Psychologically Bouncing Back

My most recent marathon attempt was only 3 1/2 weeks ago, and since then, I've been battling an leg injury.  I initially thought it might have been an ITB issue, but now, am thinking it might be a tibialis anterior (shin) issue.  Who knows.  Marathon training is supposed to begin, and that's already delayed.  I know I've got upcoming races scheduled, and the thought of delaying my training any longer is torture.  Psychologically, it's hard to bounce back, knowing what you've accomplished, and knowing how much a simple little injury can set you back.  I've got to find a way to balance it all, learning to accept the fact that if I'm injured, I need the necessary time to recover.  At the same time, a runner needs to run.  Even though I've been logging miles over the last few weeks (to make sure I meet my minimum 100 mile per month goal), I wouldn't really call it running, or at least it's not satisfying my psychological need. I don't know why, but that psychological need is strong in me, even though I'm not a fast runner.  It's just proof that even a slow runner needs to run.

Tonight's Run Felt Great

On  my daily shuffle this evening, I may have had another breakthrough.  Over the last couple of days, I've been focusing on strengthening my tibialis anterior muscle, since my pain in my knee has been below my knee joint (reference the video in the previous post).  Also, I put my ITB strap below the knee joint tonight, instead of above it.  The ITB strap really should be placed over your ITB above the joint, but if this really is a tibialis issue instead, the strap need to be below the knee joint to eliminate the floppage at the insertion point.

Anyhow, long story short, I was able to run my best pace yet since the marathon 3 1/2 weeks ago, with virtually no pain at all.  I did stop to walk for just a minute or so, but overall, had a great run on the treadmill at the gym.  I'm going to rest tomorrow just to give it some extra time, but am hoping that my run on Thursday will be OK too.

Otherwise, a new 18 week marathon training plan was supposed to start this week. I decided to delay that at least one week, to try to give my knee some additional rest.  Since I've got the benefit of experience, even delaying my training by a week or more shouldn't hurt me overall, as I should easily be able to make up some progress as my knee continues to strengthen.

ITBS Cures

The thought occurred to me that I need to document how I recovered from the pain in my left ITB, so mainly I don't forget and can use that info for my right leg.  Primarily, what helped on the left leg was a series of strengthening exercises that helped improve my glutes, my hip abductors, my hamstrings, and of course, stretching the connectors to the ITB in my hip  One of the main stretches that I was doing was a form of the Walt Reynolds stretch, where I would step up on a phone book with my affected leg (bad leg), and step down on the floor with my good leg.  Then I would rotate my affected hip up and out, which effectively put my zipper line over my big toe.  This is kind of a wobbly stretch, but I think it helps to stretch the hip muscle (abductor) that attaches to the ITB.  I also would simulate this action any time I was standing around, just without the phonebook, which engaged the hamstring, and also stretched the hip.  Using a theraband also helped to strengthen my hip abductors, lying on my side, then wrapping the theraband around my knees, and doing knee lifts. Of course, constant icing after runs helps, even at other times of day, along with taking NSAIDs (Aleve seems to work best), and continued use of the ultrasound with medicated ultrasound gel seems to help keep the inflammation down.

I've also stumbled across a video that hints that the reason could be inflammation in the tibialias anterior muscle, since the pain often presents itself below the knee cap. The doctor in the video theorizes that if it were true ITB pain, you should have anterior knee pain above the knee joint, which I've never had.  Hmm, it's worth a shot.

Initially, I also started with a shoe insert, the green Super Feet insoles.  This helped, and the PT thought that custom orthotics would also help.  I wholeheartedly agreed since I do have insurance coverage for orthotics, but come to find out, my insurance denied the claim, although I don't know why.  But, the custom orthotics were a big step I think, but they didn't prevent me from injuring my right leg in the same manner. 

Bottom line, I've got to get this ITBS in my right leg under control, and fast. I don't necessarily need to run fast, but I do want to run pain free.  I'm doing it all, but just don't seem to be making much progress.

Intense Stretching Routine Starts Tomorrow

I've still been battling ITBS in my right leg.  Last week, I thought I might have turned a corner, as a couple of my jogs were relatively pain free.  But, it was short lived as I still have pain in my knee when I run, and it's all a result of straining my ITB during the marathon, I'm positive of that.  Granted, the marathon was only 3 weeks ago (almost seems like a lifetime ago, weird), so I'm still in recovery mode from that no doubt.

But, a new marathon training cycle is supposed to begin tomorrow, and I've got a half marathon race in Huntington Beach, CA in 6 weeks.  I was able to run 5 miles today, and I don't have a doubt that I can finish this upcoming HM race, but I really need to get rid of this ITBS.  I think I may also consider going back to the PT, to make sure to get the right combination of stretches to help facilitate healing.

For once, I'd like to have a solid marathon training cycle without any injuries and do an intense training program, but that may have to wait for my fall marathon.

Also, regarding long term goals, even though I've only got intentions of doing 2 marathons this year, since I want to focus on quality rather than quantity this year, perhaps next year, I might try to run a marathon a each month.  That would be fun!

Running Through a Blizzard?

Today, we've experienced a historical Christmas blizzard.  I was trapped at work till late last night, but got out just in time before the roads were plugged for good.  So, was able to spend Christmas with my family, tucked away safely at home, and enjoying the snow.  We've gotten 10-12" of snow so far, with 5-6 foot drifts.  It's been amazing.

Earlier today, I decided to suit up and go for a blizzard run, mainly just to say I "did" it.  I got a pair of CWX Insulator tights, and really wanted to try them out.  With a couple of layers up top, hat, gloves, and some smartwool socks, I headed out.  I only did a 1 mile loop around our neighborhood, and that was all I could take.  Running through foot-deep snow drifts is a lot harder than I thought, and my lungs were starting to burn since the wind chill was only 2 degrees. Winds gusting to about 30 mph, light snow falling, 12" of snow on the ground, it was priceless, and something I just "had" to do.

Merry Christmas, hope everyone got some great running gifts.

I may have Turned the Corner

I've been running this past week, well, doing a run/walk shuffle, but not without a lot of pain in my right knee.  I thought it was getting better, but in reality, I don't think it was.  I finally got out this past weekend and did some running outside, after doing a number of runs on the treadmill. Yesterday may have been a turning point though, as I was able to run about 2/3 of my 3.1 mile jog, without any significant pain.  And, I was able to repeat that on this evening's run, without any pain at all.  So, I think I'm definitely making progress.  It did feel good tonight, although I did have some shin splint pain, but that was minor.

Making Progress

10 days post marathon, and I feel am making progress regarding my ITBS.  I did not run for about 3 days after the marathon, mainly because of the blizzard we received, and dealing with the aftermath of that.  But, by last Thursday, I was ready to start again, and have done a run/walk every day since then, either doing 3, 4, or 5 miles. The first run was pretty tough, with a immediate pain in my knee whenever I jogged, but walking at the same pace did not hurt.  So, I started doing my stretches, and just took it easy, gradually doing a little more each day.  This is a very mild case of ITBS, certainly not as bad as I had in my left leg earlier this year, hence the reason I am able to do a little bit more.  Today, I was able to fully run half my distance, so am making improvements a little each day. I've still got another couple of weeks of recovery runs lined up before a new marathon training cycle starts, and I'm OK with that.  So, I will probably be doing a daily run of 3 or 4 miles, with nothing longer until I can get to a pain-free point again in my knee.  I'm also stepping up my stretching regimen, so that will likely help too.

It's a weird feeling, knowing I've run so much, and have recently just done 3 marathons, and now I can't even run more than 1/4 mile without pain.  I long to be 100% healthy again, where I can just run, and run, and run.  It will come, I have to have faith that it will.

It's a Beautiful Thing

After looking at the Running Ahead Graph of my runs over the last 30 days, it occurred to me that the 2 red spikes 2 weeks apart were a beautiful thing.  Those 2 red spikes are my last two marathons, which earned me a ticket into the Marathon Maniacs club.  Even though I hurt my good knee doing it (ITB issues), it was definitely worth it (I think).

The ITB is slowly getting better, as I'm able to run a little further each day with it, but it still hurts a bit.  Kind of odd, if I walk at a given pace, it does not hurt my knee, but if I even jog or shuffle, it does hurt my knee.  And, the knee doesn't hurt at other times, so guess it will just take more time. And some strengthening exercises should help too.

Anyhow, the graph below is now symmetrical, and just thought it was a pretty sight.

The Psychological Impacts of Being Injured

Well, I tried another run last night with the same results.  If I run, at any speed, I have immediate pain in the lateral side of my right knee.  Classic ITBS.  Eff.  But, I seemingly can walk forever without any issues, and this certainly isn't as bad as the ITBS I had in my left knee.  But, it's also frustrating at the same time.

I look back on what I've accomplished, at how many miles I've run, and it now angers me that I can't run at all without pain.  I've got a secret goal in mind of keeping a 100 mile-per-month running streak going.  Last month, I ran 145.5 miles, without any pain at all.  Now I can't even run a block.  Is my 5-month 100 mile streak in jeopardy?  It could be.

I'm doing what I need to do to get this better.  I'm using my home ultrasound unit to zap it whenever I can.  I'm stretching.  I'm taking anti-inflammatory meds. It's just going to take time, but time is something that's not on my side.  I had hopes of starting a new marathon training cycle on December 28th, to run the Lincoln, NE 2010 marathon in early May.  And, I've registered for the Surf City HM in early February, hoping for a chance at a PR.  So, ITBS in my right leg may have sidetracked those plans.

I've got 3 weeks. In that time, I hope to baby my right leg along, and hope to continue to strengthen it to the point that the ITB becomes flexible enough, just like my left leg has. I intend to do more walking than running.  I intend to do some pool running.  Bottom line, now is not the time to go for long or hard runs, that will only make the situation worse.  A dose or two of dexamethasone would should feel nice, so I may give the PT a call to see if they can get me in. 

Simply put, ITBS sucks, and it's a huge psychological hit when you want to run, but can't.

Winter Traction

Now that the snow has arrived here in Nebraska, it's time to start thinking about extra traction on my shoes.  There are a few choices, ranging from Yak Traks, to STABILicers Sport Snow cleats, to the plain, old fashioned, Screw Shoe. Honestly, the thought of running in the snow doesn't sound that appealing, since I didn't enjoy it that much last year, but I'd better decide on one of these options, sooner, rather than later, otherwise, I'll be stuck on the dreadmill for a very long time.

Testing My Knee

Decided to test my knee today on a short run. After the 12 inches of snow that we got two days ago, I wasn't really excited to run in the snow or cold. So the treadmill won out. Immediately upon starting to run, I had pain in the knee. Walking does not hurt, but running at 4.7 mph does. So, I did a very slow jog, and stopped to stretch every 1/2 mile. It's just going take time, and a lot of stretching, ice, ultrasound, and patience for this to heal, just like my left knee did earlier this year. I still don't know why I'm prone to ITBS anyhow. It sucks.  The knee does not hurt otherwise during the day, or when walking, only when running.

Oh My Aching Back

Well, after about 12" of snow yesterday, 50 mph wind gusts, and 24 straight hours of working, I finally made it home today. Unfortunately, I sent my snowblower in for repairs last week, so ended up scooping out our driveway manually.  It had drifted shut, and it took several hours of scooping to finally clear an 8-foot wide path to the street.  Since I could not get into my subdivision initially because the snow was so deep, I tried later in the day to retrieve my car from the main highway, and promptly got my car high-centered in the street in a mound of snow.  Doh.  It took about 1 1/2 hours of digging under the car to finally get it free.  Then, when the snow plow finally came by later in the evening, he knocked the 6' mound of snow I had created at the end of my driveway back into my clear, open path, so I had to scoop it out again. Eii Yii Yii.  At the end of the day, my muscles were very sore, and my back was killing me. Snow shoveling is definitely a great form of cross training exercise, I just hope I don't have to do any more of it for long while.

A Midwestern Blizzard, Oh My

Today, a blizzard is expected across the region.  That's both a good and bad thing.  Mainly, it will keep me off my feet as I have to work (I'm a weatherman), and it will give me a couple of days to heal.  I may get stuck at work for 24 straight hours, but that's OK, and hopefully, the rest will be good for my knee.  Otherwise, I really don't have any other major aches or muscle soreness.  I think the huge amount of walking I did post-race really helped out a lot. I will have to remember that for future races.

Walking, Walking, Walking

After bonking in the marathon yesterday afternoon, I did take a nice long nap, and then felt much better yesterday evening.  I felt good enough to go for a long walk up and down the strip.  My knee still hurt, but not bad enough to keep me indoors.  After getting a hearty breakfast at Denny's (breakfast is my traditional post race meal, no matter what time of day), I continued to walk up the strip, into, through, and out of casinos, and generally, just kept moving.  It felt great. By the time I got back to my motel late last night, I had walked well over 5 miles.

Today, I've walked another 5 miles or so, again, walking up and down a part of the strip, and walking through both the Las Vegas and Houston airports. Walking definitely helps the rest of the muscles recover by keeping an ample supply of blood flowing.  The knee still hurts today, but it's better than it was yesterday.

On a positive note, I did win $390 playing the Wheel of Fortune slot machines this morning before leaving Vegas.  Woohoo, that nearly paid for my entire trip.

2009 Las Vegas Marathon

What:  My 3rd marathon in 7 weeks. Yeah, not the smartest thing to do.

Where:  Rock n Roll Las Vegas. Almost 28000 runners total for both the half and full.

When:  December 6th at 615 am.

Why:  Ran this as my final event of the year, mainly to qualify for Marathon Maniac Status.

How:  The race start was cold with a wind chill in the upper 20s.  But, the fireworks display was awesome, and helped pass the 25 minutes it took to cross the start line. Actually, the end of this race is something I'd like to forget. Was on expected pace up until mile 18. The run was going great and I was having an awesome run.  Then I believe I strained my right ITB, which sent shooting sharp pains into my right knee. I've been here before with my left knee earlier this year, so knew exactly what it was. I had to slow down and do a walk shuffle for the last 8 miles. Since the wind chill was still in the lower 30s, I got chilled to the bone very fast, and then got very nauseous. That was my wall.  Physically, I was also just worn out.  I hobbled to the finish line the last 5 miles, doing more walking than running, with a finish of 4:48:12. I'm OK with that, since I just ran a 4:25 PR marathon 2 weeks ago in Overland Park.  Was depressing seeing all those folk that I had worked hard to pass now passing me.  Sigh.  But, with an injury, I didn't want to push it and make my recovery longer than it needs to be.  Took about 1 1/2 hours to get back to my motel, thinking I would throw up the whole way. Took a 2 hour nap, and then felt much better.

Summary:  Mission accomplished, 3 marathons run and done, within 7 weeks, which qualifies me for Marathon Maniacs.  This was by far the most difficult of the 3. Now that I've qualified for MM, do I really want, or even deserve it?  Time will tell, but I'm already thinking about the next marathon scheduled for next May, so however gruesome those last 5 miles were today, that pain is quickly becoming a distant memory.

Next few weeks:  First item on the agenda is to recover from the abuse I've put my body through in the last 7 weeks, and find out just how bad my ITBS is in my right leg.   Kind of strange, I've logged 1300 miles this year with not 1 hint of trouble with my right ITB. Until now.  But, I'm still a runner, and I've definitely got more races to do. Just keep moving forward!

T-4 Days and Pondering Thoughts

Well, I've managed to do 1 run this week, but do have another run planned for this evening, and one more on Thursday.  It is taper week afterall, with another marathon in 4 days. Wait. What?!?  I still haven't gotten my head mentally in this one yet. Physically, I still am a little stiff, but getting there with each passing day.  Mentally, I'm not sure where I'm at. In other words, I haven't committed my mind to another 26.2 miles yet, and that's a huge issue.  If you're mind tells you cannot do something, your body will probably listen.  I'm sure it will come, especially as I start to carb up in the coming days, and definitely as I hit the running expo and see the thousands of other runners there.  I'll just have to dig deep and find that zone-out mode where I can run, and run, and run, without thinking about it too much, and by then, hopefully it will be near the end.

Granted, this is not the TYPICAL marathon preparation that you should do, as I'm trying to do 3 marathons in 7 weeks. I'm sure a lot of people would say that's not even smart, or safe. Ha. I've been an experiment of one all year, and have proven again, and again, that I can do things that most normal people wouldn't even think of.  When I started running in January, 11 months ago, and boldly proclaimed that I was going to run a half marathon in 4 months, you would have thought I committed heresy.  Gasp.  I not only completed that first half, but went on to do 5 more, 2 full marathons, with one more this weekend. I definitely pushed the envelope, and broke several sacred running laws along the way, but oh well.  I've never really cared what anyone else has had to say or thought about me, so no reason why that would change now.

Do I have any regrets?  Absolutely not!  I've had the time of my life this past year, running, learning, trying, and yes, making mistakes.  But I feel that I've grown so much, and have really blossomed into a smart runner, who not only knows what he's doing, but also comfortable in the fact about it. I've had hurdles to overcome, have had some low points, and now am just hitting my stride I hope.

There's a huge debate about running, whether you should train to be the best you can be, and waiting several years before attempting a marathon. Others say jump in the deep end and you'll either sink or swim.  There are two polar opposite camps.  The one ultra conservative camp that says absolutely no way should you ever attempt what I've done this past year, going from nothing, to a becoming multi-marathoner in 12 months.  There are others that say why not, give it a try, do what you want.  You'll never know how far you can go until you push yourself past your limit.  I liken this to a quote by Mark Twain that I absolutely love.  "Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do, than by the things you did.  So throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, and catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."  And I'm doing just that!