I finally had a good run/trail run/hike today, after taking it easy for 4 days and resting. It felt great to finally be out there again. I have been having IT band pain all the way up onto the outside of my hip, and some medial shin muscle pain that has been keeping me sidelined (at the advice of my awesome coach, Owen.)
I met with an awesome trainer and friend today, Molli, where she investigated my ailments to try and give me some advice on how to best deal with them. That she did! She showed me some stuff on my foam roller, and some stuff with a tennis ball to help loosen my IT bands and my gluteus medius, as well as surrounding tissue. She thinks it is going to help immensely with my pain I have been having. She also tested the flexibility of my hip adductor, and thinks that it is contributing to the pain I am having in my shins. I am so grateful to have such a great friend that is willing to take time out of her busy schedule to help me! She is so knowledgeable!
After that, I went to Hand and Stone Massage (LTF didn’t have any openings early in the day), and got a massage with a girl that works with runners a lot. She worked my IT bands out! It hurt! It was great, though, because it helped to loosen them up, a lot. Then, I came home and took a hot bath with lavendar epsom salt; something I do quite often now that I run a lot.
My big dilemma today was to run again tonight, or not. My total mileage this morning was around 4 miles. 2-2.5 of which was running. (I obviously took the cautious route and decided not to run.) I am on the verge of freakout mode. I am scared that I am not where I need to be in my training for PF Changs (half-marathon), which is January 15th. I have been given great advice from my coach, that I cannot make up for missed runs. That sucks, but it’s the truth. I have been told by a few people that as long as I run a long run of 10 miles about 2-3 weeks before the race, I will be fine. Ok, well, if I increase my long run distance by a mile each week until I reach 10 (I know the rule is 10% increases, but oh well), then I will run 10 miles on 12/28, and 11 miles on 1/6 (my work schedule is the reason why I am putting off my longest run until the 6th.) The way I have my training plan written out (based on the plan my coach made for me, tweaked a tiny bit because of my work schedule, and injury), I will run 11 miles 9 days before my race, and taper from there. Does this sound like a good plan? Will it be enough time to taper? I decided to go up to 11 miles, since my next long run is 7.5 miles, not just 7. I went up from there.
Providing I can keep my ailments suppressed and healed for the most part, this is my plan of attack. I always feel better when I have a plan written out. Is anyone else this way? What do you guys think of this plan? Is anyone else training for a race soon that is in the same situation as me? Please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you! Have a great evening!