Yesterday Steph and I ran the northern part of the Marion County Rail Trail. If you remember when we biked the 40-miler, we took this trail to Morgantown and back. It is crushed gravel and is quite enjoyable to run on. I ran my 3 miles and Steph walked 2 1/4 and ran 3/4 of a mile....woohoo for her!!!!! I'm so happy that she ran. I hope she gives it another shot soon :)
The reason I decided to run the rail trail was because I think I am developing some issues with Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS). One of the causes of this injury is running on a track for an extended period of time. I have been running our our local track for about a month now, so I thought this may have been causing my problem. Also, I didn't know that you should be altering the direction you run on the track if you have to run on that surface. Apparently, turning left all the time (as you do when you run on a track) can cause some major problems with your left leg. I was getting some pain on the outside of my left knee and thought ITBS was the problem. It seems to have lessened and I've added some stretching specific to the Iliotibial band to my routine. My soleus issue is resolving itself I think. I feel hardly any pain and I'm still icing it.
All of this stuff kind of leads to me the conclusion that it is amazing how much you don't know when you begin running. It seems that it is so simple: you put on some shoes and go running. But, man, it is not like that at all. Your body is an amazing thing. And, I've found that it can adjust to almost any thing you ask of it. But, you have to give it time. You just can't throw on some shoes and hit the pavement. Especially, if you plan on making running a part of your life. A lot of folks who read this blog have given me that advice. But, as most of the folks who read this blog also know, when I get focussed on something, I tend to ignore everything but what I've experienced. I think over the last few months, those are the lessons I've learned........listen and give it time.
Weight: 168lbs
Exercise: Running 3 miles
Weather: Warm, humid 84 degrees
Sunday, July 8, 2007
New trail to run
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1 comment:
I think I had left a comment a while back about the track running -- best advice I can give is to stay off the track unless you're doing speedwork, or if you want a completely flat mile as part of your workout. And yes, you should turn around and make some right turns!
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