Picture Me Rollin'

My recovery from the Buffalo Run 50 Miler was much quicker than I anticipated. I was thinking I'd be hobbling around for several days and that it would take at least a week before I stopped reminding people of a drunken peg-legged pirate walking around town. I'm glad that was not the case! Actually, I was quite stiff on Sunday, somewhat mobile on Monday, and only hurt going down the stairs by Tuesday. By Wednesday I was back to myself and by Thursday I was running a little bit again. I actually ended up running just a couple of short sessions last week, with hopes of getting back on my training schedule this week.

It's always good for me to have goals - some distant date or idea - to look forward to. My current sights are set on the date of June 5th, which is the Squaw Peak 50 Miler. I'm currently wait-listed for this race (#36), but I've been assured by numerous sources that I'll get in; So I'm preparing that way. With two months to go, I decided to get back on my schedule this week.

I get out on Monday and even though it's raining with some light snow flurries, it exhilarating just to be out again! Then just after mile 3 my knee starts screaming at me again. You'd think after running a 50 miler virtually pain free, I'd have no problem knocking out my planned 6 miler... That's what I get for thinking!

I think I've got the problem pinned down to my newest pair of road shoes. Good thing it's those and not my trail shoes, since I only plan on hitting the roads once or twice a week from here til November. But it's still annoying. It also means that I'm that much further away from being able to bomb the big downhills in training... And that really sucks since those are my favorite part on the trails!

Since I'm not over this nagging injury, I decided to start rollin'! Not that kind of rollin'.. This kind of rollin':


I finally gave in and bought myself a foam roller. And whoa, I've been missing out! I've been using it for less than 24 hours and my knee already feels less tight.

For those who aren't familiar with a foam roller, you basically use the weight of your body to create pressure on the areas you're working. So for me, I've got the roller between me and the ground and I'm lying on my side, rolling the outside of my thigh between my knee and my hip. It's excruciating to say the least, but if a little pain means relief on my knee, count me in! These things are good for all sorts of other muscle and ligament pain too... Lydia was using it last night to roll out her shin splints and she said it felt great!

I was skeptical, but consider me converted. I plan on working rolling into my routine for the rest of my life. I encourage anyone who runs distance to put this into your weekly training schedule as well. As they say: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". With my current status, truer words have never been spoken.