Big Bend and a Small Glimmer of Hope

It's been some time since I last posted. Viginia and I took the kids to Big Bend National Park. My Mother-in-Law, Nancy, went along for the trip as well. We had a terrific time. The weather was wonderful - high's in the 70's and lows in the 30's. We went on a couple of short, but really spectacular hikes. We rafted the Rio Grande which the kids loved. If you have not been out to Big Bend, you really need to check it out. It's what people who are not from Texas imagine what our great state looks like. Mountains, desert, and lots of cactus. We even ran into a bobcat and a group of javelinas. All in all, it was a great trip.

During the hikes, I had some more trouble with my IT Band. This thing is absolutely killing me! I've been a little down because I have never had an injury that has lasted this long before. I had another session with physical therapy late last week which I believe is doing me some good. I've continued with the stretches and bought some new running shoes. All of this is supposed to help me.

Yesterday I had enough of just working out (stretching, elliptical machine, treadmill walking) and decided to go for a short run. I ran down to the Lake Highlands track and tested my IT Band a bit. I did not want to overdo it, so I limited myself to 1 1/2 miles of running and 1 mile of walking. It felt so good to run again! I can not tell you how much it lifted my spirits! I had no pain in my IT Band, but I can still tell that something is wrong around the outside of my knee.

The run gave me a small glimmer of hope that I may able to do the Rocky Raccoon 100 (less than three weeks away). My fitness level has dropped a ton these past four weeks, but if my IT Band is OK I am going to give it a shot.

Here is my plan for the next three weeks: run every other day while very slowly building up the mileage. If I feel no pain during a run, I'll increase my distance during the next run. If I feel pain, then I'll back off and my Rocky Raccoon hopes are officially over. If I can somehow build up to a 15-20 mile long run with no pain the last weekend before the race I feel like I have a shot of completing this race. I know that this probably won't happen. But that one run with no pain has given me hope that I can do this race and for now that has totally recharged me!