A lesson on the IT band...

Okay, first let me clarify that I'm not a doctor, despite the dr's outfit I may have in my closet.

I was out for my run on Tuesday, when something terrible happened...I got a really bad pain, on the bottom outside of my right knee. This was around the 45 minute mark of a 60 minute run. I tried to run through the pain for a few minutes, but had to stop. I stretched, then tried to run again for a few minutes, but the pain got worse, so I decided to swallow my pride and walk the rest of the way home, but about 10 minutes from home, the pain got so bad that I couldn't even walk and was forced to call for ride (Thanks Hank). Anyhow, I iced it right away and continued to do so for the rest of the night. I sent Sandy an email explaining what had happened looking for some advice as I didn't really want to sit in emerg for 4 hours to find out there was nothing they could do. To make a not so long story shorter, it turns out that I have had my first experience with Illiotibial (IT) Band Syndrome, something that is common amongst runners when they get up to 35-40 miles of training per week, which around where I'm at.

The good news is that it's not debilitating, and after one days rest I was running again today. Now, that being said I do have to be careful and am stretching my IT band like crazy when I can, plus I've added some new hip stretches to the mix as I discovered my hip muscles are very tight on my right side for some reason. All this, plus I've booked myself in for a massage on Monday with and RMT that specializes in runners, recommended by Sandy. Apparently a massage is the best thing to work this out, so until then I'll be trying to stick to my regular routine, but it will proabably be all treadmill work for now, as if there's any pain I'll be calling it quits for the day.

Keep your fingers crossed for me. I'll keep you posted.

On the fundraising front...the super stylish diabetes.ca Get Serious bracelets are on sale now at the Blessington Store. So if you stop in for gas, pizza, or whatever, you can pick up a diabetes bracelet for a minimum donation of a mere $2, and all proceeds go directly to my campaign and to the Canadian Diabetes Association.

Cheers!

Will