I Love Kinesio Tape

Three weeks ago, my right groin/interior thigh area started hurting. Pretty aggravating -- made me question if I'd be able to do the 21 miler I had scheduled that weekend.

I got through that run, and although the leg was bothering me, I ran well.

But I decided to take two recovery days after it to get the leg pain under control. I didn't run at all on Sunday, and Monday I biked. Then, Monday night, I thought, remember how the Kinesio tape (sort of)helped my calf last year?

Maybe it'll help my groin/thigh. So, I googled the video that shows how to tape that, and I did it. By Tuesday afternoon, I noticed a significant improvement. I kept the leg taped through that week, and by the next weekend, there was nothing to note about that right leg. All was well.

The following weekend (last weekend), I ran a similar route to that 21 miler I'd done, and at around mile 14 of 24 I noticed a tightening of my left lower calf/upper achilles area. My mind started freaking out. I still have 10 miles to go! This isn't just a little twinge, this is hurting! WTF!!! I stopped, massaged it a bit, then sucked it up and continued -- but ran the rest of those miles constantly thinking about whether the left leg was going to give out on me or hold up.

It held up, and I was pleased with the overall run, but it was definitely a tougher run than the 21 was -- and that was purely because of the mental mind play. Stay conservative -- the race is in two weeks, don't push the leg, run easy, etc., etc., etc.

I got home and taped up the leg. Wore the tape for the next 4 days, and took two days off again. Nothing the next day, biked the second. By Tuesday, when I ran an easy 6, the left leg wasn't really bothering me anymore.

Whew.

This is the most radical and crammed training I've ever done for a marathon, and I have to keep reminding myself just to run comfortably. So far, that's happening -- thanks, in part, to the Kinesio tape keeping my legs working!