Jeremy and I are training for a half-marathon. Those of you who have met me in the last 4 years know that I love to run and might think that I have always enjoyed running. Those of you who knew me before about 4 years ago know that I have NOT always liked to run. Mostly since Cooper was born, I have developed a strong love for running. I run 5Ks fairly regularly and really enjoy trying to improve my time. And unlike in years past, I take physical fitness very seriously. I have always been one of those girls that my friends hated -- I could eat Doritos and pizza 24 hours a day and not gain much weight. That is a double-edged sword, however, because I was killing myself on the inside with no outward manifestations. While it is nice to not have to worry about weight, at least weight gain can sometimes be a good reminder that we are not treating out bodies so well. So I decided to change course.
Jeremy and I joined the YMCA after I returned to work from my maternity leave in March of 2007, and I have been on a different path ever since. I spend most of my lunch hours taking some classes that I love at the Uptown Y - a sculpt class (high-paced free weights class) on Mondays and Thursdays, and a great boot camp (intensive cardio) class on Wednesdays. And I always run at least once during the weekend. It is somewhat therapeutic for me -- getting outside in the fresh air -- just me and God's creation. No kids, no television, no noise. I love it!
The decision to run the half-marathon was a big decision for me. I mean, 13.1 miles is way different than 3-5 miles, which was the most I had typically run. But I decided as part of my 2009 goals (that I set at New Years) that I would do it. I would run a half-marathon before I turned 30. So, on October 3rd, I am scheduled to run the Middle Half in Murfreesboro...exactly 7 days before I turn 30. Training has been going well, and although I am not blowing the doors off by any stretch of the imagination, my running has been fairly painless. And I have really enjoyed the extra time that Jeremy and I have had "just the two of us." (Cooper isn't running half-marathons just yet.)
Yesterday, we were set to run 10 miles. 8 miles had gone very well for us in Baton Rouge when we were visiting our good friends, the Becks, 2 weekends ago. 9 miles had been harder last weekend, but still okay. Yesterday, J and I dropped Cooper off at his Mammy's house and drove to the greenway in Murfreesboro to churn out 10 miles. About 4-5 miles in, I started having pain on the outside of my left knee. I have had some pain in the front of my right knee during training, but nothing serious. But this was different. My left knee has never given me trouble, and this hurt really bad. I kept running and trying to ignore it. I finished the 10 mile-run but by the end, I truly didn't think I could go one more step. My knee felt like it was locking up, and I felt very defeated.
I spent a lot of time yesterday with ice on my leg and the laptop in my lap looking up information about IT band injuries online. I run enough to know that pain on the outside of your knee is most often IT band. Sure enough, everything I read online seemed to confirm that I probably have ITBS (IT band syndrome) which can develop particularly during intensive race training. I have not trained irresponsibly, which can lead to this syndrome. But I do have one of the risk factors - my legs are (though not technically) different lengths. Because I have scoliosis, my left hip sits lower on my body than my right hip, which makes my left leg seem longer than my right leg. I have a good feeling based on what I have read that this might have contributed to causing my IT band problem.
I am icing, resting, elevating, ibuprofen-ing etc... all the things they recommend to try and heal this type of injury. But it isn't a sure thing. I hope that I can recover and be able to run the race in October. But if I can't get the knee back in shape enough to stay on track with training, I hope that I can recover from the disappointment that comes with training this long...for naught. If anyone has dealt with, or knows someone who has dealt with this type of injury, and has some insight, I'm all ears!