Lizz Writes Stuff: May 2014

If you just want the life update skip down below. If you are interested in the running stuff proceed to the next paragraph.

I am running the Utah Valley Marathon in a month and this has been my weirdest, most fly by the seat of my pants training cycle ever. You see – I struggled with Illotibial Band Syndrome for much of the late winter and early spring. I am terrible at describing where the IT band is so I’ll let this picture do the talking.

The red part from knee to hip...

The band in my left leg became painful and manifested especially in my knee. I was really smart and tried running through it and eventually it got so bad I couldn’t even walk without massive amounts of pain. I tried resting, I bought new shoes, I iced and it still didn't get better.

My makeshift icing/compressing/elevation set up at work

I ended up going to physical therapist once a week for about 6 weeks during which I did not run ONCE. It was terrible. I was still able to use the elliptical, but I was going crazy on that stupid machine.

I had signed up for the Utah Valley Marathon for insanely cheap in December before a price increase. Because I’m stubborn I didn’t want this injury to equal no marathon so I followed my marathon training to the letter on the elliptical. Yes, this meant sometimes I spent three hours on a Saturday on an elliptical. I read so many books and watched so many movies.

This book for example. Actually, also this movie.

After six weeks and a trip to the runner’s clinic at my physical therapy office I got the okay to slowly start running again. The runner’s clinic was amazing and taught me so much about my form and why the ITBS came up to begin with. The way I was running was putting unnessecary stress on my knees, and IT band and my core, hips and butt were weak. The runner's clinic therapist told me to engage my core more while running by tilting my hips forward and that my feet were overlapping while running instead of remaining parallel so I had to pay more attention to where my feet were landing.

Also, to avoid heel striking (having my heel touch the ground first) by imagining I was pushing myself on a skateboard each time my foot came down. All of her advice has helped SO MUCH.

I was happily surprised that my time on the elliptical had kept up my cardiovascular fitness. My first long run back was 11 miles with an average 8:22 pace. I did a 16 miler today that was a 8:17 pace and a 21 mile run last week with an 8:40 mile pace (on the treadmill thanks to the rain).

Now I’m up to running about 40 miles a week and ellipticalling 20 (I measure my mileage on the elliptical by my heart rate and estimated time it would take me to run the same amount at the same heart rate). I am trying to be very careful so that my IT band doesn’t flare up again in the next month. If I feel even a twinge I stick to the elliptical for a few extra days before running again.

I’m hopeful that this marathon equals the big Boston Qualification, but I still have a month to go and a wonky IT band. I have five Saturdays left before the big day and my longest training run (22 miles) next weekend waiting for me.

But probably not.

The plan is that if I get under a 3:35 and qualify (current PR is 3:39ish) I’ll take a break from running for a bit. The last two summers I’ve been SO focused on running and training that I didn’t let myself have a lot of fun.

Want to hang out on a Friday night? Can’t -- I have to be up at 6am for a training run. What to go eat somewhere delicious? Can’t -- don't want to risk it will mess with my run the next morning. Want to go on a weekend camping trip or getaway? Can’t – I don’t know when or where I would get in my long runs. And so on...

I love running, but I would like to have my summer back too. Run when I want to. Sleep in when I want to. Weight train without worrying it will ruin my legs for my runs.

But that being said. If I DON’T get my BQ… I’ll be finding a different marathon to try for it this summer or fall. I just can’t waste all this fitness when I have a goal I need to accomplish! Anyways – June 14^th will be the day I know how I’ll be spending my summer!

In other news… a LIFE UPDATE:

WORK IS GREAT!!