step, it hurt. 

I was at first worried I'd done some kind of permanent damage.  (That's the curse of the novice runner - every tiny twinge of anything amiss is cause for worry.)  I had been reading an article about common running injuries, and this seemed to be consistent with an irritated IT band.  But at that moment in time, I wasn't concerned with the cause or the treatment.  As I walked the 2.5 miles back to my car, all I could think about about was missing my run.  

I was bereft. 

The tears started as I pulled away from the trail head.  They didn't stop until almost 45 minutes later.  (Read the bio - I can be prone to mild histrionics occasionally.  That's what would-be Drama Queens do!)  How was I going to survive without my outlet?  How could I process all that had happened this week without my run?  I needed the miles to sort through everything that was knocking around in my head!  

After a while, I pulled myself together.  (Turns out, bawling your eyes out is another effective way to deal with excess emotion.)  I got online and started to do some research.  A short email to the expert at www.digitalrunning.com - a great resource that all you running types should be checking out - and my suspicions were confirmed.  IT band inflammation.  

So it's rest for this girl.  One week of total rest, one week of stretching and strengthening, and then back to collecting the miles.  It feels good to have a plan to get back on track, but I don't know what I'm going to do with myself in the meantime.  I didn't fully realize how important this is to - now that I can't have it, I fear I'm going to go into withdrawal.  

However, I am intent on making this merely a temporary setback.  Too many times in the past, a snag like this would completely derail me.  Not this time.  It may be a pain - but it's not going to stop me.  

I've got way too much angst, and I need my therapy!

I'm Not Lazy - I Just Get Bored Easily

So, have I mentioned I'm training for a half-marathon?  I know, I know - I talk about it a lot.  It's a big deal in my universe.  I'm trying to be less obnoxious about it.  Operative word: trying.

In my training, I've been running some pretty long distances.  My personal best is 12 miles, which I've done twice.  Most of my training runs are now between 8 and 10 miles, gradually working up to a 14 miler in the weeks before the big race.  Now, when you run as slowly as I am, it takes a long time to cover that kind of distance.  Most of my big runs have been with other people: either the Galloway group or my various running buddies.  This weekend, I attempted to go it alone.

It was a beautiful morning - a bit misty from rains the night before.  The temperature was reasonable for mid-August.  The trail was completely deserted.  I could hear the chirp of the birds and the rustling of the squirrels in the brush.  There was a creek babbling under me for part of the time.  The world was peaceful, silent, tranquil.

It was torture.

As the miles went by, I found myself fighting to stay focused and in the moment.  Usually when I'm running, I get kind of a zen state where the issues I'd been turning over in my mind are cast in a different light and suddenly seem manageable.  When I run with a partner or group, there is just enough chit-chat to keep me energized and present.  When we lapse into silence, I do some serious thinking.  But it's always a pleasure to pull my head out of the clouds, shake it like an etch-a-sketch and dive back into conversation.   There's something invigorating about being able to bat around ideas and observations.  It keeps me from getting bored.

Now, I realize that running is supposed to be a deeply transformative experience that brings me to a higher plane of awareness.  (Wait, maybe that's meditation.  Yoga?  Shopping?  I get confused.)  But when I'm out there alone, the main emotion I'm feeling is...boredom.

Having music helps, but for some reason, the shuffle function was not operating for my playlist - so I was stuck with the same old tunes.  Predictability is my enemy when it comes to the long run.

So Sunday, I ended up cutting my run short.  I did 5 miles instead of the planned 10.  I started to beat myself up about it.  You know the drill, Jeez, why are you so lazy?  Don't you want to be successful?  You're not trying hard enough.  (I'm really starting to feel that that voice in my head is a mean bitch.) 

So I asked myself, Why are you doing this?  Why are you out here at 6am on a Sunday morning when you could be asleep and dreaming happily?  The answer?  Because I need to be.  I need to feel the pounding of my heart and the straining of my legs.  I need to breathe the fresh air and feel the sun on my skin.  If I don't run, I don't function properly.  I'm not running to prove anything to anyone.  I'm not running because I'm out to break any records or set a standard.  I'm doing it because it feels good.  Because I enjoy it.  Because it's fun.

And so cutting off my run a bit early because it wasn't fun seemed perfectly reasonable.  Will I pay for it later?  Maybe, but who will I be paying?  In this instance, cutting it short helped me to silence that bitchy inner voice and helped me to remember exactly why I'm pounding away on this path.