This morning I attacked the TM with a vengence. Ok, not really. I wanted to see if by laying off running for a few days, my leg would magically get better. It was looking good (between 8:30 to 7:30 pace) through 2 miles (a 0 on my pain scale) when by 2.5 my hammy had tightened up enough to pull on my knee. The pain creeped up to a 5 and I started to walk. It immediately felt better walking so after 1/4 mile walking, I tried again. In a 1/4 mile of running, it hurt again so I walked some more. I attempted it one final time but at 6mph to see if that helped. It did, as the pain stayed low (2-3). I feel I can run though the pain as it isn't that bad, but I am worried that I am making it worse by running through it. Well, round two with the TM and I was KO'd. I did an experiment and messed around with the speeds. Everywhere from 5 to 11mph. The 11mph actually felt the best, but it was probably because at that speed, I am barely touching the ground. All the effort goes into forward motion. Unfortunately, after 1.5 miles (averaging 8 min pace overall), the pain was about a 5. I continued to see what would happen and lo and behold, it got worse. Imagine that. By the time 2 miles came around I was grimacing (8-9 on the pain). Yep, I'm done. No running now until I can get this resolved. Either a doctor, or major time off. Not sure if the doc is worth it. Pay a bunch of money for tests and have him tell me, yep you have ITBS, stop running for X amount of time then come back and see me. Stupid leg..... The only silver lining is that walking gives me no pain. Looks like I will be walking until Christmas. | 