I moved my treadmill out of my living room and into my four season porch and today was my first workout with the new set up. I’m very happy with my new home gym, hah. It’s great to have the treadmill out of the way and not overcrowding my living room but still easily accessible. I will need to configure a good cooling system for the summer heat though as the porch bakes in the afternoon sun.

So, as far as my slack training, I’ve been nursing a tender left knee for over a month now. I’m pretty sure it’s IT band syndrome and it’s irritating as fuck. I ran a 15k a few weeks ago and while my time wasn’t horrible and I ran across the finish line, I could hardly walk for 30 minutes or so after the race. Stupid, maybe, but I paid to run that race and I was going to run it. I’ve been researching and reading up on how to help my knee and I believe I’ve come up with a good plan. Any experts or others that have been through this want to weigh in, please do so!

• I’ve added strength training back into my workout routine, specifically my core and glutes
• yoga and foam rolling
• massage and chiropractic care
• and most importantly, a slow build up of miles.

I don’t like doing much of anything slow but I need to protect my knee and body and if I want run long-term, I need to do this right.  My next race is one month away which should give me plenty of time to get myself together.

I haven’t ran at all since the 15k two weeks ago so I got on the treadmill and did one of the pre-programmed workouts, number 4. I like that workout because of it’s slow build up and nice slow down with a power punch at the very end. I didn’t want to just jump on the treadmill and go out for my usual 5k pace which I felt would have made my knee throb pretty quick. I’m happy to report that my knee only had a bit o’pain at the very last fast part. And now I’m going to do some yoga!