ITBS

Hello, long time no post. My training has been going very well and my IT band has been getting stretchier and stretchier, lol. I have been stretching it a lot and the pain has been slowly subsiding. This week I went for my 8 mile run and was able to do it, although at a very slow pace. I am going on a 3 day packpacking trip starting today with my two dogs, including ex-guide dog Shep, and my brother. It is sure to be a lot of fun and I wish all of you a Merry Christmas. Don't forget to donate!

Santa Monica Chrismas Run!

So, this morning I went out and got a ride with Mary Frances, who is a friend on our Team in Training team and I ran the 5k race along with the rest of our team. I got a spiffy new shirt and I finished in 29 minutes, with a 9:30 pace. Not half bad. Yesterday and this morning my IT band was hurting so I was really nervous about having to run 3 miles through pain. However, I had been intensely stretching all week and i guess it paid off. It hurt throughout the entire race, but only very mildly and not enough to affect my speed or anything like that, so this is definately a sucess. Now both my knees are pretty sore and they hurt a bit, but I think by tomorrow they should be healed up, so that is really exciting for me.

Saturday's Practice

So, I have been doing ok, I am able to run for about 10 minutes before I can feel my IT band and then at 20 minutes it starts to hurt, with a sharp pain. However, good news is that my recovery time has shortened. On Saturday I went to practice and ran for about 2 miles before I had to stop and walk the other 3 miles. My knees hurt pretty badly after that and walking was painful. I stretched a lot throughout the day and used the foam roller and by night time, i could walk pretty much pain free again. This is a vast improvement from the first time when I actually injured my IT band and i couldn't walk for a week.

ITBS

So it turns out that all along i just had IT band syndrome, which is pretty painful, but now that i know what is actually wrong with my body, I know how to treat it. I have been stretching about 3 times a day, and using the painful foam roller to break up tissue in my leg and that has helped immensely. After Saturday's 6 mile run i could barely move my legs without experiencing pain, and already, just on tuesday, i feel like i could probably run a few minutes without any pain. I will run on the treadmill tomorrow morning to see where i am in healing. I really hope i can heal by Saturday because our team in running in the Santa Monica 5k race, and i really want to be able to complete it with as little pain as possible.

2009 Team In Training Comedy Night

Come out to Comedy Union to see comedians that you've seen on Comedy Central, HBO' Def Comedy Jam and The Tonight Show LIVE!!! If you send an email to gordonm@oxyconnect.oxy.edu telling me you are going, you can get in FREE!!! There is a suggested donation of $15, with all proceeds going toward funding research to rind new treatments and cures for blood cancers like leukemia. But feel free to donate more or less, or just come for free and have a great time!