I'm Off My Meds

Today is the first day I ran without my prescribed muscle relaxant. This is a small milestone for me as I've been taking them to aid in my recovery from ITBS. For now, I think I can now do without it as I did not feel anything irregular with my right knee. I still wear the ITBS strap though. I think it's been the most effective accessory in my recovery. I just thought I should write it down to note down this milestone.

Rainy Sunday Morning Run

The plan was a 30-minute Sunday morning run in UP. But when I learned that the UPCAT was scheduled today, I decided to run around our subdivision. When I left the house, the sun was just coming out. I even notice a sunny spot on our driveway where the sun shown through the clouds.

I started out with an eight minute warm up. My first round was difficult. Our subdivision had a stretch that would have you running on an incline for around 5 minutes. I was still not used to hills. Midway through my second round, it started to rain hard. I decided to change my shoes so I ran into my house and changed to my old New Balance shoes. I immediately noticed the difference from my Brooks Ghost. The NB shoes were stiffer and I could feel the stability. My Brooks were Neutral-Cushion shoes.

The rain was great. I thought it made my run much easier. I saw an uncle and an aunt while running and I thought they'd make a big deal out of seeing me running in the rain. But, I knew I was fine. My body was warm and the rain was cooling it. If I had felt cold, it would have been a different story.

By the last incline of the third round I could feel the strain on my legs. I was pushing it a bit. I finished my run in exactly 31 minutes. I was drenched, but I felt great. My wife keeps telling me what a fanatic I am for running in the rain. I wonder if she knows I sometimes look forward to the rain when I run.

Birthday Run in UP

It's been more than a month ago since I last ran on the UP Academic Oval. Since my injury late last December, all my runs in UP have ended in disappointment as the all too familiar pain on the side of my knee would show itself midway into my first round. Today was different because for the first time in seven months, I left the place happy that I was able to run without any pain.

Thank you Lord for a great birthday gift.

It was just 2 rounds (approximately 4.4 km), but it's a start. The knee still isn't capable of going farther even if my heart and lungs appear to still be strong enough. Although I already noticed it before, I was reminded as to how different it is running on the road compared to running on a treadmill. The road isn't a completely flat surface and definitely requires more effort. Nevertheless, the road is so much more interesting than the treadmill. When I'm in the gym, I usually get impatient after around 20 to 30 minutes. On the road, I can easily entertain myself with the sights and people around me.

I want to run in UP again next week. Just 2 rounds at a time for now so my body can adjust properly. I would want to experience the pain ever again. I have to think long term.

Recovery Attempts from ITBS (Part 2)

It’s been more than 7 months since my last race, which was the 21km race of the New Balance Power Run last November 29, 2009. After one particular long run in December that year, I felt a pain on the side of my right knee so I decided to rest and ice my knee. But then, every time I would try to run again, I would feel the same pain whenever I would reach around 2km into my run. I remember researching my condition, which a check up with a Orthopedic Surgeon confirmed to be Iliotibial Band Syndrome.

Aside from the frustration of not being able to run, one side effect of my injury was a fear that if I were to try and run again, the pain would come back and I would realize that all my treatments were in vain. But that visit to the doctor gave me hope because although at first he was a bit discouraging, he gave me practical advice. And so I began to train again, albeit at a much, much slower pace with the help of a Cho Pat ITB Strap, an LP patella strap, some prescription muscle relaxants, new shoes (neutral cushioning), foam roller massages and a lot of stretching.

I occasionally test my knee sometimes when I go up and down steps to see if I feel anything. So far, the knee seems to be fine. I hope this continues on until I can get back to the 21km race distances that give me so much sense of fulfillment. But for now, it’ll probably be by increments of 5 minutes weekly.

I started out with a 5 minute run three times a week. With no signs of pain, I moved it up to 10 minutes on the second week. On my third week, I moved up again to 15 minutes. This was my plan: to increase my running time by 5 minutes every week. So far, it’s been working. I’ve been able to build my time up to around 35 minutes with no sign of the pain I used to feel.

Robinsons Fit & Fun Wellness Buddy Run 2010

The Robinsons Fit & Fun Wellness Buddy Run 2010 was a fun race. Being a company sponsored race, there were many officemates in the race. It was also different from the other races because it required finishing the race together with your buddy.

While running the race, I noticed runner couples holding hands and some even running with their arms around the back of their buddies. There were some encouraging others to keep running and others who had to walk on account of their partners. Some were patient and others not so.

Being a buddy run, a participant had to pay attention to his or her own body and be sensitive to the needs of his/her buddy. Needless to say, one needs to communicate to the other if the pace they set for themselves was too fast, too slow or just right.

My buddy and I agreed before the race that the goal was just to have fun and finish the race with a good time so our finish time was secondary to the overall experience of running the race. Nevertheless, our competitive nature was what kept us moving. We finished with an official time of 34:36.

On the lighter side of the race, my buddy and I thought of decorating our singlets for the fun of it. As we were Team Waka Waka (from the Pacman game), we thought of putting Pacman designs on the back of our singlets. My buddy took this seriously and took care of the designs. Lo and behold, at the end of the race, we were awarded the Most Dynamic Pair Award entitling us to some freebie products from our group’s business units. I posted some pictures showing off our designs below if you want an idea of what my buddy did.

One last item about the race was that this was my first race for 2010 and my first 5km race since I started running as a sport. I think this race was significant because my performance in this race showed that I can start building up my running distance again.

Recovery Attempts from ITBS

It's been such a long time since I've run more than 2km. The doctor said I have Iliotibial Band Syndrome, a common running injury usually caused by over training and biomechanical problems. At first I thought that since it's so common, it shouldn't be difficult to treat. Boy, was I wrong. After six months, I still feel the distinct dull pain that builds up when I run more than 2km. It has gotten to the point that I have this lurking fear that the pain will reveal itself again whenever I try to run.

I've been told to change my shoes, do some stretches, strengthen my core and legs, and take some muscle relaxants. I was also told to get back into running very slowly. So I enrolled in our company gym and I try to do a walk-run-walk routine. The running part of it is only 5 minutes. Is that slow enough? So far, no pain. For next week, I'm still trying to decide if I can increase the running portion to 10 minutes. What do you think?

My New Fitness Gadgets

I recently bought myself 2 new fitness gadgets to help me get on my way to recovering from my knee injury.

On the way to the Hot Air Balloon Festival at Clark last Feb. 14, I found a Nike Fitness Band being sold in Robinsons Starmills for P400. To be honest, the workout from the the fitness band is quite good. It's low impact, handy and easy to use. This I combine with body weight exercises such as push ups and squats.

Then, just last week, I bought a foam roller for around P1,200 from Second Wind. It was pricey but I thought it would really help with my knee. So I started massaging my legs with it and so far, my leg muscles feel relaxed after using it.

Anyway, with these new gadgets, I'm doing a lot more strength training combined with stretching and massage. I really hope this works so I can start running and building up the miles again. I hope that I feel strong enough to try an easy run soon to see if it works. I really hope this works.