About a month ago I signed up for a trail race (running on hiking trails rather than streets). Since the bottoms of my delicate feet are so sensitive, I invested in a pair of off-road running shoes with a nice stiff sole. Thinking that I better break in the shoes at least a little, I took ‘em out for a couple laps around the neighborhood. Turns out that running on pavement in shoes designed for dirt isn’t such a good idea… My left IT band got itself all inflamed and stayed that way for several days.
The internet says that IT band issues are pretty common in all runners (novice and pros alike) and it’s basically a over-use injury. Dr. Internet recommends rest and stretching so I took the week off from running in an attempt to nip this injury in the butt.
At the end of this week, hoping for the best, I went ahead and did my trail race. The event was a lot of fun despite the soaring temperatures and long slogs up and down cliff faces. It’s amazing how much beautiful scenery there is in Texas. I kinda wish I had stopped more often and longer to take in the vistas, but heck, it was still a race… None the less, I still enjoyed them as they went by. In the end, I got to see 6 miles of really nice scenery in just over an hour… let’s see TV compete with that!
Alas, the knee is still hurting. I’m more diligent about stretching this week, and I got new (street) shoes in case the wear on my old shoes was contributing to the problem. We’ll see how this next week goes and hopefully I’ll be able to avoid asking a real doctor for advice.
None the less, I think this trail-running thing may be more my style then the road races. Not only are the races smaller and less claustrophobic, but they’re a lot more laid back. For example, the start of 10K’s in downtown are signaled over a 10 gazillion watt PA system with pop music blaring down upon every racer. This race started when the race director shouted “go” from the top of a ladder.
Simple is better.