Go rest, young man

This morning I tried running 10 miles. Of that distance, I was able to run about 7.5 miles but had to walk the rest of the way. Even after slowing down to a walk, I had to stop every half mile to do my IT-band stretch.

After one deep-tissue massage, a visit to Kaiser Permanente, two chiropractic adjustments, a new pair of arch-supporting insoles, a quarter bottle of prescription-strength Motrin and four Saturdays pushing myself to ligament failure on the sheer power of blind determination, I've realized that my ITBS isn't something I can just "run off," "rub off" or "crack off" (chiropractically speaking). Therefore, I've made the difficult and disappointing decision not to run the Silicon Valley Marathon this year, to allow myself adequate time to rest, heal and recover from my injuries.

(Although in hindsight I shouldn't've had tried running 10 miles if at all, it was ironically a good thing: Had I tried only 6-7 miles and run that distance without pain, I'd've pushed myself even harder next week.)

I have set a new goal to run the California International Marathon in Sacramento on December 3rd. This should be a very attainable target, if I am able to heal sufficiently over the next two or three weeks and if I can improve my biomechanics to prevent the pain from coming back. I've had the great fortune this summer of training with a new group of friends full of undying optimism, and that has helped me persevere through some tough physical trials with my discipline and determination intact. I know someday I will cross that finish line!