Yesterday, Sheila and I went out to the Tweetsie to do our normal 3 mile out and back, but since she'd been missing her runs, I decided to 'punish' her by making us run all three miles out and walk the three miles back, which is what I've basically been doing on my own, more or less.
Ok, twice. I've done it twice.
Anyway, I thought it would be a good way to get that little extra bit of burn, but as soon as I started running, the outside part of my knee started flaring with pain every time I took a step. It seemed to get more manageable the longer I ran, but then when the walking intervals happened, I'd have trouble starting back running again. It wound up that I was pretty much hobbling each time, but I did finish the run and we actually had great time...3.2 miles at an average pace of 13:17...the best we've done in a while.
Other than my knee, I felt very strong, and the humidity was pleasant, which I know helped things tremendously. We finished our walk back, and other than the occasional twinge when I moved awkwardly, my knee felt ok.
But when I got home...
Holy cow, was there pain.
Every step I took was excruciating, or else my knee would just give out completely. Took me forever to get in the house, but once I got moving around, it loosened up significantly.
Until I got still for a bit. Navigating the stairs up to the loft at bedtime was super-fun. I slept on an ice pack, my system loaded with Ibuprofen. It was a bit better this morning, but I am still hobbling big-time...and using the handicap stall in the restroom so I can use the bars to help me stand.
I was pretty sure that my IT band was the culprit, since the pain was on the outside of my knee, and most definitely not in the joint itself. So I did some research when I got to work, and found this sweet little chart that not only explained the issue with my knee, but also potentially, the hip and knee issues I've been having in my right leg. Although it's been much better in the last two weeks, it also flared up last night, I'm sure due to overcompensating for my left knee pain. As you can see from the illustration...hip pain is also an indicator of Iliotibial Band Syndrome...or ITBS for short.
What causes this syndrome, you might ask? It's usually (but by far not always) seen in overweight women with sedentary jobs who run hard for long distances on steep grades with weak glute muscles. Yes, I'm paraphrasing...but it describes me to a T, especially in the past week as I've ramped up my distance pretty much overnight. I've known for some time that my leg muscles were having to overcompensate for my weak butt muscles, which is why I've been saying for so long that I needed to start my strength training.
Have I taken that oh-so-important step, though? Have I implemented that part of my training regimen, knowing how critical it is to my overall toning and strength, knowing how much the weakness in my muscles affects my runs?
Hahaha. No.
And because I've been lazy with this one element, choosing instead to place all my workout eggs in the run/walk basket, I'm now finding myself one week out from my next 5k, wondering if I'm even going to be able to hobble around that track at a walk, much less aim for a PR. And it's my own damn stubborn fault.
So...now, I deal. With no money in the budget at the moment for a foam roller or stick to work this out, I'm going to have to go the makeshift route, do major stretches, grit my teeth and start my bloody strength training which targets the very areas that need strengthening. I'm going to have to baby my way through the last three training runs I have left (which may not even wind up being runs at all). I'm going to have to REST on rest days.
And I'm going to have to pray for a freaking miracle.
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