Ouch Ouch Ouch

Ouch. Everything hurts.

Today was a 5 miler and I actually semi-enjoyed (read: didn't completely hate) it. I ran the first 3 miles at about 12:00 each, walked the fourth in about 14:00, and ran the last one in just under 10:00! Even my fast mile is probably pretty slow for most people, for me, it was pretty darn quick.

However even though it went pretty well during the run, my body is really hurting now. My right knee felt kind of alright (more on that in a second) for most of the run, but now it's throbbing. My ankles are sore, my lower back aches, even my calf muscles hurt. I just took a pain killer and I'm looking forward to when it starts to kick in. I'm icing my knee now and will probably ice my ankles in a little bit, just for good measure.

I bought an IT band strap to see if that helps. I'm pretty sure that it's my right IT band that is flaring up and bothering me, and I thought today to search online if they make some kind of support for it. They do! I bought this one and tried it out today. So far, I'm undecided. My knee still hurt at about mile 2, but I think it felt a little better and didn't hurt as sharply as I continued running. It also didn't feel quite as stiff at the end, but then again, I am currently icing it so who knows. I'll hold off on judgment until I try it out a few more times. I'm pretty sure it didn't make anything worse though so I may as well keep at it.

Also, in a move of sheer brilliance, I decided that I'm not going to go to another orthopedist until after this half... mostly because I don't want to be told to lay off the training and not be able to do it. We'll see what kind of smart plan that really is. If I end up on crutches or needing surgery, here is a note to my future self: You friggen idiot.

Alright, off to finish up the icing and head to bed. I'm exhausted and could probably use a full night sleep. Thank goodness for Advil.

Update:
I was looking over the last couple of posts and realized that I ran 8 miles in 1:47 last week and 5 in 1:00 today. That's a difference of and average 13:23 and 12:00 mile splits. Granted, I tend to get slower as the mileage drags on, but I'm pretty proud of pushing myself. With running, I think I have a tendency to stop or slow too soon (when it's not related to pain) so I've been trying to run through being tired or cramps and only walk for knee pain.
Hurray for going from super slow me to slow me in a week.