Tape-notso-tastic

Hmmm...so the KT Tape seems to help maybe a LITTLE bit, but I'm still having some discomfort in my knee, especially on downhills. I'm giving it one more week, and if it's still hurting, I'm going back to the PT. I seriously do not want an injury to bench me for the Vegas race in December! I am hoping for a new PR there!! The tape also does not seem to live up to the claim of staying on for up to 5 days, even through sweat and showers. Maybe I just sweat too much or take showers that are too long, but my tape is off by the end of two days, max. Today it only lasted through one run and a shower. It was rolling off on the edges right away. That's disappointing. I will say that when my PT applied it, it stayed for about 3 days, so maybe I am just not putting it on exactly right.

I'm thinking of trying one of those ITB support straps. I don't know if it'll help or if they work very well. I need to find someone with ITB problems and discuss! Anyone?

Tape-tastic

During the LA Rock N Roll half, I began to experience some knee pain at about mile 6. Now I have felt "pain" while running before...my hip was giving me a lot of trouble for a while there...but I've never really felt anything that was debilitating enough that it crossed my mind that I might not finish a race. This was that kind of pain. It literally hurt so badly I had to slow down and walk a bit. And when I transitioned to a walk, the pain IMMEDIATELY decreased dramatically and would eventually go away completely once I wasn't on a decline. When I ran up hills, it didn't hurt, but running DOWN was excruciating. Luckily, I was able to walk enough on the downhills and run enough on the uphills that I was able to finish the race with my friend.

I know enough about running injuries that I immediately thought it could be ITBS. The location of the pain, the painful downhills, the immediate relief when walking...it all pointed to it. Post-race, I didn't really have too much trouble with it since I was mostly walking, but anything downhill, even SLIGHT, was a bit uncomfortable. Walking up stairs was okay, but coming down was nightmarish. I took it upon myself to go get my self-diagnosis checked out with my Physical Therapist today. As soon as I described the symptoms, he nodded and agreed it was definitely ITB related. Thankfully, he suspected that the big effort I put forth at Nike followed by another race the very next weekend might've put it into an overuse situation and he doesn't think it'll end up being a chronic problem since I've never had a problem with my ITB before. Ice, reduced running, stretches and strengthening are what he prescribed, which works out since this week is supposed to be a recovery week for me anyway.

He also recommended taping the ITB, and he did a tape job on it for me using KT Tape. I've seen this tape before at race expos, and mostly just thought wow, that stuff looks weird. As bizarre as it looks, once I was taped up, they got me on the treadmill for a little test run. After a mile on zero decline, they put the tread on a 2% downhill. This was really painful during the race, but with the tape on (and after having had a few days rest!) I didn't feel any pain. I still say it looks really weird, but I was sold enough to pick up a roll of KT Tape to keep in my race bag. It came with instructions on how to tape preventatively and for a huge variety of injuries, and online you can even see videos of how to tape yourself. I'll keep everyone posted on how things go moving forward, but so far I'm liking the stuff. It will supposedly stay on for up to 5 days even through showers and swimming. (So far, it's lasted really well through one shower!) We'll see. And it's a plus that the pink tape matches my Nike Finisher's shirt! Have you ever tried KT Tape? If so, I'd love to hear what you thought.

RnR Expo Vendor Dish

While I was at the LA Rock N Roll Expo, I ran into some of my favorite vendors and wanted to dish a little about them because I like to share awesome stuff I find!  Mission Skincare has some of the best sunscreen for running that I've come across. Mission Skincare products are developed by athletes, for athletes, AND they support quite a few charitable causes, which makes them super cool in my book. Their Facestick is easy to put on and doesn't sweat off. It doesn't sting your eyes and it blocks both UVA and UVB rays. I also got a chance to try their Anti-Friction cream for the first time at this race. It isn't waxy at all, and contains silicon to keep the chafe away. It's a new go-to product in my race day bag. I haven't tried their Muscle Rub yet, but that's next on my list!

I also stopped by the Lara Bar booth and got to check out some of their newest flavors. Natural, whole food bars, Lara Bars are made with fruits, nuts and spices...most bars have only four ingredients and you can pronounce every single one! While they were out of the new Carrot Cake and Chocolate Chip Brownie, I can highly recommend the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip flavors! The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor has just four ingredients: cashews, dates, chocolate chips and salt!!! And they are GOOD!

And of course I had to visit my favorite people at One More Mile. They have the BEST running shirts and gear with great slogans. My favorites include "Toenails are For Sissies" and "Does This Shirt Make my Butt Look Fast?" Check out their car magnets and marathon hats. Friend them on Facebook for sweet discounts and deals, too!

LA Rock N Roll Inaugural Half

Whew!! Back to back half marathon weekends! I am totally crazy. LA was exceptionally fun, though, and I got to run it with my good friend who was running her very first half. It was exhilirating to have the chance to run with her and experience the excitement of a first race all over again. The course was scenic and fun, passing through Griffith Park, by Silverlake, Echo Park and along Sunset Blvd, with only a few more hills than I expected to encounter. (Frankly, after running in San Fran last weekend, LA hills couldn't scare me at all!!)  I did start having some ITB issues with my left knee at about mile 6 and for about the next mile, I honestly thought I might have to pull out. I ended up needing to walk most of the downhills but the uphills didn't bother me at all, so I still managed to finish okay. I have NEVER had ITB problems before, so I'm hoping that this is a temporary issue caused by overexertion due to running TWO race weekends in a row. I probably will not opt to do back to backs again anytime soon, but I'm really excited to have done both this race AND the Nike race.

The LA event was an inaugural one, and a lot of runners opt to sit out the first of any race to watch and see how it goes and what people think. Other Rock N Roll races have upwards of 20,000 participants, and LA only had 13,000. That was actually part of what made it fantastic for me. The expo was NOT crowded, and all the vendors were practically throwing freebies at us. And I scored a "once worn" pair of my $120 Brooks Glycerin 8 shoes for $50! (Roadrunner Sports has a money back guarantee on their shoes, so if someone returns a pair, they resell them for cheap at race expos!!) Additionally, the start line was NOT as chaotic as some of the bigger races I've entered. Less crowding in the corrals and less density of runners through the first few miles. Very nice! I would totally do this one again...as long as it isn't the weekend AFTER Nike next year!!

Next up, a third Rock N Roll race for the year in Vegas on December 5th. That one will earn me a Triple Crown Heavy Medal from the Rock N Roll series. Wooohoo!!

And PS: Best. Race. Photo. Ever. That's me and my coach hamming it up for the photogs. Fun times!!

Race photos that don't look like I'm dying

Wow! Finally I get some race photos where I actually look like I'm having FUN! I usually look like I'm dying. Here's me at the Nike Women's, and yes, I WAS having fun!

Nike Women's Half Marathon 2010

This past Sunday I ran the Nike Women's Half in San Francisco! What an incredible weekend! Our plane arrived later than expected, so it was late Friday night when we finally got to our hotel, only to find that the hotel workers were on strike and picketing (LOUDLY) outside. Wow. Even that couldn't dampen spirits, though. Neither could clouds and rain on race day!! The race was everything I had expected and more...there were hills upon hills upon hills, but there were fun things to see at almost every mile, great music, and GREAT friends running with me.

According to my Garmin, I beat my previous PR at this race by about 40 seconds. Unfortunately, the chip time showed up as 2 minutes slower than my Garmin. I'm not sure what happened (I'm still convinced the wet weather might've shorted something in the chip timing system! Haha!) but either way, I'm VERY happy with my time. With all those hills and the rain to boot, to be that close to a PR that was set in Huntington Beach on a FLAT course felt pretty darn good to me. I'll take it. And I'll take the Tiffany's necklace that was handed to me at the finish line. It's going to be a treasured memento of a wonderful weekend I won't soon forget.

I hope to be back there next year!! For now, I'm looking forward to the LA Rock N Roll race THIS Sunday. It's a little overzealous of me, I'm sure, to plan back to back half marathons like this, but I'm having fun and will be running this race with a girlfriend who has never run a half before. It will be fun to pace her and not to worry at all about my own finishing time on this one. My next planned attempt at breaking my PR will be in Vegas on December 5th...until then, I'm just going to try to relax and have fun! I'll let you know how that goes...

For a race recap, check out Shamus' "blog" here.

What has happened to my blog posts??

Where have I been?!?! Well, I've been running! I have been busy, too. With two boys in baseball, I'm usually running to the baseball field! I haven't had a lot of time to post, but I have had a lot of ideas for posts, so I'm going to sort through them all and try to get caught up again. So bear with me through some bumps in the schedule and I will hopefully have some time to write again soon!! Meanwhile, I recently saw this video from Meb Keflezighi, Olympic silver medalist in the marathon and winner of the NY Marathon in 2009. He's a really inspirational guy, and his favorite bible verse is the one I've used as a mantra since I took that first step out the door and made an attempt to start running! Cool.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/video/video.php?v=166819113330933