Bagdad Running Report & 13 Hilly Miles

IT Band Issues

Today, I managed to get in about 90 minutes of running with relatively little pain in the IT band. It has been bothering me pretty bad since I ran the marathon almost 2 months ago. The pain hasn't been so bad but the tightness is noticeable. The fascia cracks over the side of my knee every time I lift my heel to my butt. The thing with the IT band is that it takes a loooooong time to heal. It has almost no muscle mass so nutrient rich blood rarely reaches the area. I have been foam rolling and stretching like crazy but I'm still running nearly everyday. As long as the pain doesn't get worse, I'll keep running.

The Run

I did the big loop of the "Mine Overlook Run" or "MOR" as I like to call it. The "Mine Overlook Run" has recently become one of my favorite runs. The meat and potatoes of the run is a old ATV trail that snakes its way up a mountain for about one mile to a rolling ridge line. The rewards for conquering this rough and rocky foot trail are epic views to the north of snow capped peaks (seasonal) in the distance and portions of a behemoth open pit copper mine.

Views to the south are spectacular after 10 minutes of running on the ridge line. The mountains and hills almost look fake. The scene can be compared, in some ways, to the conglomerate of bubbles in a frothy bubble bath. The mountains are stacked tightly against one another. It truly is a wonderful site that few people really take the time to appreciate. Deserts really are pretty cool places once you spend some time in the them and overcome fear of snakes and scorpions.

Bagdad Running Report = Project to Document Bagdad Runs

I have yet to take a camera out on a run with me but I will soon. My plan is to take the camera out once or twice on each of my favorite runs and compile a scrapbook to document these memories. Be on the lookout.