Getting there..

Nice weekend, except for tight IT band still producing knee discomfort on long runs. Did 3:30 Sat morn, mostly on my own. Beautiful morning with the brightest of fullish moons and a lowly dripping big dipper in the north sky. Felt very good w/ Friday's rest day and went very easy and relaxed. Noticed knee twinging around 2:30 or so, but stretched occasionally to keep things loose. A few good twinges on the way to Wilson to meet 730 crowd. Felt better after a few minutes rest and some stretches. Hurt some after though, so I took Sunday off. I'll continue strength training, really focusing on getting in 3 good sets of 10-12 reps each.

Karie had an appt w/ Gyro at Balanced PT the other day. These guys are fantastic at getting you through whatever craziness you choose to endure. Basically Gyro told me that "everything is fine now, and you are going to run until it's all messed up and we're doing damage control?" Yep, that sums it up alright.

At Karie's appt, she wanted to purchase an exercise ball at Target or somewhere, to which Gyro loudly asked to others in the area: "We got balls in here, right?" Apparently so.

This weeks is a "rest week" with reduced miles every day. My plan is to run these at a slightly faster pace since that is easier on the IT band, stretch really well, and get a good week of strength training. Next week starts some more serious miles for 3 weeks straight until the next rest period. Getting warmer too, so early morning runs are critical for success.