Worth the Pain?

In the middle of July as Jen, Cori and I were running along K32, out of the blue I have sudden, extreme, knee pain. I had no clue why, but this was only on mile 5 of our 14 mile run, and I had been feeling great (for once) and wanted to keep going. So, I did. I ran through to mile 8. Then it became too painful to push it, so I walked 4.5 more miles. And then my knee hurt for 2 weeks. After a sports medicine visit and two physical therapists, I learned, what I expected, that I have IT band problems. So I started the strengthening and stretching that the first PT told me to do. And it didn't really help. I couldn't go further than a mile without pain. So Cori talked me into going to the PT she went to last year - that fixed her! But, deep down inside, I knew how they fixed her, and didn't want to go. It's called Astym people, and it hurts. BAD! But, it also works. Basically, they use these little tools to do a very deep tissue rub (more like scrape) on your leg.

It breaks down scar tissue and then "reheals" any underlying injuries. After just one treatment I saw improvement in my pain level while running. I still had the pain, but I could go further each time without feeling pain. After 4 treatments I was able to run 3 miles, on hills, without pain. Tomorrow will be the true test - a 10-miler. Oye. Anyways, I have not been able to go in public in shorts for the last 3 weeks, because my legs look like this:

No, I don't have a skin disease, those are bruises. And they look worse in person, but I can honestly say, I think they are worth it!