decisions, decisions...

drove down to Page, AZ the other day.  found out that 12 hours in the car is not conducive to "staying loose".

well, i'm making a "miraculous" recovery from my IT band syndrome.  it's now about a week after the event and i'm making a lot of progress towards healing.  i must say, it has come with a lot of work and diligence.

#1 i bought a foam roller at the recommendation of several friends, and have been using it several times a day for myofacial release.  some think this device is a torture mechanism, but i am oddly intrigued by the pain that it gives me.  i know that the pain is in the direction of healing.

#2 i hit the ibuprofen pretty hard for about 3 days to decrease inflammation and treat pain (as much as i hate to take medications, but in this case it was clearly indicated).

#3 i iced affected areas several times daily for 20-30 minutes (i think ice actually works better than pain medications).

#4 i bought a TENS unit online and have been using it for pain control (and at a list price of $170, on sale for under $30, who could say no to that?).

#5 i have been taping the affected areas with kinesiotape, and must say that this has been the biggest arrow in my quiver towards healing.  my friend Mark and i call it "voodoo" tape, because upon first glance, you would not expect superficial taping to do a whole lot, when in fact it makes a huge difference to relieve pain, support underlying structures, and promote lymphatic drainage.

#6 i have increased activity slowly, mostly by walking, but also did a 2 1/2 mile trail jog with the dogs yesterday and it was absolute Heaven.  i think trying to "stay loose" is the biggest challenge with this type of injury.  it would be somewhat  tempting to sit on the couch, but in actuality, activity makes me feel a whole lot better. 

things that i need to do to make myself feel even better include:

#1 stretching more:  i'm not a big "stretcher", but i went to my friend Kathleen's gym a few days ago, and she stretched me out and also showed me some things with the foam roller to speed recovery.  these stretches help, and i should do them more.

#2  get a deep-tissue massage:  i have one scheduled for Tuesday.

#3 be patient:  i'm feeling so much better, that i am tempted to run the Bear 100 next Saturday.  half of my friends say go for it, and the other half say no way.  it's really hard to know what to do and how my body will respond.  i still have a little bit of patello-femoral pain in the affected side, and some inflammation at my SI joint on that side, but for the most part, the things that bothered me at Wasatch and forced me to drop out have resolved.  it's really 6's at this point.  i could do well and finish at Bear, and i could drop after 30 or 40 miles.  it's hard to tell.

#4 SI belt:  i threw on my SI belt today just for the heck of it, to see if that would help stabilize my hip some, and it did.  so i'm going to continue to wear it for the next few days.

so, that's where i'm sitting... do i do the Bear next week or not?  practicality tells me not to do it, to make sure i'm completely healed so i don't turn an acute problem into a chronic one.  and frankly, i'm not sure that i'm mentally able to psych myself up to attempt another hundred so soon after this past one.  there is another 100 in October, but i'm signed up to work that day, and i'm having trouble covering that shift...  so it looks like i might be out of luck in that department.  my next option would be to try to continue to maintain my base mileage for a few more months and do Rocky Raccoon in February (but i really don't like the belt buckle very much for that race... )

there are also a couple of other longer self-supported solo runs that i've been meaning to do:  like the 20-mile Timpanogos loop and the 30-mile King's Peak-in-a-day.  the days are getting shorter and the temps are getting cooler, so if i want to hit these runs, it might be the perfect time to do them, or i won't be able to hit them until next year.

decisions, decisions...  only time will tell.