Another Tough Day

Today was my first attempt at a fartlek. I didn't completely finish the run, but I survived I guess. The plan was to run 8 miles total, with 8 X 20 seconds at 3K pace mixed in. I ended up only doing 4 repeats and 7 miles total.

I headed all the way up to New Jersey side of the Delaware River, near Trenton. It's called the D&R canal path. The path is right off of Route 95 and actually is a great place to run. It's soft gravel, similar to a track, and it is also very flat.

I opened up with a nice fast pace early. The plan was to run for 10 minutes to warm up. Then start the intervals every 5 minutes. It went well early on. I got used to the speed portions and thought I was pretty strong. I was recovering fairly well.

Once I got around 3 miles, the trail became a little more rocky. I made it through the third interval at this stretch. Then, my IT band started acting up. It was getting sore.

The fourth interval really destroyed me. I tried to recover, but my IT band was bothering me too much. I quickly turned around, even though I wasn't at the planned halfway point. I needed to make sure I could walk back if I had to resort to that.

I kept running, albeit at a very slow pace. At times, if I landed wrong, my leg really hurt. I tried stretching a couple times and that helped a little. Eventually, I recovered and ran through the IT band problem. I actually got pretty strong even finished with a 7:24 final mile. I cut the run short though, at 7 miles.

The last couple weeks have been very frustrating. I just need to back off a little and survive. I would've been okay with running a lot of miles today, but the speed killed me. I needed a lot more recovery time between intervals and/or fewer intervals. If I do run a fartlek next week, I'll likely reduce the intervals. I need to find the right balance of backing off, but still getting quality workouts and mileage in.

I really wanted to sign up for the Minneapolis Marathon this week, but this problem is making me question whether I should do so. I am hoping backing off a bit as well as adding some hip strengthening exercises will help. I made it through this IT band before and will do it again. It's just a matter of how long it takes. I might need to adjust my schedule a little bit.

Tomorrow is a scheduled easy 10 mile run. I'm hoping I can make it through that. I'm going to try running an out and back on Kelly Drive. It is supposed to snow overnight, so we'll see what time I run at. I don't work tomorrow, so I have options. I might try picking up some Vibram Five Fingers at the store as well. Not sure if I can run in the cold with them, but I'm ready to try anything to cure this IT band problem.

7 miles - 55:47 (7:58 pace)