Better mileage through body mechanics

Yesterday I saw both of my "body mechanics." Dr. Mike advised me to do a single-leg balancing exercise to strengthen my left ankle; I also searched the web and found some additional exercises to try out. Dr. Gina did work on both legs (although still focusing on the left leg) as I had felt mild hamstring tightness on my right side. So goes another session of masochism:

• Me: "Would you say that performing ART requires a mildly sadistic personality?"
• Dr. G: "Yes."

Then she went into a story about an argument she had with her husband. It was quite a funny conversation. She also reiterated her advice to try running as far as I could without pain. Both Dr. M and Dr. G particularly mentioned my hamstrings. So now I'm doing a full complement of ankle, hamstring and iliotibial exercises, stretches and rolls to get my left leg in full working order.

This morning, rather than my usual cereal and bread, I had the traditional Asian breakfast of eggs and rice, with soy sauce and Tabasco on top. Gina started with us on the morning run; since she's training for just the Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon, she ran only 5 miles. She prompted me to try 10 miles to see how far I could run without pain. My plan was to turn around at the 5-mile marker, then as I got close to the starting point, run back and forth between the 0.5- and 1.5-mile markers until the IT pain forced me to walk. The rest of the masochists went gunning for 21.2 miles. I felt a little sad that I wouldn't be able to run that distance today.

We stopped at the outlook point (mile 4.9) to do our various stretches. Soon afterwards, I separated from the group and turned around to complete the back 5 miles of my run. At mile 7.7, I stopped at our usual water fountain in Vasona Park to rest and stretch; this was already a half mile more pain-free running than I managed last Saturday. I did some very long hamstring stretches and after starting up again I felt extra spring in my step. It was quite amazing what a simple stretch was able to do.

Around mile 9.1, the IT band faithfully began to twinge. I secured my IT-band strap above my knee to lessen the onset of tightness. I stopped about a hundred feet later to readjust the strap (I put it on too tight the first time.) At mile 9.3, the pain was enough for me to stop, stretch and finish the remaining distance walking. So the past week's therapy bought me an extra two pain-free miles.

A few other things:

• I had more than enough energy to finish 10 miles. Admittedly the weather was very cool this morning (54 degrees at start time), but I'm confident now that I'll have enough stamina to run at least a half marathon once my knee improves.
• I felt no tightness in my hamstrings as I did on my right side at the end of Thursday's run.
• My right Achilles tendon felt a little bit of strain. This might've been caused by me running on my old Superfeet insoles this week. Even though Powerstep last week felt like they overcorrected my right foot, the extremity may have gotten slightly accustomed to those insoles.
• My left ankle was noticeably less stable than my right one. It never threatened to turn over and reinjure itself, but I could definitely feel the difference in ankle strength – more reason to afford extra attention to my left ankle.

I'm still a little apprehensive about running to the point of knee pain, even though Dr. Gina undoubtedly gives trustworthy advice as an experienced therapist and fellow runner. I would think it prudent next weekend to do a shorter "recovery" run, but I'll see what she has to say when I see her on Wednesday.