Let's start from the beginning, shall we ?
My IT band on my left leg is what put me out of commission for a little over a month back at the end of Feb. I've been keeping track and I've been running again for 8 weeks. Since I decided to start from scratch, we can safely say that out of my 26 (almost 27) years of living, I've only been running for 8 weeks. On Sunday, I noticed that my IT bands on both legs were sore, but after the run on Monday night, I was feeling okay. That was the thought process I had going into the track last night. I figured once my legs loosened up a little, I would be great.
I was a ball of nerves to begin with because I don't do well in new situations as it is, but also I was seriously intimidated since everyone there is freaking amazing (I'm not even exaggerating a little). Thankfully K (a girl I know through friends and have hung out with occasionally) was there and it was only her 2nd visit to the track. We knew we were both slower, so we figured we'd stick together. She was awesome in helping me keep my spirits up, especially once we got lapped during the mile run. Honestly, it reminded me of why I refused to run in gym class in high school.
Before we started, Brian gave me a quick pep talk on what to focus on and how to approach it. Much to my surprise I did the mile in 8:21 ! Which was super awesome for me considering it felt like it was about 97 degrees outside and I thought I was running a 12 min mile. My legs hadn't loosened up yet, but I figured it would be fine since the next set was only 3 laps. After some water and a little rest, K and I started on the 1200m (3 laps). I got about halfway through the first lap when my left leg decided it wanted to have shooting pain from my knee to my hip.
I wanted to at least finish the lap, but 3/4 of the way through and putting too much weight on my right leg, caused that to have shooting pain as well. I got to where my water bottle was and just tried to keep walking so my legs didn't tighten up on me. Walking hurt, standing hurt, and I knew there was no way that I would get up if I sat down. Ugh. Sean asked what was up and I told him it was my IT bands. He told me to walk around, stretch, but don't even think about running.
Guys, I was mad. Uncontrollable tears. Thankfully I had sunglasses on and it was ridiculously hot so the sweat was pouring off me regardless. I just kept walking in circles, stretching a little, but mostly just trying to calm down and not to beat myself up.
The rest of the night consisted of a hot shower to help my muscles, some relaxation at the coffee shop to take my mind off everything and then some serious work on my legs with the stick. If it wasn't for Brian's help last night, I probably wouldn't even be able to walk today. He's also the best human being on the planet and is going to help me get a plan together so I can hopefully avoid this pain in the future.
So currently I'm trying to just stay positive. I really wanted to give everything up yesterday. Being hurt like this twice in less than 6 months is really disheartening and makes it difficult for me to see how I'll ever get to the point of running a half marathon. Yet this also makes me want to to do it more than ever just to prove that I can. This time isn't as bad as it was 3 months ago, so that's encouraging and the part I'm trying to stay focused on.
I'm still going to spin class tonight. I might not do all the exercises to the fullest extent, but I find that the circular motion on the bike helps. And then after that it's straight into the hot tub. Until then, I will be taking full advantage of the couch in my office. I anxiously look forward to when I have everything sorted out and these posts get more upbeat and positive. I have to take the good with the bad and just keep pushing. I just have to keep telling myself that all of this will pay off in the end.
Have you ever tired one of those IT Band strap things (http://www.pro-tecathletics.com/56978/586620/Knee/IT-Band-Compression-Wrap.html)? I have never used one myself, but I know some people find them helpful. I think it applies pressure over the IT Band to keep it tracking correctly. It doesn't look too cumbersome, but I really have no idea if it is or not. Anyways, see you at spin class tonight!
ReplyDelete8:21, look at you! That's amazing, no qualifiers necessary. I totally get being mad and frustrated, but you can't beat yourself up because this is literally not even remotely because of anything you did or could have done differently. I'm sorry your IT bands are working against you so much, but something will click one of these days. It will. In the meantime, you're in good hands.
ReplyDeleteAlso, not sure if this would help at all because I'm only learning about it now myself, but what about kin tape? Might be able to have some effect. (Or it might not, I have no idea.)
Injuries are such bummers! This foam roller is the only thing that helps when my IT bands get cranky: http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Performance-Revolutionary-Roller/dp/B0040EGNIU/ref=sr_1_2?s=exercise-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1402511367&sr=1-2.
ReplyDelete