Wednesday, July 23, 2008

26 mile training run... only finished 24.5 miles

I was very pumped to do my 26 mile run. I got up early and got my stuff together and was out the door!! I walked for the first 2 minutes... a little hesitant to get going. Running felt good... I knew that I was paying too much attention to how I was running. My gait may have been altered slightly because of this.

The day was going to be hot. Luckily not as humid as it has been. I ran into the sun for the first hour and forty five minutes. I was on track for time and still felt good at this point. Note: I wore a compression garment on my right knee and not the left... wanted to see if it was just a psychological need.... turned out not to be.

About 12 miles in, my left knee started to hurt. I stopped to stretch it out. This was a bad move as my knee really hurt when I started back up. Eventually the pain subsided. I got to my "pee break" house and quickly used the washroom and washed my face and grabbed a water. I put a compression garment on the left knee at this point. It provided relief.

Still I experienced more pain:( I found that once I ran for awhile the pain would subside but was always there. I probably should have stopped running but..... I am stubborn.

I ran a new route (one that I didn't drive out first... big mistake). The shoulder on the road was almost nonexistent and the traffic was quite heavy. I did not feel very safe.

To make a long story even longer, I pushed through the pain and made a detour (making my run a bit shorter). I got to my "walk spot" and when I started to walk my left knee locked. I couldn't bend it. It was just like what happened at Sulphur Springs. I could barely move forward.... oooohhhh the pain (both knees)!!!!! My run had taken me 4 hours and 45 minutes with the stop/walk breaks.... I've done worse!

Got home and iced both knees and then stretched and elevated the legs. Woke up very stiff this morning, wore compression garments to work. I was able to stretch a bit at work and am lucky that my job involves walking around. I think it helped to loosen me up:)

I am going to stretch and ice today.... can't decide whether to run on Thursday. It's only 7 or 8 miles.... maybe it won't hurt!? I am starting to believe that the pain in the knees is coming from my hamstrings and IT bands from being too tight/ overuse (originally just thought ITB). My gluts are not strong enough and I must learn to run using them instead of my hamstrings. My therapist will be teaching me how. I call it "Ass running"..... more on that later!

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