Well I didn't think I'd make it this far....

This morning I went for a small run to test my knee. I have iced, massaged, and taken ibuprofen for the past three days, I was hoping that it would at least not get worse. I started out feeling okay, just sluggish from not running for three days and having eaten a huge cereal two hours earlier. At mile one I stopped to stretch and sort of feel my knee and see how it was doing, and it felt good so I kept going. If my knee still felt okay, I was planning on going to two, then returning the same way, but at 1.47 I suddenly felt a jolt of pain go through right below the knee cap. It wasn't excruciating or anything like that, but none the less pain. So i turned at 1.5 and came back for three. The rest of the way was okay, although my knee did seem to get worse. Once I finished I stretched a bit and I could feel it more aggravated. I iced it right away but that didn't help, my knee felt the same. I gave it a quick massage and then took three ibuprofens because I had to shower and get ready to go to the mall. I am so sick of that annoying injury. I have done all I can these past few days and I'm getting frustrated that it won't go away. I hope it does go away in the next day or so, so that I can get back to training and be ready for the race on Saturday.

P.S: This was the longest, most difficult three miles of my life. I felt incredibly sluggish the entire way and I once I got home I came surprisingly close to throwing up. I felt better after the fifteen miler the other day. Here is my Garmin link, although I'd prefer you not click it and see my embarrassingly slow splits: 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106569097 

Today we met at Sugarhouse Park for practice. We started with running the state course as a warm up, then ten hill loops on the hill by the flower beds on the west side of the park, then we did two 45 sec circuits on the soccer field of the usual stuff, popcorns, jumping jacks, squats, and mountain climbers, and for a cool down we ran the state course backwards. I didn't start my Garmin for the jog from the hill to the soccer field where we were going to run the circuits, so it was about .25 off. But anywho when we got to the end of the cool down I was at 8.3 which give or take is close enough to 8.5. My knee was feeling okay up to this point and I don't want to push my luck so I stopped there. I noticed that on the mountain climbers, my knee felt fine if anything better. So maybe I will do some of those later to try and stretch out my IT. We'll see how it goes....

PM: I feel cool. I just figured out a way to do some awesome Garmin stuff. Check this out:

Although it is cool, the link is just better cause you can't see very much on the Garmin preview window. 

Today we met at Liberty Park for practice and our Dutch Oven Breakfast. We started with one lap warm up, then I put on my flats and we jogged over to the start. Then six strides and we started our workout. 800 with equal recovery, then a mile with 800 recovery, then another 800. After that we jogged to get some water and then began the cool down. I hit 2:29 for the first one, then 5:29 for the mile, then 2:27 for the final 800. I would have liked to run the mile in the lower twenties but oh well. I was a little passed 6 when I got to the drinking fountain and most were going to eight, but my knee felt really agitated and I just decided to go to seven. I'm glad I did because it started hurting more once I got home. I will ice and massage it as usual. Right after practice we had our Dutch Oven Breakfast and it was really good!! It was fun and a good experience for the team. I did my core when I got home. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107081600 

I had to miss practice today because of registration:( But the team was going to Pipeline for a long run today. I think it is the last time we go up there this summer. It wasn't a complete loss though because right now I think it would be better if I started doing medium runs both in the morning and at night. Long runs just hurt the knee too much. That way I can still get in some mileage but not aggravate the knee. Anyway I got back later than expected because of the TWO HOUR WAIT for a schedule change, and I didn't even end up being able to get it changed. I will have to change it once school starts. So I ended up starting my run around eleven thirty. I knew it would be really hot but I wanted to get at least a small run in this morning. I was feeling okay throughout the run, just the normal annoying background pain, but in the last quarter mile I did feel it get a bit worse. I ended up turning at two miles because of the blazing heat. It was too hot and I was really uncomfortable the entire run. I will run later tonight. I was able to push a bit harder on this run even in the heat, but still it is much slower than two weeks ago.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107306385

P.S: I did a lot of research yesterday online about the pain I have been having. After about an hour and a half of Wikipedia pages, blogs, articles, and Youtube videos, I learned that the most common solution for IT band pain is RICE. But, in many articles, I read that it really isn't necessary to take a break off running. To just stay away from hills, both the down and up can be a cause in the first place, and to stay off roads because of the banked surface. That bit really made sense to me because I tend to run on the right side of roads a lot more than the left, which puts my whole right leg under more stress than the left. Also, it said leg or foot rotation can contribute. I also have a problem with that. AND IT SAID HIKING IS ALSO REALLY BAD FOR AN INFLAMED IT. The best thing to do, in most articles anyway, is to keep running the smaller runs at a pace that feels the best for your particular pain, as well as Icing, Massaging, and Ibuprofen. And it said that a foam roller is vital.... hehe. I guess i better go get one. So that is what I will do, I froze some water in paper cups and I will ice every possible time I can. Although I am open to suggestions?

PM: As if this day's entry wasn't already long enough. I went out for another four tonight once it got cooler. Ben gave me some good advice about massaging not just my IT, but also my entire quad and hamstring, so I did that, and might I say quite vigorously. Apparently it worked because I didn't feel my knee for the first mile, which was great :) Since I was feeling really good after mile one, I decided to push the rest of the run, and see how fast I could get one of my mile splits. So I starting hauling. Mile two was a 6:05 split, which I thought would be sub-6 but whatever. The rest of my splits did slow down, but I was still well under seven minute pace, which is fine with me, especially since I haven't done a fast continuous run in a while. If I didn't have to stop at two lights and for a few incautious drivers pulling out of parking lots, my splits could have been faster. After I finished my knee felt pretty good considering how fast I pushed. It even hurt less than it did this morning, which was really good. After I shower I will give it another good massage, then ice it, and of course ibuprofen. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107406517 

Today for practice we met at Sunnyside Park. We did an easy 2.5 mile warm up in the Gulley from Sunnyside, then back to Sunnyside and we did ten strides from the white tree to the goal post. About 70-80 meter strides. Then two laps around the park and a little extra to get to six. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107556873

After that we voted for team captains and dispersed. My knee was feeling good before practice and it wasn't feeling much worse after. Iced and massaged like crazy when I got home. It seems like I'm getting better, slowly though. I will just keep on doing what I've been doing. Later today is the BBQ and Fun Run to determine our Varsity for the first meet. So consequently, I shall blog later.

PM: Today was the Alumni Fun Run and BBQ. I did just under 1 mile warm up. Then we jogged over to the start and we did 1 stride. Sad. Then we started. The course was unmarked this year, but Bill explained it to me so I was good. Not. I took two wrong turns and added a little over .2 of a mile to the course. Anyway good run, I didn't push it very much. This was the first run where I didn't have someone to catch up to so it sucked. Anyway I was first for varsity boys. Then we ate and they announced team Captains. They are Dylan, Scott, Natalie, Abigail, and Annie. Congrats guys! Sweats before the season ends this year?

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107817081

(this excludes the warm up) 

Today we met at Liberty for a small workout because of the Settlement Canyon Invite tomorrow. One lap warm up, one lap fireman, four strides, then one lap and a little more to get to 5 for the day. Easy workout. The usual reports for my knee. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107817075 

Today was our first race of the season, the Settlement Canyon Premier Invite. I did a two mile shakeout run during the boys jv race to cheer them on, then took a long break until i had to warm up for my race. I did a one mile warm up, then some strides at the start. I got out well, and was in about twelfth place. Two guys dropped off behind me and one guy in front of me also fell behind. I realized I was in eleventh place so I decided to surge past two guys running close together, one of which a Bountiful guy, I think his name is Colby. He stuck with me for a while and got a few feet ahead of me at one point but I caught and passed him on the turn into the trail. This is what I love about this race, after the road, the course just flies by and you can really use it to your advantage. Then once on the trail I caught the next guy and passed him cause he was dying. Eventually I also caught the next guy, who was maybe forty meters ahead, and passed him. After about a minute I looked back and saw that the Bountiful guy was maybe fifty meters behind and trying to catch up, so I picked up the pace a little once I came up to the small clearing along the trail. After I picked it up, I realized I was comfortable at the pace I was doing, so I picked it up more. After two minutes or so I couldn't see any guys behind me. Anyway I got to the big puddle and kicked it in. The entire time I thought I was eighth but I was happily surprised to here I was seventh. Once I reached the line, I looked back and the next guy was maybe 60 or 70 meters behind. Overall good race and the entire team did really well. I'm excited for the season!!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108065710