This Injury…Is Gonna Need A Little More Time

Saturday was a beautiful day on the Front Range. Temps were in the high 50’s with breezes present, but nothing too cold or too strong.

I had a leisurely morning and a little after 11:30, I headed out on my 19 mile long run.

Not long after starting, really within the first mile, the pain on the side of my right knee began to make itself known. I initially figured this was just the result of a couple of steep hills on the early part of the course. It ought to abate after I got to flatter terrain.

For a while, on the flats, it did. The pain was there, but not all that noticeable. Then it came up again, but this time as I ran down the hill. Not good. Just in front of four miles, I began to feel sore in my right groin muscle. Clearly that was from compensating for the pain in my knee.

I turned around and began a run/walk home finally calling it quits at five miles. Despite a new pair of motion control shoes, I’m clearly not over what has become both a strained lateral gastroc muscle and a pretty bad case of IT Band Syndrome. This is particularly frustrating because from a cardio stand-point, I feel pretty good. Who knows how exhausted I would have been after the full 19 miles, but I hardly felt spent after five.

Nevertheless, the smart thing to do is to stop running. That’s not easy with a 26.2 mile race looming. However, the prospect of a DNF and having to get a ride to the finish in the SAG wagon is even less appealing.

The plan for now will be to replace my runs with cycling workouts in the hopes of just maintaining my cardio. I have no illusions that I’ll make any gains, but if I can pick up where I left off in two or three weeks, I think I can still be ready by May 5. Additionally, past IT Band injuries are usually the result of weaker glute and hip muscles. I would not have thought that would be a problem for me given that I ride so much, but there it is. On a daily basis, I’ll be doing a series of exercises to strengthen these muscles. Specifically, I’m going to lie on my side with legs straight, and lift the upper leg up past 45*. Three sets of ten per side ought to do wonders for me.

That’s about all I can do now. I have my annual physical in about three weeks so if this is still a problem at that time, I’ll ask my physician about it. Hopefully, this will be a problem that is receding into the past.

Thanks for reading and, of course, I’ll continue to update.