Today I walked to help save my knee strength for the Shamrock Run tomorrow. It really is a lovely walk; I posted some pics on my Instagram:
I’ve said this before but I am excited to run this in the spring and summertime. I suspect it’s gorgeous.
I bought a knee sleeve but didn’t wear it today. I had worn it yesterday when I walked to the convention center to get my Shamrock Run bib and shirt and it just bunched up and felt awful. I couldn’t even tell if it was working or not. But this morning went fine, my knee is fine, it’s my IT band that’s the problem. I can feel it more so now than I did originally; the ache of the band up my thigh is more pronounced in the past couple of days. It’s nothing agonizing and I don’t feel like my leg is going to explode or collapse or anything, it just feels like an overuse injury.
I went to urgent care on Wednesday because I went for a run and felt a bad twinge about a mile and three quarters in. The doc checked me out and was like, “Your hamstrings are tight and it’s probably your IT band. Lessen your mileage and take it easy for a couple of months.” (He said it much nicer than that.) I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I was running a 5k a few days later, and then another one a week after that. We’ll have to play it by ear. If the Shamrock tears me up and spits me out, then I may have to skip the Clover Run the next Sunday, or walk it. I think this is one of those races where they won’t look at you askance if you walk.
Overall, the experience has been somewhat discouraging, if I’m being honest, which I should be, because this is my damn blog. I’m glad that I’m aware of easing off when I’ve got an injury, but it sucks because I felt like I was hitting my stride. I’m not sure if this would’ve flared up regardless, or if my three days off because of the snow made it worse, or maybe it was my lack of stretching or that plus bodyweight workouts … who knows. But like a car when you hit a patch of ice, you gotta let off the gas and get your shit together before you can drive again. I know easing back won’t hurt my progress that much, because it’s not like I have a 30 min 5k pace right now. I’m struggling to get to 38 minutes. It’s just a reminder that I have a ways to go before I’m at a point where running feels “comfortable.” Ah well.
