Week 13 Recap

Another solid running week in the books. And now just a little closer to the Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA on March 16. It's nice to think I won't have to swim or bike before I race on Sunday, although the ocean is right there...

There's plenty else to worry about before the race, namely my newest injury, the dreaded iliotibial band. I've suffered through this moderate pain several times in my career as a high school/college runner and never though twice about where it came from. Until a few days ago I didn't even know there was a name for it, which is ITBS. In the past I kept running and the pain would eventually disappear. However this time the pain has remained. It probably has something to do with my recent increase in run intensity and poor bike positioning. Prolonged efforts in both disciplines induce acute pain on the outside of my right knee. I foresee a week of rest, ice, compression, and elevation in my future.

Week 13 was, for all intents and purposes, a taper week so my volumes were down to 6100 yards swimming, 10 miles biking, and 13 miles running. That equates to just over 4 hours of work.

The toughest workout session of the week was four hill repeats on the same 1/2 mile stretch of hill used in Week 4 and 10. Much like the previous workout I forgot to check my times for the course before heading out. After an easy mile warm-up I struggled to run 2:55, 3:00, 2:59, and 2:58. These times were exactly on pace with Week 10's efforts so it wasn't too bad considering I recently went close to two weeks without serious training.

Early in the week I tried getting in some much needed biking on my trainer. Yet for some reason, both 20 minute sessions seemed extremely difficult. I began to wonder how much damage I had done to my biking abilities by neglecting it for months. A few days later I decided to do a little maintenance on the bike and noticed my rear brake had been knocked into the tire. It had been continually rubbing for who knows how long. I heard this happened to Lance Armstrong during his 5th Tour de France victory.