The Eugene Women’s Half Marathon is now two weeks away. I will be doing this with my good friend and Sunday running buddy, Cindy Bingham. It will be my third half and Cindy’s fourth for this year. Yeah, we are crazy! But we figured this keeps us more focused on training. Without a race to work towards, we would most likely not do the longer miles. And nothing is worse than starting at lower mileage and re-building up to mile thirteen, again.
Though I have kept to my training schedule for this half, it has had its up and down.
My left IT Band issue which flawed up during the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon went away for a bit. It tends to now show up around the 8-9 mile mark. Also my right IT Band has been achy at times though it seems to be doing okay.
Another area I had a problem with is my right running shoe. Two weeks after the Seattle half, I either pinched a blood vessel or just badly bruised it. I tried lacing my shoes differently, wearing thinner socks and even taking my orthotics out. None of that worked. It only irritated that area again. I am now in a new pair of running shoes. The irritated area is now fine though my orthotics don’t fit in the new shoes. I am now in search of finding inserts which will protect the bottom of my feet until I can strengthen them.
With these added problems, I have been diligent about doing squats for my knees to strength my knees and gluts, clams to strengthen the IT Bands and a whole lot of core work.
I also did a review of all of my training activities prior to the Portland Half. Everything has been the same except I dropped my weekly foot massages after my long runs. These foot massages were more like a Thai massage concentrating mostly on my feet and legs. The massages are now back in my training schedule.
So with two weeks to go, this weekend I did my last long run. The rest of my runs will be shorter to allow my body to rest and gear up for the Eugene Women’s Half Marathon.