Super Saturday

Yesterday, I had little time to dwell on my pained IT band; instead, we spent most of the day at a Marlins game. I'm not any kind of sports fan, especially baseball, but the group went to the game in order to celebrate our friend, Pete's, b-day.

So, we arrived at the game a few hours early in order to tailgate -- as my husband and I are demonstrating in the pic above -- and sweat every ounce of fluid out of our bodies. It was easily 90 something degrees, and the sun was beating down directly on us; in no time, we were all soaking from the heat. Personally, I had the worst boob sweat and my underwear were saturated from perspiration (made peeling them off in the bathroom an enjoyable experience). This would have been embarassing, but since everyone else was suffering from similiar sweating, I didn't feel so bad. But, despite the heat, we did enjoy our brats and beers.

Inside the game, it was no cooler.
But, by then, we were used to the sweating, so we sat back to enjoy the game, drink more beer, and eat peanuts. Here I am to the left, with a big ol' peanut in my cheek. I look like a friggin chipmunk!

But I have to say, the peanuts and beer were the best part of that game -- to me, baseball is just as boring as watching the grass grow -- but soon enough it was all done (Marlins lost to the Mets) and we waited for the after game concert: Quiet Riot and Vince Neil -- sans the rest of the Crue. The concert was alright. But maybe it was because I was just so tired at that point, or maybe it was because it was the 3rd concert of aged rock stars I'd seen in just as many weeks, but whatever the reason, I was so ready to leave at that point. However, we did stay for the whole thing and while I did enjoy hearing the classics ("Kickstart my Heart" "Same Ol' Situation" "Dr Feelgood" etc), I thought that A.) Vince Neil has no business parading around in leather pants anymore, and B.) He also suffered from a case of mush-mouth. The choruses always came out clear, but for many of the songs, he sounded like he was sharing space with a watermelon in his mouth.

In the end, it was another fun day with my own Crew, but I was exhausted when we got home last night. And this morning's sober light reminds me that I have to return to the issue of my IT band and what course of action I should take. So, after consulting all of you, the massage therapist/physical therapist, and the team's coach, I have come to a conclusion. I am gonna rest today (fo sure), then cross train for a few days, and then return to running, but keep all of my runs around 3 miles (and see how they go), which at this point in my training, with the exception of the last long run, my runs weren't planned to exceed 4 miles anyway.

In the meantime, I see the massuese again on Tuesday and I have to keep up with the exercises and stretches she prescribed. Plus, I need to remember to ice after workouts, and IB around the clock. I feel like this is a solid plan, and when it comes to marathon day, I will do what I can. My husband has made it implicitly clear that if I can't finish, I need to step out of the race and not run through the hurt. I guess, perhaps, I need to mentally prepare myself for that possibility. It's not a pleasant thought though.