5/6/2013 Baby Steps

I have a race report, an awesome race report, for you all, but I'm drowning in work right now so I'll get to that later in the day. Right now, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic(knocking on wood), and say that I *think* I might possibly be on the road to recovery from ITBS. Maybe. Hopefully. I don't want to jinx anything. I've been through 7 weeks of PT now. The world's most painful massages, controlled electrocution on my leg, my foam roller is my best friend and so many other tips and tricks I've read about online. Up until a couple of weeks ago, it all seemed fruitless. At my last PT appointment, 4 days after my last 5k(which I did with a low level of pain, but pain either way), my therapist said it was time to stop. No more running. I knew it was coming, but my I was still bummed. Running has become a part of my life. But this time I listed and I took the week after that off. I continued to foam roll and see my chiropractor twice a week. After last Wednesday's visit, he told me to try running. I was conflicted, but decided to try. I hopped on the treadmill Wednesday night. I started slowly. I walked for a warm-up, got off and stretched everything. I got back on, and decided to try for 4:1 intervals, 4 minutes of walking, 1 minute of running. I got through the first minute, no pain. Then the second and still no pain. I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill with several running intervals. I had no pain at all. Score!! But I know I have to ease into this. In an endurance sense, could I go out and run for 5 miles? Sure. Would I end up putting too much stress on my leg? Probably. This is something I'm going to have to ease back in to. But after a 5k I did yesterday, I'm more hopeful, at least right now. But you will just have to stay tuned for that race report. *Cliff hanger!!!*