TCM training - Week 3

I went to my physical therapist on Monday, all set to describe my new left IT band issues, and she said, "Yeah, that happens sometimes." Well. Wonderful. It was supposed to be our last appointment, but she's extended our sessions through October and the Twin Cities Marathon, to help with this new issue and anything else that comes up.

I went for a test run that afternoon, to see where things were with my knee. I couldn't make it a mile without stopping in pain. It's really demoralizing to spend so long thinking about something and working towards that goal, only to be held up before training really even starts. This last week had 21 miles on the schedule, and I did 1 mile. On the other hand, I also woke up at 5 AM and did my strength training routines 4 days, additional strength training Nike Training exercises, and biked the 10.5 miles to work (up hill both ways!) on Wednesday. So it's not a complete waste, but not anywhere near the mileage I was hoping for.

After taking another rest week, I cautiously went out today to see how my knees/IT bands were doing. Success! I made it 2 miles without having to stop. There was some lingering pain, but nothing that forced me to stop. I'm cautious about running through the pain, and finished the two miles in good shape. So that was an awesome turn of events - I'm going to be laying off increasing mileage and will incorporate more rest days than I planned this week so I don't backslide. I was also reminded, by my good friend Matzke, about increased cadence and a shorter stride as to land midfoot instead of heel striking. I made a deliberate attempt to have fast turnover and shorter strides today also. I also need to be better about foam rolling, too. No consistency with that at all.

We'll see how this week goes, but today's run was enough to make me feel like I still have a shot at a good training cycle and preparing for the marathon. I also had an itch to do a sprint triathlon (YWCA Tri in August), but we'll see how that fits in if marathon training continues as planned...

Last week:
Monday: 1 mile, AM - routine 1
Tuesday: AM - routine 2, Nike Training workouts (Butt Buster and Ab Burner)
Wednesday: AM - routine 1, bike to and from work (round trip 21 miles, ~120 minutes). My abs were so sore on Wednesday, either from the Ab Burner or biking.
Thursday: AM - routine 2 (only one set)
Friday: rest
Saturday: biked around town
Sunday: rest

Week to come:
Monday: AM - routine 1, 2 miles (minimal pain!)
Tuesday: bike to work, strength training
Wednesday: Run attempt
Thursday: Run attempt or strength training
Friday: yoga
Saturday: rest or run attempt
Sunday: bike to yoga/rest