Setback!

In my last post, I wrote of some IT Band discomfort in my right knee. Well, now it is full blown IT Band Friction Syndrome. My right knee kills me when I walk - let alone try and run. It is a shooting pain especially when I walk down stairs or down any kind of slope.

I met some running buddies last Sunday at White Rock Lake for a quick loop. I started noticing the pain as we got about 6 miles into the run. At the end of the run, it was sore but not full blown pain. I've had IT Band issues before, so I knew it was coming on. So I basically took a week off running. I did some fast walking and some core work, but no running.

A week off should be enough (I thought) so I met a couple of buddies on Saturday morning at the Dallas Nature Center. I felt that a week off would be enough time to get my knee back in shape. Well, I was wrong. My IT Band started screaming about 6 miles into it. I had to hobble back to the car.

At this point, I am taking an extended break from running. I am stretching, using my foam roller (thank you, Virginia!), and icing the knee every chance I get. It's a good time to take a break anyway. It's Christmas and going out for a 6 hour run right now may not sit well with the family! We are also going skiing in a week, and I need to be sure my knee can handle the stress of downhill skiing. If not, I'll hang around with the kids and do a ton of sledding! That's what the kids enjoy most of all, anyway.

However, the worry has set in big time. I am less than 6 weeks from the race and I know that 100 miles will be a MAJOR stress on my knee. I have read every book and gone to every website I can find that has articles on the IT Band. I am following their instructions, but I know that this type of injury can take many weeks to heal.

So now I am just going to take it one day at a time. I'll either swim or do the elliptical machine to keep my fitness level up. I'll also do a lot of core and upper body work to keep me sane during this non-running time. But for now, it is rest, rest, rest.