Running with some pain

Having rested for 2 days, I was ready to take my ITBS legs for a test run again. I brought along a knee guard just for psychological reasons. I have already ordered the Patt Strap from US, and will have to wait for 10 days for its arrival.

This evening we ran from SAFRA MF to Marina Promenade and back for a 18km LSD training. There were heavy rains just prior to the run, but it stopped just in time. I did a bit of stretching of my IT Band, and I ran at a slow pace behind the main pack. I tried with more forefoot strike on my left leg, causing it to be tilting slightly out, which will cause less strain to the IT Band. I also deliberately lessen the pace, and kept my strides small (since I believe increasing my stride over the past few weeks have in part caused me to pull at the IT Band). It felt comfortable for the first 2km, and I slipped the knee guard down just to feel my knees again. Ran past Tiong Bahru Park and exchanged pleasantries with the Tiong Bahru runners...Alan Yeo was there too. I increased my cadence to make up for the loss in stride-length. It seemed to work quite well. We moved on to a series of traffic lights, then going to the riverside via Zouk, and all the way to Esplanade. My left leg's ITBS didn't act up, and I was pleased. After a break at Esplanade, I did more stretches, and we moved on towards the 2km+ stretch to the 2nd toilet along Marina Promenade. When I was almost reaching, I felt the pain in my outer left knee...woops, it came at about 8km. I struggled with it for a while, slowed down my pace, and then proceeded 1km more to the toilets. Met the group of Alan Chao, Ong, Kumaran, Derrick, etc.

On the return trip back, I slowed my pace a little, and Alan kindly agreed to accompany me...as we ran, my knees felt a lot better, and I increased pace. Soon we were able to catch up with Jimmy and Wong and the rest at Esplanade toilets. I took another quick sip of water, and ran all the way back to ClubHouse. It was drizzling at that point, and I was taking care not to slip (with my forefoot strike). My knees got to be quite painful with about 2km left, but I managed to slow jog all the way back. I did stretches of the ITBS when I finished the run, and it felt good again. I was able to walk with no pain...hmm, this ITBS injury is a little irritating, in that its hard to feel it normally, only attacking when I run for a while. Did the run in about 1hr46min. Pretty slow pace for 17km, but it was good traning pace for marathon.

I have decided to give Thurdsday's trackwork a miss, and will probably do a short slow run around my estate. I have also decided to run with Ong and the rest on Sunday at Yishun (which is flat, and better for my current knee condition) for a 22km route. I hope to feel much better by then.

Distance Ran:18km ___Time:1hr47min____Pace:5:56min/km
Average HR:150bpm___Max HR:187bpm___KCal:1312K