Pineapple 5K & on the mend!

Happy Monday!!  Well, Monday's usually aren't considered "happy" but at least it's over for most of you!  For me on the other hand, I'm about to get ready for work!  BOOOOO!!

So I mentioned I was running the Classic Pineapple 5K with my girlfriends over the weekend and I'm happy to report it was a TON O' FUN!!

We had a lot of fun dressing up and are hoping to win the costume contest!!  I think we have a good chance!!  

The course and obstacles were a lot of fun.  Some were really intimidating, like walls we had to climb over, and rope ladders to climb up!!  But I'm happy to report we made it through all of them!  

We stuck together throughout the run, and I noticed my knee wasn't bothering me at all, but chalked it up to walk breaks and stopping to complete the obstacles.  So since I wasn't running the whole time, my knee didn't have a chance to start hurting.   I felt pretty good about that and decided I would try to run the next day.

So Sunday morning approached and I laced up my shoes and got Mav ready and we headed out the door.  I decided I would just run until I felt pain, which usually happens within the first mile.  So as I approached mile 1, I was waiting to feel something, then came mile 2, still no pain...so I kept going!!  

I also noticed on my run a ton of people riding bikes through Sandy and they were all wearing bibs so knew they were riding for something.  When Mav and I stopped at our favorite view point for a water break one of the riders also stopped to take some pictures.  So I asked what they were riding for and she said it was the Portland Century 100.  So they were riding 100 miles, starting in Portland, and came through Sandy!  We chatted for a bit, she was from St. Louis so wasn't even sure where she was, or what river we were looking at!  It was pretty cool to see all the riders.

After that we continued on to see how much further I could make it before the pain set in.  mile 4, 5, and 6 came and went, and I felt just fine!  I could have ran alllll day, but figured I'd better take it slow while getting back into the game.  So I called it quits at 7 miles.  But was beyond happy I was able to make it with no knee pain!

I also thought I would get out for a quick run this morning before I started the next phase in ChaLEAN, the Push Phase.  I wasn't sure how long the workout would be, so I didn't want to do an hour long run, and then another hour long workout.  So Mav and I just did a short 3 miles.

The Push Phase of ChaLEAN requires more resistance and heavier weights, so I picked up these bad boys that have 4 different selections, 3lbs, 6lbs, 9.5lbs and 12.5lbs.  So far they seem to be good.  But I could probably use some 15's and 20's too.  But weights are SpEnDy $$$!!  So it'll have to wait!

And lastly I got my massage today, even though the pain has subsided, I decided it couldn't hurt.  And it felt pretty good.  He focused mainly on my legs, and I think they needed some TLC.  

So I'm back on track with running for now.  My plan is to just run until I feel pain! 

Back From Vacation and IT Band Troubles!

Happy Friday!  I have been MIA for a couple of weeks since I've been taking time off from running to try to heal my knee pain and this week I was gone camping at Detroit Lake, which was fabulous!  I use to be excited to come home from vacations, but now I want to stay on them forever!  Sometimes reality just blows and it would be nice to not have to deal with life's stresses for more than a just a week!

But that's not the way life goes, so I enjoyed my time off and spent as much time in the sun as possible!

Maverick spent as much time in the water as he could!

I stayed in the sun as much as I could!! 

We spent an afternoon on a pontoon boat!!  TONS O' FUN!

Maverick also got to come out on the pontoon boat :))

The water was really cold in the cove where we floated, but felt so good!  Could have stayed out there all day!

Our little family enjoying the view <3

And what camping trip wouldn't be complete without a few drinking games?!

Ok ok, enough of the vacation photos!!  Onto the what is REALLY on my mind, my knee and marathon training!!  I've attempted to run a hand full of times since the pain has come on, and only make it about a mile before my knee is screaming at me to STOP!!  I talked to my running coach and he gave me some good advice to walk for the time I would normally run, and also look into getting an IT band massage.  I've been reading a little online about recovery for IT band issues and it sounds like rest, stretching, icing and intensive massages 3-4 times a week are recommended.  Well all that sounds great, except I don't really have the money for 3-4 massages a week!!  So for now I have 1 set up for Monday and am hoping the therapist can give me some suggestions for at home massages I can do, maybe with a foam roller.  Also resting is going to be hard, mentally.  I'm only 2 months away from the marathon and am falling behind on my training.  I am scheduled for 16 miles next Saturday and really don't want to miss it because it's part of the marathon course!!  I'm hoping with taking the 2 weeks of that I have and the massage will be enough to get me back into training.  

So in the mean time I'm still doing ChaLEAN and am happy to report I've lost 4inches in the first 30 days!!  I'm actually a week behind since my camping trip, but will start the next phase on Monday.  I can do ChaLEAN with no aggravation to my knee.  So that's helping keep me sane, but it's still not running!

Tomorrow is the Classic Pineapple 5K that I'm doing with friends.  It involves obstacles and should be a ton of fun!!  I won't let my knee get in the way of this one!  Since it's not running the whole time I think I will do just fine, hopefully...

Alright, off to start some more laundry and unpack more camping crap I mean gear!!  Hope you are enjoying the heat!

Have you ever had IT band issues? And what was the best treatment you found?

Pain Pain Go Away!

It's early, early Sunday morning!  I've been awake since about 4:30, Bryan has a really bad toothache that is keeping us both awake.  Hoping to get him into an emergency dental place ASAP today.

So since I was awake so early I realized the women's Olympic marathon was on!  I turned it on to see where our USA ladies were, and sadly, nowhere near the lead pack.  Tiki Gelana from Ethiopia took it with a finish time of 2:23:07 setting a new women's Olympic record!  That's AMAZING!  Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher from the US came in 10th and 11th with a finish time of 2:25:51 and 2:26:07.

So that brings me to my run yesterday, 13.3 miles with a finish time of 2:30:05!! LOL!  Of course it was a training run, and with the temps rising to become the hottest day this year, slow and steady was just fine!!  I actually arrived too early.  Now that it's summer time some of our runs start at 7 and some at 8.  I showed up at 6:30 thinking it was a 7:00 start, it was about 6:42 and no lights were on in LuLuLemon and no one else was waiting around...so I checked the event time and it was an 8:00 start!  UGH!  Luckily I knew the route we were running and knew that after our first 12 miles we finish with a 4 mile loop around the waterfront downtown.  So since I was so early I decided to do the 4 mile loop on my own first, then would only have to do the 12 with the group.  I was actually excited about it because the last loop always seems takes the longest, so it was nice to get it out of the way!

Solo 4 miles on a beautiful morning and location!!

Another view from my run of Downtown Portland!

So for you math nerds out there, you probably are thinking 4miles+12miles=16miles, but I said I only ran 13.3...Well I had an unfortunate mishap about 9 miles into my run that prevented me from completing all 16. I started to feel a pinching sensation on the outside of my right knee.  It wasn't severe at first, so I kept going.    We stopped for a water break and bathroom break about mile 11 and I did my best to walk around and shake it out.  Once we picked our running back up, the pain was instantly back and getting more intense.  I mentioned it to my pace leader, at this point everyone else in our group had turned back not wanting to run as many miles today, so it was just the two of us now.  She told me to listen to my body and offered to walk with me.  I declined and kept going, once we were going downhill the pain wasn't as bad.  We made it to our turn around point and started heading back.  We stopped once again to fill up our water bottles and when we started to run again the pain was sharp and getting more severe.  I told her to continue on without me, she had 20 miles to get in and was only about 8 in and I didn't want to hold her back.  I swallowed my pride and decided I couldn't continue on anymore.  With that being said, I still had about 2.5miles to make it back to my car!!  Choking back tears I called Bryan for some emotional support, but before I could tell him, he went into how bad he was suffering from his toothache, so I had to become his emotional support!  When he finally asked me "how my run went?" I broke down and told him what happened.  He offered to come get me, but he was easily over an hour away and it would be quicker for me to just walk back.  

I think I was most frustrated because mentally I was having a great run.  I felt like I could have easily done 20 miles where as last week it was tough.  So to be taken out physically was draining.  I wasn't sure the severity of the injury, I was worried it would take me out of training for a while, worried I pushed myself too far and should have stopped at the first sign of pain.  But aches and pains come with running, so I think I was just hoping it was nothing serious.  

Finally back to my car, now walking was even painful.  I made the long drive home and went to get out of my car and could hardly bend my knee.  Now I was really concerned.  Limping into the house, Bryan came to my side to help brace me to the couch.  I immediately put an ice pack on it and tried to stay off of it as much as possible the remainder of the day.  

When I woke up this morning my first thoughts were 'how's me knee?'  When I got up to go downstairs I was surprised at how much better it actually felt!  It's still stiff and a little achy, but nothing compared to yesterday.  So I'm hoping with a few days rest I will be good as new for next weeks long run!  

So lesson learned, when they say "listen to your body"  take it seriously!  I could have prevented the injury from being as severe if I would have stopped right away, but then again, maybe not.  I'll never know.  Running comes with it's advantages and disadvantages.  Injury is, unfortunately, a part of it.  Most runners will get hurt at some point, especially as your miles increase.  I felt like I was doing everything right yesterday.  I wasn't running fast, or over-extending myself, but still managed to get hurt.  I'll never know why it happened because there wasn't a specific incident.  All I can do now is take care of myself and really listen to my body!  It will be hard to take a few days off, but it's necessary. 

So far not a good weekend for Bryan or myself!  We make a great pair right now!  Just put us on the injured list!  But we'll be back soon, so don't count us out!!

Hope you had a better, injury-free weekend!  Stay safe and hydrated out there!

Have you ever had an injury stop you during a run?

Shalane Flanagan