Injured (but, hopefully on the mend)

So I finally pushed too hard, and I hurt myself. All the running books and magazines talk about it - increase distance and/or intensity too fast and you will likely end up injured. Well, I'm proof that this theory really is true. Everything had been going great, but when the running camp started last month, I definitely ramped up the intensity too fast. My weekly mileage didn't change that much, but the twice weekly camp workouts have been tough.

After running the Tiger Dash 5K last weekend in near a near PR time for me, my right knee really started to complain! This is supposed to be for fun and health, and I was in pain. I self diagnosed myself with ITBS (Iliotibial Band Syndrome) and prescribed the usual treatment - RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation). I ended up working late on Tuesday, so I missed running camp, but I needed more of the R, so I was OK with that.

By Wednesday night I was chomping at the bit to go for a run! Bad idea! My knee hurt, and my whole leg felt like it wanted to collapse on me. I made it 3 miles, but very slowly. So much for healing quickly. I went back to the RICE, but the R part only lasted 24 hours this time. Thursday was camp night again, and I thought I would give it a go. Nothing too hard, just an easy run while the rest of the group did their 330 meter repeats. Well, there was nothing easy about that run. Again, my knee hurt and my right leg had no strength. I only made it 2.5 miles before I gave up and went home in pain.

After more research, I decided to add ibuprofen to the RICE recipe, and I think that did the trick. I hate taking pills, but in this case I made an exception. I kept up with the ice too, and today I was able to go for a 4 mile run with just a little pain. I'm still not 100% (more like 75%), but I feel like I'm on the mend. The leg is still weak, so I'll stick with the ice and ibuprofen for a few more days. Here's to a much better week!

I'll include links to all 3 runs for this week in this entry. None of the runs were worth writing about by themselves.