Weekend Recap- Beer, 18 miles, injury

Who doesn't like free beer?!?! If you answered "me"- I'm afraid I have some bad news- you're either an idiot or your taste buds are broken. 

My friend Stephen informed me that our local Whole Foods was having a free beer and food tasting Friday evening on behalf of Left Hand Brewery. Left Hand and I go way back to the East Nashville beer festival, so I was in

Large left hand = Left Hand Brewery 

I arrived at Whole Foods slightly before 6pm and we grabbed our seats and we're ready to go

Brochure with some of what left hand brews 

 Our food pairings with the beers they were matched up with can be seen below 2 photos:

I did like all the pairings, however the pimento cheese combined with the Good JuJu Ale was not my favorite. It's unfortunate because I was most looking forward to that one since it had ginger in it... I love ginger brews. 

Since only 7 of us showed up (they didn't really advertise) we got TONS of refills. With more refills came the photo shoot with some of the free swag we got

and then the glasses came out...

Needless to say it was a great start to my weekend and Whole Foods is hosting New Belgium this Friday, Sweetwater the next--- sign me up!

Home by 8pm and went to bed early to rest up for my first 18 miler- longest run to date. 

I started my run at 5:15am and just kind of made the route up as I went. I was smart in the beginning to stay by some water fountains so I could use that as my water source- It wasn't until 7.2 miles in when I took my first gu that I needed to use the water from my fuel belt. ( I did order the Nathan Intensity women's hydration vest that Julia let me try on, should be here by Wed!) 

Shortly after my gu stop my right knee started to bother me. I kind of ignored it, but as time went on, the pain wouldn't go away. I kept pulling over to stretch my right IT band thinking that was what the knee pain was. Eventually it got to the point where I had to walk a lot of the steep hills (both up and down) because the pain was intolerable. 

At first I was discouraged I had to walk so much, but then I realized it was at least a good thing because I need to spend more time on my feet. More time = getting used to marathon distance, unfortunately that also means being outside while its continually heating up- aka SWEAT CITY

Mile 14.5- completely DRENCHED 

I did finish the run with the goal I created in my mind 18 miles in exactly 3 hours. I decided instead of stopping right at 18, I'd run to my actual car, therefore official time is 18.03 miles in 3 hr 11 sec.

As much as this run ended up sucking for me, it was actually a HUGE confident boost because I didn't stop my watch with all the walking I did and I still managed right at 9:59 pace. I anticipate going much faster in the marathon itself, so I'm anxious to see what I can do.

Now here on Monday the pain is completely different. I can say with 100% confidence this is not an IT band issue. I've been rolling it out and it band doesn't hurt at all. The pain no longer goes away- its intensified going either direction on the stairs as well as driving. I realized its the bending of the knee that really bothers me, so I've been walking almost with a stiff-legged limp---- its really sexy. Via some comments on facebook and researching, I think its medial synovial plica irritation. I'm in the process of seeing if my old roommate can do a plica snap test for verification (he's a PT)

For the time being all I can do is rest and ice, so I got a nice little set up at my desk to make that happen. 

This Friday evening I have a half marathon in Utah- I am waiting till Wednesday to see if the swelling and pain subsides, otherwise, looks like I'll be rescheduling state #31 :(

*fingers crossed*