After trashing my legs and my lungs at the SF marathon two weeks ago, I finally felt well enough this past Saturday to continue with my mileage build up. I took that short, but significant leap, from 13.1 miles to 16.25 miles , and because I wasn’t in a big hurry, it actually felt easier on my lungs than the half marathon.
I did my usual bridge to bridge walk ( from the foot of the bay bridge, along the waterfront, up and over the Golden Gate bridge and back.) This was an LSD walk , but I still finished in a decent time of 4 hours flat.
Usually on these longer walks I have problems with leg cramps, but this time I had a problem with my left ITB . Every time I racewalked a little, my knee would starting throbbing, but as soon as I would transition into regular walking, the pain would diminish, so I’m assuming that this has something to do with my leg landing in a locked position. Anyways, by the time I got past the 12 mile mark, the pain was pretty much constant and I had to stop about every 10th of a mile to stretch my leg out. Boy…it hurts to stretch an inflamed ITB doesn’t it? But you know what ? I’ll take that kind of pain any day, over muscle cramps. I just hope it’s something that’s treatable . It seems that so many people have IT band problems, especially runners and racewalkers.
Another thing that made this walk a little different from previous ones, is that I walked WITHOUT music. For the first time in two years , I didn’t bring my mp3 player along for the ride, and you know what?… I didn’t really miss it! It was nice to hear the natural surrounds for a change. It was also interesting to hear the sound and cadence of my own footsteps, especially when I got the opportunity to racewalk a little. I had no idea that I was dragging my feet so much ( a no-no in racewalking).
18 miler in one week. Next marathon in 7 weeks.
Related Posts:
Steve, if you don’t already have it, I’d invest in a foam roller for your IT, also good for everything else – quads, hamstring, glutes, etc. Also you should strengthen the legs with some weight training. I suffer from chronic IT band problems, keeping it flexible and strengthening the surrounding muscles help it. The pain can be a lot worse than a cramp if left untreated, your knee can lock up with a sharp pain.
Oh, you walk almost as fast as I run slow, if that sentence makes any sense.
What did you think about in those four hours?