Sunday, December 24, 2006

Cautiously optimistic on progress

I am feeling cautiously optimistic about my IT band condition as a result of a decent week. I am seeing the light toward the end of the tunnel. Still a ways to go, but I am feeling like I can get out of my rut pretty quickly.

Good news is that I was able to achieve my mileage goal of 25+ without any issue.

I resumed running with the CARA "Boston Bound" group yesterday morning. We now meet at the Morton Aboretum in Lisle, which is a beautiful sanctuary of trees and nature. We run up there because of the well-kept paved roads, which are plowed in the wintertime, and the hills which will help prepare for Boston.

I was pleased to have run the 10 miles without really being bothered by the knee. Don't get me wrong; it is still aggravated. Perhaps I have learned that stretching before will minimize the impact - and the little bit of discomfort has become tolerable at this point. The group was going for another 3.5 mile loop and I could have gone more, but I din't want to push it. So I called it a week.

I have "The Stick" rolling pin device, from a gift from the mother-in-law two years ago. I never used the thing until now. However, I have found that it helps stretch out the IT band. I also have broken down and ordered the foam roller. I am changing my ways as a runner.

I think getting back out with a group helped me immensely. There was a group of about 8-10 runners that stayed together. These are the people that I trained for Chicago with.

I am going to beat this thing soon. I think I will ramp up to 32 miles next week, 36 for New Year's week and 40 the week of 1/8 -- which will be just in time for the PT to tell me that there's nothing wrong with me.

Week of 12/18/06 recap

Mon - 5 with fast finish
Tue - 4 general aerobic
Wed - REST
Thu - 4 easy
Fri - 5 recovery
Sat - 10 EZ - 7:55 pace
Sun - REST

TOTAL: 28 miles

Plan for 12/25/06 week

Mon - 4
Tue - 6
Wed - REST
Thu - 5
Fri - 5 Recovery
Sat - 12

Total: 32 miles

Boston Marathon is 113 days away. Stretch, stretch, stretch...

2 comments:

Unknown said...

You're not counting the days until Boston are you? Keep the goal in focus and good luck ramping the mileage back up.

MNFirefly said...

Great job on the mileage. The stretching really does help a lot. I also found that my shoes made a huge difference as well.