Monday, July 26, 2010

Hitting a Speed Bump and Refocusing

I am woefully behind in updating ye olde blog, mostly because I have very little progress to report. It turns out the hills I had so happily cheered defeating actually beat me in the end. I spent most of the month of June on the "injured reserve," forcing myself to rest due to some knee unhappiness. I had to pass on the Baltimore 10 miler. I went to support all of my friends who were participating, but it killed the Type A me not to be out there with them. I started June running the Zooma 10K in my beloved Annapolis, and ended it walking (with some running) two women's 5K's. I admittedly did some serious feeling sorry for myself and some stress eating in there, too.

A Dr's appointment on July 1st confirmed my suspicions that it was most likely an IT Band issue. No PT was ordered, and was told to run and do other activities as tolerated, with the help and ice, stretches, and a foam roller. Marine Corps training plan was officially out the window.

So, that's where I've been. The good news is that I think I'm on an upswing. I did less than 30 miles for June and am already above that for this month, with no major discomfort in the knee. I fortunately had some wiggle room in my MCM training plan, so I should be able to salvage a decent plan. I'm also continuing lots of cross training now that my twice a week Summer Intensive group has started with the trainer. We're definitely doing alot to help strength the legs.

Next race is the infamous Annapolis Ten Miler in late August. I'm freaked. I honestly avoided doing this race last year, and having to switch up my training is making me worry about this year. Plus, the way the heat of this summer has been, my luck is that it'll be 105 that day. Since I've been babying the knee a bit on mostly flat surfaces, need to test things out on some hills or there's no point in even stepping up to the A10 starting line.