Cross country running at the Bay...

Thank you everyone :-)

Monday 7 November - weights

Decided not to go for a swim this morning for no reason other than I couldn't be bothered - so I slept in instead. Also decided to ditch the pilates class to give my knee a break and instead headed to the gym after work for a weights session.

Activity: weights
Time: 7pm
Duration: 45mins
Mood/energy: surprisingly good

Upper body session consisting of:
* single arm lat pulldowns
* single arm reverse flyes (cable)
* seated row
* bicep curls
* tri pushdowns
* internal & external rotator cuff stuff,
each repeated twice.

Spoke to my physio this afternoon. She thinks the unusual knee pain on Sunday was due to the most recent adjustment made to my orthotics. She also recommended that I see Tom the Sports Doc (who works with Andy the Pod) just to make sure that there isn't something else causing/contributing to my probs.

Tuesday 8 November - cross country at the Bay

Activity: run
Time: 6am
Duration: 40mins
Mood/energy: not bad
ITB report: good

I woke at 5am this morning to the sound of heavy rain and thunder. Yikes. I love it if the heavens open during a run but I really hate starting a run in the rain. As I had agreed to meet the Owl for a lap of the Bay, I resisted the temptation to turn the alarm off and go back to sleep. Instead I got out of bed, in the car and headed to the Bay on the assumption that the thunderstorm would have passed by the time we were due to start running. The Owl however pulled the pin as I was driving over the Bridge - thankfully I had remembered to pick up my iPod as I left the house. I needed the motivation this morning. Fortunately the rain was reduced to a light drizzle as I arrived at the Drummoyne Rowers at 6am - though it did get heavier during the course of the run.

I almost didn't recognise the Bay this morning. There was no-one around. Sensational. In the first 15mins of my run, I only saw 2 other people and probably no more than 10 people in total during my lap (including Fats who I saw twice).

The program called for 40mins today. After Sunday's 'adventure', I was pretty nervous about running but my RH knee/ITB were fine today. Temperamental things. My left leg however doesn't like the most recent adjustment to my orthotics - my shin and foot were a bit unhappy early in the run but seemed to settle down.

Summary: 7kms; 40. 34sec.

Off to see Tom the Doc this afternoon...

Edit:
Tom the Doc confirmed it is ITBS. My hip pain is thanks to my TFL (tensor fascia lata) which is also tight and inflamed (which connects the iliac chest on the hip bone with the ITB at the top of the leg). The causes are probably both biomechanical (which has/is being addressed through glute strengthening and orthotics) and overtraining.

Tom the Doc confirmed that I can do the Half without causing long term damage and has offered me a cortisone injection to reduce some of the inflammation and pain in the meantime. I would however have to take 5 days off after the injection.

Fortunately my physio was available so I had a chat with both of them afterwards. In response to my question "if I didn't have a race, what would you recommend?", Tom the Doc responded (without blinking) 4-6 weeks off running. I blinked.

I guess the only question left is whether I start my 4-6 weeks off now or in early December after the Half - which I suppose must come down to whether the Half or next year's goal races (which are in the first half of next year) are more important to me. Current thinking: no idea but I have given myself until the weekend to decide.