Gone But Not Forgotten

Been doing stretching and strengthening exercises. Searched the net and found a couple different ones. My goal is to start running again Labor Day weekend.
Nothing going on but work. Only exercise I've been doing is elbow bends. See you in September. Will run for beer.

Disappointment-Day Ninety Eight

Back, finally.
Worked Saturday and Sunday. Did the exercises Saturday afternoon but didn't have time Sunday.
Monday decided to go for a 6 mile bike ride. Had too much going on for much else. And was a little apprehensive about a run. Tuesday went for a run. Did the stretch routine and warmed up nice and easy, felt real good to get back on the road. For a mile, then the pain came back. A mile! Crap.
Did a little more research on the net and it's looking like I shouldn't even ride the bike for 3-4 weeks. I probably should call a sports therapist for some definitive answers to my questions. This is not what I was expecting to happen.
The information I've read states no running on crowned or banked surfaces, ie. roads. No hill running, where I live it is all up and down. Lower the mileage; hell, I've never run more than 3 miles yet. My weekly total has never been more than 10 miles running. Warm up and down slowly doing stretches and walking or light jogging. That is what I do both before and after. And finally the kicker, if all else fails no exercise for 4 to 6 weeks. If one doesn't treat this ITB injury properly it'll never go away. Just loverly. Poop. Double poop.
I'm going to call my doctor and see what he thinks, he knew what I was talking about right away when I saw him last. Maybe he has a different idea as to what to try next. Maybe see a orthopedist. I'm just bummed.
Later. Will run for beer.

Day Ninety Three

OK. Went for 4 mile walk today. Felt pretty good. Real humid. Well it rained all morning and it was a balmy 75 degrees. But sticky even with a breeze. Maybe it's just me but this summer seems to be above average for the humidity. Sucks.
The stretches the doc gave me are a workout by themselves. Takes me about 25 minutes for 1 leg. I just hope they help.
Work this weekend so no exercise for me. I'll do the stretches at work, if we're not busy. On Monday I have a dentist appointment at noon. I'll try and get my butt out of bed early to try a run. Don't think I'll have time to after a visit to the dentist. He's going to start a crown procedure. Never had one so I'm not sure how long it will take.
Keep it quiet. Will run for beer.

Day Ninety Two

I've saved, or tried to save, this post several times and it keeps disappearing. P I A. I'll figure this stuff out yet.
Monday went to doc. Diagnosis is as I expected. ITB. Iliotabial band. He gave a sheet of stretching and strength exercises to do. And quite a workout they are, too. The stretches I was doing previously, I see now, weren't really doing me much good. So I'll do them at least once a day. And no running for another short while. Also all my blood work came in good. Everything normal, for me. I lost 8 lbs. since January. Actually it was more but gained some of it back while on vacation and not able to run as often as I wished I could have. Also on Monday I did about 18 miles on the bike, the first 8 with my girls. The youngest complained a bit about how far I 'made' her go. But she was a trooper and finished. That took about 2 hours. Then I went for a quick 10 mile ride to burn up some excess energy. Felt good.
Tuesday walked for 3.5 miles. Pretty warm out and I believe I perspired as much as if I were running. Be glad when the heat of summer is over.
Wednesday couldn't find the time to do much of anything. Between errands and work and kids there just isn't no time. And more of the same for Thursday. Meeting in the morning and work in the afternoon. I read a quote the other day I kinda liked "If you are too busy for exercise you are too busy". I've got to start to try and plan better to get some exercise everyday. Friday should be good. I may try and run but we'll see how my leg feels after I stretch it out a bit.
Also think I may start doing these stretches on both legs just as a preventative type thing. I mean as part of my warm up and cool down routine.
One thing I definitely need to do is go golfing. Only been out twice this summer. Once in April and once in May. Should've seen what kind of summer it was going to be by the late spring hot weather. One of these days soon. I'll do it. Just do it. Yeah right.
Our new puppy is working out pretty good. He's seems to be a smart feller. The kids wear him so he sleeps all night long. Had to puppy proof the dog pen this week. He escaped the first time we left him in with the other dogs. When we came home he was sitting on the front deck. I think he got out and couldn't find his way back in. The old dogs appear to be tolerating him OK but the cats aren't as accommadating. Cats never are though. Pup got a booster shot yesterday and I don't think it agreed with him as he had business coming out both ends. I'm teaching my children responsibility because I'm letting them clean up the messes. What a nice father I am.
OK then til next time. Will run for beer.

Day Eighty Eight

Well. Disappointment again. Ran for 16 minutes and walked 1. Ran a couple more to catch up to the kids and decide to head back. About 5 more minutes and the pain came back. The good news is I ran almost 25 minutes before pain. We went just over 3 miles round trip. And 42 minutes total. I walked the last 10 minutes though.
Tomorrow I 'll see my doctor and go from there. No more self-diagnosing for me. If he doesn't have an answer I'm sure he can recommend some one who will.
It is beatiful summer weather, finally. The humidity has pretty much gone away and just nice sunny weather. About 83 degrees and a cooling breeze. Excellant running weather.
Til tomorrow. Will run for beer.

Day Eighty Seven

Not much to talk about. Haven't been running or riding for a few days. Combination no time and sore knee. Tomorrow, Sunday, will try to get a run in on the bike path. Take the kids' bikes and I'll run or try to. It is a level paved path that runs around Little Traverse Bay for about, I'm not sure, 25-30 miles. I'm planning on running for 14 minutes walking 1 for 2 cycles. We'll see if I can do it.
The kids got a new puppy from the pound yesterday. That makes 3 dogs and 2 cats. The oldest dog is going on 15 years and I'm afraid not much longer. She is deaf, doesn't move around too good and has a weak bladder. She's been a pretty good dog for a long time. It'll be hard on all of us when she goes. Hell, she is older than our children and helped raise 'em. They pulled her ears and tail, tried to carry her and hug her, and slept next to each for naps on the floor. Lots of memories. The puppy is a mutt, like all the dogs we've had. Mixed breeds are usually a very good 'breed' of dog. We'll see how this one turns out.
OK. Will run for beer. See ya.

Day Eighty Four

OK. Doing some exercises for the ITB thing. Decided to not run for a couple more days to recover a bit. Also decided that I'll have to drive to the local bikepath when I'm ready to get back at it. The bike path is level pretty much. I suppose that will work out OK as I can take my girls with me. They can ride their bikes and get some exercise that doesn't involve TV or a computer screen. The one thing I don't really care for is having to drive someplace to run but if it means non sore joints I can do it.
One of the causes of this leg problem I have is running hilly terrain. I'm reasonably sure that's the cause in my case. I mean I'm not running any long distances, yet. Also as I've mentioned more than once, it's all hill where I live.
So then nothing else going on. Will run for beer.

Day Eighty Two

I ran today for a while. 8 minutes then walked for 1 minute. 7 minutes running then 1 walking. Then 5 minutes running and the pain came back to my left knee. And I mean just like that. So I walked slowly home and did some stretching. Didn't hurt to walk. But it did hurt to run. The pain is on the outside of my knee just like the first time. Discouraging.
So I went on the internet. On the Cool Running website, which I have in my links column, searched for knee injuries. I believe I have Iliotibial Band Syndrome. They explain the problem quite clearly, the symptoms, the causes and remedies. So I'll be working at the remedy part.
I have a doctor appointment next Monday, a semi annual check up, and will bring this up with my doctor. He's a younger guy who is fairly active outdoors. I read an article in the local paper last year where he and a buddy went mountain climbing out west. And he's got a couple of kayaks on top of his vehicle almost always. I don't know if he's a runner though. So it appears I'll be learning about running injuries after all. That's one subject I'd hoped not to explore.
Tomorrow I'll start the exercises recommended in the article I read and take at least 1 more day off from running.
Until next time. Will run for beer.