Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Healing Powers of Cleveland

I'm chilling in C-Land this weekend as I spend some quality time with family. We're heading out to dinner at some Mexican place in a few hours. Ay carumba, bring on the margaritas! I am normally not much of a tequila/margarita drinker but given what attempts to pass for "beer" at most Mexican restaurants, I tend to make the occasional exception.

My return to regular running continued this morning as I stepped out in my snazzy new shoes for a planned seven miles. Certain folks cautioned against blazing out at my race pace right from the start given my recent ITBS. I said FINE, I will try to hold myself back.

First mile: 8:47. Oops. Slow down. Mile 2: 9:30. That's better.

I felt my IT band trying to seize up when I hit 1.5 miles. I willed it not to. I just thought, "Not today. I am going to finish this entire run no matter what." It never got bad enough to make me stop and turn back or even limp, but I could feel it threatening to turn on me. I found that the faster I ran, the fewer twinges I felt, so...I ran faster. So much for restraint. Miles 3-7: 8:52, 8:50, 8:56, 8:41, 8:38. I finished the run, 7.02 miles, in 1:02. Average pace 8:53/mile. I was so pleased I was able to do the whole thing with a minimum of pain. I want to get out again tomorrow; I know the scheduled 16 miles is not going to happen but I'd like to do 10. I have a decent 10-mile route I do when I'm here. If I was feeling spry enough (and I hadn't missed the last 3 weeks of training) I would go down to the Towpath Trail's northern end in Valley View and run my 16 miles there. Perhaps I will be able to do that when I return to Ohio a few weeks hence for my nephew's birthday.

Right now, however, I am glad my bout with ITBS is coming to an end. I have sorely missed running regularly.

4 comments:

raulgonemobile said...

I'm glad things are looking up for you! My ITBS did OK today, I got 3.5 in before I bagged it as a precaution.

Here's hoping the springtime gets used to its max potential for training!

Anonymous said...

Glad the ITBS did not act up on your run!

I agree - margaritas are the way to go at most Mexican places. The "best" beer at the one near us is Dos Equis. At least I don't have to drink Corona...

Spike said...

Sounds like a great run, and your IT band never got in your way. Plus, your pace was great, especially after not running for a period.

Aaron Cunningham said...

Glad to hear the ITBS is starting to cooperate.

I have also found that faster seems to aggravate things less. I think my form starts going when I run slowly.

Good luck with the 10 miler