Thursday, September 23, 2010

Summer's gone, fall is here!!

It's been almost 5 months since I last posted, Wow how time flies and boy has life and work been busy!!  Following my spring Trail Mix 25k race, I discovered that the pain outside of my knee was Iliotibial band syndrome.  I also discovered that the more I ran, the worse it got thus I bailed on the Superior Hiking Trail 25k race and the Afton 25k race.  In fact,  I stopped running all together to let it rest and then started to incorporate more stretching and cross-training into my schedule to hopefully take care of the root of the problem.  As a minimalist shoe runner, I attributed the ITBS to a combination of overuse and a muscle imbalance.  Strange as it was, while the pain was too much to run with,  I was fortunately still able to bike, hike and backpack with no pain.

I'm finally getting back into the routine of running and am experiencing no pain.  I think the key for me is to stay balanced in my cross-training and stretching.  I am eying a couple 5k races this fall and just waiting to see how our family schedule pans out before I commit...

Other blog posts in development:
June 2010 Superior Hiking Trail Solo Trip Report
July 2010 Rocky Mountain National Park Family Trip Report
Backpacking Gear Update