Events in between my 10K and Marathon

Well, I need to update all this, so let me take a step back. So last I wrote I ran the Helen Gold 10K in OP. Which went better than expected! My next step? A 13K at Walt Disney World! It was the Tower of Terror 13K (8 miles). But how about a warm up before? The weekend before I ran the KC Marathon 5K with my cousin Ryan. It went well! Cool that morning, but good!

So the night of Oct. 24th I ran my first Disney race. It was awesome! There were clues set up on the route and as you ran you punched out the suspect on your running bib. I apparently missed a clue as I had 2 suspects left at the end of the race! But running at night was way cool. Well, actually it was pretty freakin' hot, but it was awesome! All went well and I finished at about an 11 min/mile pace. After the event we were able to party at the Hollywood Studios with the family and we hit the best rides!

One week later things changed. I went out to do a training run of 13 miles. I got about 6 miles into it and my left knee started hurting. I walked on out to 6.5 and stretched (maybe I should start doing that BEFORE I run!). I started jogging back and the pain progressively became more worse. I finally had to stop and walk again. This went on for the next couple of miles before I finally decided that I'm just going to walk it on out. Great. Knee problems.

In the weeks to come I discovered that I didn't have knee problems. What was bugging me was my IT band. For those that don't know what the IT band is, it's basically a tendon that runs from your hip, down the outside of your leg and then inserts on the upper part of your large lower leg bone, the tibia. Improper training and improper stretching typically causes this issue. So I back way off and my miles were limited to 3-4 miles before my knees ached.

November comes along and I decide to go visit my brother. We're playing football in the backyard when he decides our game is going to be tackle football instead of touch! OK, so it probably wasn't all one sided! But what occurred was a nice bruise of my ribs! I swore it was broke, but it turns out it was just a bad bruise. Needless to say, no running while in pain!

November 22nd. The Gobbler Grind 1/2 marathon in Overland Park. Mind you, I hadn't run for about 3 weeks! What the heck. Let's jump in and just run! I bundle up, as it is the end of November, and start the race. I'm running with 3 very attractive female runners, which is GREAT inspiration to keep running!, when about 3.5 miles in I start feeling the pain in my knee. I back off to a slow jog which of course turns into a walk. I run walk for the 1st 1/2 of the race and after that I'm done. My knees hurt so bad when I try to run. I can still walk so I finish the race. My first 1/2 marathon took forever! But I finished! But could barely walk afterwards. IT band issues now in BOTH my knees. Great. The marathon is less than 2 months out.

I finally get over the pain from the 1/2 marathon and try to continue my training. I can typically get in 2-3 miles before the pain starts. How in the world am I going to get through this? Enter Dr. Tom Teter.