Finally! 5K on a late summer afternoon.

To be perfectly frank, I didn't think I would be running 5K today when I set out.  I was hoping to last at least 4K before my IT band became an aggravated mess as usual, but it never happened.  With some well-timed stretch breaks, I was able to cover 5K in just under 34:00 (this *includes* several minutes of stretching).  That may sound like a terrible time, but this was my best run since the half marathon in Winnipeg.

The road to recovery has been extraordinarily long thanks to my decision to gun it at the end of the half marathon after my IT Band had decided to tighten up.  Truth-be-told I am truly lucky I didn't make things even worse.

But all that aside, I found that rest, foam rolling, heat (hot water bottle / heating pad) did wonders for my recovery.  Additionally the ice/Advil combination proved to be helpful as well.

Of course I've learned more than I ever thought I would about Illiotibial Band Syndrome (namely how to pronounce and spell this damned thing).  The most important lesson I learned is what caused my particular version of the syndrome.  In my case it was an habitually tight TFL muscle brought on because of a twisted pelvis (now fixed).

I stretched my right TFL several times during my run, and it paid off.  So I'm back!  But now I need to make up for all the conditioning I lost.

The road to recovery: strength training (or How to recover from IT band syndrome)

Imagine this: you're running a half marathon, when at the 15k point you're knee begins to hurt like hell causing you to stop/slow down/gut it out hellishly.  Now fast forward to the moment your physician/google/your running pal tells you you have something called IT Band Syndrome.

ITBS is considered an overuse injury, and usually (but not always) occurs when you overtrain -- i.e. break the cardinal rule of increasing your running by more than 10%.

Obviously you need to incorporate rest into your recovery, but don't forget to cross train!

I got ITBS exactly one month ago while running a half marathon in Winnipeg.  I was on track for a PR, too.

My recovery consisted of two weeks of mostly rest (save for some cross training).  I did run 13.1 very hard miles, after all.  Now I'm hitting the gym 3-4 times per week and am diligently working on increasing the strength in my legs, and am starting to see results.  Last night I ran 1.5 miles (my longest distance since the half marathon).

Last night's leg session went thusly:

set 1 (warm up): Squats with barbell.  90lbs. 10 reps.  Note: I go pretty slowly on the way back up.
set 2: Squats with barbell, 150lbs 10 reps.
set 3 and 4: Squats with barbell, 160lbs 10 reps. Note: this amount of weight produces enough workout of my glutes and hamstrings that I feel it later.

My one rep max is still unknown to me.  But I've already done reps at 200lbs.  I still want to know my max. :)

I also did bicep curls... nothing special.  27.5lbs in each arm. 3 sets, 10 reps.

The kicker is that I began my session with the 1.5 mile run on the treadmill with a knee brace on the affected knee.

Humboldt recap + Injury!

It just so happens that we arrived in town at the same time as the carnival!

So I'll start with this: until this spring I had a twisted pelvis.  Chiropractor fixed it, but I'm still adjusting, which means I'm susceptible to things like IT band syndrome and so forth.  Naturally on my third consecutive weekend of racing things didn't go so well.

About 1.5 kilometers into the race, my right knee became an issue.  At that point, unable to really run, I walked the rest of the way--I might also add that instead of doing the full 10k route, I "switched" to doing the 5k and removed my race bib.  As of now, I'm not going to be doing any more racing until I'm at least 90% healed.  

So my next adventure will consist of strength training and cross training.  Lunges?  Check!  Squats?  Check! Mountain biking?  Check.

As it turns out, back in May I won a 6 month gym membership to Good Life Fitness (good, evidently, at any of their locations in Canada).  So we'll see how that works.

More important than the gym will be actual cross training so that I keep my conditioning.  If there's one thing I don't want to do, it's feel gassed after only running a few miles.

Today's race, the 2014 Conexus Sizzler Strut, was in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, which is about an hour east of Saskatoon.  Despite the fact that flooding appears to be a serious issue in Humboldt (at least when it rains), the city's elevation is actually greater than that of Saskatoon.

Jasmine and I camped out--despite the rain--under a small pavilion.  All the tent campsites at the local campground were flooded pretty bad!  The ground under the pavilion was so saturated with rain water, that when I removed one of the tent pegs, a small clump of wet earth came with it.

The second night we stayed at Pioneer Hotel Motel on 9th Street.  I'm not a huge fan of hotels/motels, but this one was pretty good and old-fashioned.  Notable was the diner on the ground floor--Sunday morning breakfast buffet was $10.99, and worth it.

The rain came and went all weekend, leaving behind vast puddles, soaked streets and an even more lush greenery than before.  On the way back to Saskatoon, we encountered this:

So that's the recap for today.  It anyone has has been battling Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction, feel free to reach out to me.  I'm always eager to hear how folks have dealt with this.

More photos from Humboldt:

Recap: Intrepid Dezine Half Marathon

Intrepid Dezine Half Marathon
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Distance: 21K (Half Marathon)
Time: 2:06:40
Pace: 9:36
Best Split: 8:17
10k: 54:59 (PR)
Rank: 1511/3127
Post race meal: Chocolate milk, sun chips, banana, half whole wheat bagel.


Comments: Another rainy race.  We started at six minutes after 7am--the delay was owed to a vehicle that stalled on the course.  All-in-all, I found it easier to run in Winnipeg than in Saskatoon, and was headed to a new personal record when near disaster struck about 3/4 of the way through.  Thanks to a build up of lactic acid, my quads and hamstrings really suffered, making it difficult to run. Ultimately the IT band on my right left became an issue.  I had banked enough time early on that I still consider my time (2:06) respectable given the circumstances.  The course started at the University of Manitoba and wound up Pembina into a residential section.  Runners were met along the route by a lot of locals with signs--a few even wanted to slap us five as we ran by.

The aid stations were more numerous and more useful than was the case at the Saskatoon Police Half Marathon.  Water and Gatorade were available, as were soaked sponges; at one point, volunteers were handing out sticks with Vaseline (for chaffing).  I used the aid stations primarily as a walk break--the theory being that my legs would hold up better.  Alas, my theory was wrong, as lactic acid flowed in.

I stayed hydrated by drinking water with GU Brew.  I fueled with Salted Caramel GU (3 packs total- take once before the race, and twice during). All-in-all, I never felt tired.

We crossed the finish line on a running track in a stadium.  Although I didn't sprint, I did greatly pick up the pace at the end, and crossed at 2:06:40.

I've certainly never hurt so much after a race.  Part of the reason for this (and for the one week delay between this post and my previous post) is that I've been under the weather.  First with a cold, then with gastroenteritis (which followed immediately after my previous race).  Clearly, when you're just getting over an illness, you're not necessarily going do your best.   However, sometimes you find out who you are when you keep running after realizing that there won't be a PR.

The latest from the trail

And so it would seem that I must buy new running shoes. Thanks for my pelvis and hips being properly aligned now, my running gait has changed and my Brooks (in which I've probably logged about 275 to 300 kilometers while running) are now retired since they are molded to my old gait.  My Saucony's are probably finished as well.  It's all good, since I can put my gift certificate to Running Room to good use.

My next pair of shoes will be used primarily for the Manitoba Half Marathon, River Run Classic Half Marathon and training for the Queen City Marathon.  And so I will need to start breaking them in within the next week or so.

So the question now is: how much has my running gait changed?  What will that mean in terms of the type of shoe I now need?

Eighteen Kilometers

Woke up at 6:30am and by 8:45am was blazing a trail with the SRRA long run group.  I fueled up with a cup of corn flakes and crystal light two hours before the run, and then a big banana thirty minutes prior. As usual I packed a 250ml water bottle, and a Mars bar.

The first stretch of the run was on Broadway Avenue, over the bridge and right onto the trail along the river (parallel to Spadina Crescent). 

As we passed 5 kilometers, I actually thought my it band problems might be a thing of the past. But immediately upon having that though, I began to feel a minor amount of discomfort in my left knee. Over the next 4 kilometers things got progressively worse until finally I did something I never thought I'd do... I dropped back from the group and alternated between walking and running at a 5k race pace.  I kept up with this for a few kilometers before even that became too much.

Ever since my chiropractor began doing a weekly hip adjustment procedure on me, running has become more and more tough.  Thinking is that now that my hips are aligned properly, I'm using "different fibers of the same muscles".  Thus, I'm starting over in certain ways.

Realizing that I'm pretty happy not to be running an actual race, I reason that it's okay to run-walk because my situation is no longer a matter of will power, or mind over matter.  I'm simply training too hard given my physical condition.

For one of the few times on a run, I stop to photograph two geese along the river.  Yesterday's snowfall blanketed the city with a sheet of white powder.

Luckily, the run group eases up and waits for me at a waypoint; once I've caught up to them, I'm advised to get a foam roller.  From there I run-walk at a close distance until we reach the last three kilometers.  At this point the snow is beginning to really melt, and what were once snow-covered paths, are not water-soaked paths.  I stayed with the group until 300 meters from the end, when the incline of the Broadway Avenue bridge, and the crunchy ice beneath my feet was too much for my left knee.  For once, I elect not to push it.

Once we're back in front of Brainsport, I realize that my body is in agony.  I spring into action and buy a liter of chocolate milk and a small bag of sun chips from 7-11.  Ah, relief.

I'm totally getting a foam roller tonight.  Because next week:

Further reading:
Ask The Running Doc: How do I get rid of IT Band Syndrome?