Monday: 15 min Jacobs Ladder, 45 min Lateral Elliptical, 1 mile 9:33/pace (in that order), 25 min glutes/hips, 20 min lats/back
Tuesday: 15 min core
Hey everyone! I’ve been busting my butt (Literally) to get past this IT band issue and so far so good! I had a lot of outside help and advice from those of you who have suffered IT band pain and I appreciate all of it!! I want to share a few of the articles & videos of the exercises I’ve been doing daily to strengthen my weak hips & glutes.
The Best Damn IT Band Stretch Ever Gives an in-depth look at the IT band, its surrounding muscles and it’s relation to knee pain. If you have any IT band issues–read this!
Myrtl routine! Save this to your desktop or print off a copy to keep hip girdle exercises handy! If you’d rather follow the video, it’s right here!
If you see my weekly workout recaps, the running is coming back slowly. I’m still not pushing pace or distance, but the IT band pain is almost non existent & I think it’s safe to assume another week or two and I can incorporate some speed. Now comes the hard part. Even though i side stepped what could have been an injury, I’m bumming hard as my fitness & speed were both at a place where I was beginning to see amazing progress. Big picture: not injured, just slowed. Small picture: I was almost where I needed to be for a sub 20:00 5k. Which means, of course, I can get there again.
Another issue that has been stressing me out is the Delaware half marathon this Sunday. Cause you know, when runners are injured we don’t care that we hurt ourselves, we care about how we can keep running through it.
I decided to ease off running this week, cross train the hell out of my legs, do as many glute & hip exercises as possible, pray to the race gods to allow me to just finish the half feeling ok. No, I don’t plan on a PR, no I don’t think i’ll be able to run all 13 miles without walking, and no I’m not even sure I’ll be able to finish. But there’s a pint glass in the swag bag and I’m not letting leaving that behind!
Seriously though–I have a goal to run a race in all 50 states (any distance) and Delaware is a new one (plus, there really IS a pint glass!). So as long as I make it across the finish and collect my medal, i’ll be able to cross it off my list. That in itself makes me happy and relieves stress. It makes me sad to know i’ll break my half marathon PR streak, but at the same time, i’m glad i’ll be ending it on my terms. I’m making the decision to take this half easy, hopefully to enjoy a pain free long run and I won’t be disappointed about it.
from a weekend walk on Rock Creek Trail
Monday: 3m easy run, 15 min upper body
Tuesday: 3m easy run, 25min Kettlebells
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 4.8m easy 8:20/pace
Friday: 2m easy 9:30/pace, 20 min hips/glutes
Saturday: 2m walk, 4.2m run easy 8:30/pace
Sunday: Rest
Total Miles: 15 running, 2 walking
Have you changed race day goals at the last minute?
shesgoingthedistance.com 
05/06/2015 at 9:31 AM
I was cracking up about the swag bag. Doesn’t matter how many of these damn races I do, I love my swag!!! You are treating the IT band aggressively and consistently so it WILL get better! So glad you are liking the MYRTLs 🙂 You will surprise yourself this weekend, I know it! Good luck!
05/06/2015 at 1:41 PM
I love the myrtl routine! I have been doing it for about a year and its so easy to add in a few days a week! I hope you have fun running the half; sometimes its nice to run a no-pressure race. But who knows, maybe you will PR- you always do:)
05/06/2015 at 4:14 PM
Yep..I mean there’s a little voice in my head that says maybe something magical can happen..but i haven’t done a speed workout in 3 weeks..so I’m assuming that’s not gonna happen. Run for fun it is!
05/06/2015 at 8:54 PM
I hope you can stick to the plan and cut yourself a break … I don’t race much but think I would have a hard time doing a ‘fun run’ unless I was running with Lisa or one of the boys (still on my ‘bucket list’).
Glad you are doing better and I know you’ll get all the way back – just give it time! 🙂
05/06/2015 at 8:57 PM
I went on a 5 miler today. Felt about 80% back. I know I can’t “race” on sunday.. I’m trying to be smart about it. I’ve also decided to go wireless…no headphones pr garmin. That way I can listen solely to my body 🙂
05/08/2015 at 4:01 PM
Good luck with your race! I did a half marathon last year after taking some time off due to plantar fasciitis and ran by feel with pretty low expectations. And it was the most enjoyable race I’ve ever ran – I felt so relaxed and had fun. Plus I ended up running a surprisingly fast time. I think you have the right approach – shame about the streak. On the bright side you’ll never have to visit Delaware again after this weekend.