Still trying to shake it...ITB issues that is.

As you can see from my previous post, I was a having a bad week last week in terms of running. And the timing didn’t help matters at all. The weather was perfect, little rain and lots of sunshine. As if there is a good time for incurring an injury that puts a holt to your running activities, that statement didn’t make sense. But you know what I mean. It probably wouldn’t have bothered me the same as if the weather was terrible all week long and life on the home front was quiet. However, this was not the case at all. With some added pressure at work, and dealing with family issues(relatives), plus five days of ZERO running can really bring out the emotional side of me!

As with work, it’s all good, the pace has picked up, exciting things are happening and I am coping with the tempo rather well…but as you should know there’s always one that doesn’t adapt quick enough, therefore causing a few sputters.

Family, huh, the same culprits trying to cause a stir. Only this time they’ve succeeded in striking a sensitive nerve of mine. It’s all immature, selfish, spoil, and stupid; mind games by the same old THREE that seem have nothing better to do than keep tabs about gifts, invitations, getting ‘news’, cards, dinner invites…blah, blah, BLAH! I don’t have time for this nonsense and so I have always ignored it, used my fuel for rather more interesting and useful missions than idiotic family drama! Running has always been my release valve, but this was all stacking up over the course of last week each day because I couldn’t find another outlet. By Friday, I had it up to here(to my head), exhausted, almost lifeless!

By Friday, I was withdrawing pretty bad. My body, everything in my body was asking; where is the running? Where is the damn running to unleash this dirty load? All I kept thinking was about how I was going to handle the situation because even though I wasn’t responding to it or confronting the problem in any fashion, it was on my mind. I have had it! I was craving a run to think things through. I kept myself going by telling myself to keep busy. I made an appt for a massage later in the afternoon after work as another way to loosen up the sore ITB. My IT Band was feeling much better(Chiropractic seemed to help a lot) but I wanted to give myself at least another day to rest before doing a trial run on Saturday. But the time stood still and I’d caught myself staring at the walls of my office with pin-pointed pupils without blinking that afternoon a couple times before heading out for my appt….trying to stay positive about everything.

Saturday morning I woke up feeling fresh, pain-free, and energized. All signs pointing to a GO as far as running! I didn’t waste anytime. The dense fog and the chilly 37 degrees F didn’t deter me away from heading out before 7 AM. Those first few steps were bit a rough, uneasy, with lots of anticipation for fear of the pain showing back up before I hit the first mile. It was all relief. Each step I took gave me a warm euphoric feeling that made me calm and relaxed. Time flew by. The first hour felt like minutes. Finally, I was able to process my thoughts clearly. This unsure butterfly feeling that hung over me like a storm cloud began to lift. Every breath left more peace and quiet in my heart. Aw, this was comfort, my escape that transports me away far enough to see what’s going on, to see the whole picture to help me make the better decisions. Two and half hours later I was finally home, on the front porch stretching.

Sunday, I played it safe by cutting my recovery run short as soon as I felt the first sign of ITB trouble to the same leg. I was happy enough with three miles.

Today, I’ve been spending most of my ‘free time’ thinking about where my running life is and where I’m going with it. I’ll be the first to admit, I haven’t been the smartest with my running lately. In fact, I’m probably one of the worse when it comes to handling an injury. It’s either all out or nothing…it seems. Almost like a drug addict experiencing a relapse. Take this past Saturday in particular, I probably should have kept the mileage under ten miles or even half of that…but instead I took it to mere extreme by taking a full plunge until I was physically spent. Anyways, I’m still thinking, even with a (new)nagging injury, there’s still ample opportunity to do another 50K in a couple weeks…it’s part of my wish list on the sidebar there. As you might ask, had I had sufficient training…that’s probably a big fat N.O. But what the heck…it won’t be the first time I’ve done that.