Still Healing

It's been a few days since my last post and my IT Band is still bothering me. I am now officially worried that this is going to take some time to heal. I've been stretching on a regular basis along with icing it and taking ibuprofen. I have not run at all. I did a little work on the elliptical machine for a couple of days and that did not seem to hurt it, so I'll keep doing that.


Last night, while putting up the Christmas decorations I was going up and down the attic stairs. After about an hour of working, my IT Band starting barking at me pretty good. So this morning I made an appointment with Whole Health Partners. They work on quite a few local ultra marathoners and came highly recommended. They spent 1 1/2 hours with me working on my legs and knees. I felt pretty good coming out of the session. But as I was packing for a camping trip tonight, my IT Band started barking again. I have another session scheduled with them in 10 days.


Virginia, my Mother in Law - Nancy, and I are taking the kids to Big Bend National Park for a short vacation. I've always wanted to see this part of Texas. I am very excited about the trip, but I would be in hog heaven if I could run down there. They have some terrific trails and terrain. I guess I'll have to make another trip down there after I have healed.


I read this quote in one of my running books the other day and it is really speaking to me right now. "When you are injured, you never think you are going to get better. When you are running well, you think you are invincible." Well I felt invincible all summer/fall while I was running well. Right now I am worried that I'll never get better.


Rocky Raccoon is five weeks away. I am still hopeful about this race, but I have to come to terms with the fact that I may not be able to do it. And that is a little depressing. Hopefully this vacation will do my knee some good.

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.

The Run for the Fund

The purpose of this blog is to keep folks updated about my Rocky Raccoon training, record random thoughts about running, and to keep up with my fund raising efforts for the DREAM Fund.

I hope to inform you about what I am doing, possibly have you understand why I am doing it, and maybe offer some tips for anyone else considering such an endeavor.

I am running this race to help raise money for the DREAM Fund. The DREAM Fund has helped so many people over the years - many of whom I have personally known. Whether someone is struck with a sudden illness, tragic loss, or other life changing event the DREAM Fund has been there to help. That's why the DREAM Fund exists - to help people when the truly unimaginable strikes.

I have roughly 7 more weeks to get ready for the Rocky Raccoon 100. It is now crunch time! If you are not familiar with this race, here are some quick details.

* Held in Huntsville State Park - Huntsville, TX on February 2nd, 2008
* 100 miles in length
* Up to 30 hours to complete the race
* Running surface is single track trail - no super tough climbs, but lots of tree roots to trip on.
* Last year's race featured a 100 yard mud bog we had to navigate about 10 times.

I ran this race last year in the 50 mile category. While the 50 mile race was a tremendous accomplishment for me, as soon as I finished I knew I wanted to do the 100 miler. However, I waited a couple of months to break the news to my wife. Training for these races is not just a commitment for me -- it is a complete family commitment. Everyone has to be in on the deal, or it's just not going to get done. Thank God I have a wonderful and understanding family.

The holiday season is the absolute hardest time of the year to get in quality training. Trying to balance everything lately has been a tough juggling act -- just ask my wife!

I ran 40 miles last Sunday. It was my longest training run to date. I ran from my house in Lake Highlands to the American Airlines Center and then ran the White Rock Marathon where I paced my buddy Josh. It was Josh's first marathon and he had a tough day. We stopped at a porta potty at mile 1 (I was extremely hydrated) and Josh stepped off the curb and sprained his ankle. His ankle started to swell immediately and no amount of ibuprofen or icy/hot was going to fix it. He had to drop around mile 16, but lives to race another day. In fact, he signed up for the Cowtown Marathon as soon as he got home! It was his first marathon attempt and he had worked extremely hard. While I am disappointed that he could not finish White Rock as we had planned, I know he'll have a terrific Cowtown race. I'll be there with him on 2/23.

This past week was a recovery week for me. I only ran 21 miles this week. My body is still recovering from the 40 miles last Sunday. My IT Band around my right knee is acting up so I am planning on taking a couple of days off early this week. I am hoping the rest will enable me to hit it hard next weekend. I am working in some decent trail time on Saturday and I need my knee to feel good for that run. I am planning one more 40 mile run the first week of January and then begin tapering down my mileage from there. I need to go into the Rocky Raccoon well trained, but also with enough rest to be able to run well. It's been a long summer of training and I can not wait for this race!