1 Mile - Whoop! January 15

I haven't posted since I went to the doctor. I loved my doctor. Dr. Medlock for anyone who needs an orthopedist. He was just great, and I loved his nurse, Travis. They were very supportive of me continuing to train which I love! He confirmed that it is my IT band, and I went to physical therapy once last week. My therapist is named Deirdre, and she is very knowledgable. She showed me how to stretch my IT band, and WHY it was so tight. She gave me several strengthening exercises to do, and she has a positive outlook on my training. She told me to run once to test it out, which is what I did today.

I went to the gym and went through my Omar stretches. Then I ran one mile on the treadmill. I could slightly feel my knee...it was a low pain, around a 1-2 on a 1-10 scale. Deirdre said I should be fine up to a 5. I just went a mile to make sure it didn't hurt when I stopped running and to see how it feels the rest of the day. After I ran, I did a chest and tri workout, abs, 20 minutes on the bike, stretching, and my strengthening exercises. I went home and iced my knee. Tomorrow I'm planning on running 3 miles, swimming on Wednesday, then 4-5 on Thursday, then around the lake (at least) on Saturday.

I feel really good about things. My long runs have come really easily to me, so the endurance is not what I'm worried about so much. I want to get in another 18 mile run and a 20-22 before the race, which I think I can do and be fine. I'm trying to really focus on my stretches, strengthening and cross training. It sounds silly, but this injury may have been good for me in the long run. I think the cross training and strength training I've been able to focus on will really help me.