Struggled ...

    So I am a few entries behind in my blogging due to a busy work schedule.  So Monday rolled around and like I had planned all week I decided that this was going to be the day that I did my long workout for the week.  I know that my endurance would probably take a hit from my recent illness ... and ... unfortunately thats exactly what happened.  I had hoped to do a total of 2 hrs 30 minutes on the elliptical which I would have equated to ~ 15 mile run (150 mins / 10 min/mile = 15 miles).  Again, I am not exactly sure that this equation will really balance out to anything when I get back on the road but I have to hope its pretty close.
    So I hopped on the elliptical with high hopes.  The first hour went by pretty well although it was a little bit harder than I thought it would be but I was able to push through.  Unfortunately, the second hour was when I think the recent cold I had just gotten over came back to bite me.  I started to struggle at around 1 hr 20 minutes and had to slow my pace a little bit.  I was able to pick it back up but it took everything I had to get to 1 hr 45 minutes.  It was hear that I through in the towel for the day.  Unfortunately, I just had nothing left in the gas tank.  I came up short of my goal of 2 hr 30 minutes, but on that day I just really had nothing more to give.
       Later that day, I had my second PT appointment.  Unfortunately, my normal physical therapist, Declan, is away on vacation so I had my appointment with a different PT specialist named Sophia.  The PT appointment went just like the last one.  Sophia was great, the appointment started with some stretching aimed at the hips / hamstrings, progressed to some ultrasound and then went to massage therapy.  Now, for those of you who haven't had ITB issues, massage therapy isn't as cool as it sounds.  They basically isolate the IT band on the outside of your leg and really knead it out.  The goal is to try to stretch / extend the band because the real issues develop when it is to tight.  The problem is, when the band is inflamed, as mine is, a deep tissue massage absolute kills!  At the end of the appointment, I got a couple more stretches to add on to my routine (see pic below) and a follow up appointment for later this week.