Sometimes I wish we had a dreadmill.

Yeah, but they're no good when you break them. On Saturday, the belt on mine started to pinch together. Next thing I knew, the thing was rolling up over itself so that now it only covers about 1/3 the width of the deck. Hence, my run today in 104°F heat index). I recently moved my treadmill into the basement and I must have jarred it or something. I didn't do any work on the belt at all, so I don't understand why it bunched up like that. It's gonna take a lot of work to disassemble it to straighten out the belt, so I guess I need to HTFU (and try to re-arrange my schedule to facilitate morning running).

Your treadmill hates you. It keeps trying to kill you. This is, like, the third incident in a month. Take it outside, man.

That doesn't even count moving the damn thing. Mutha is heavy. I had to roll it around the house to the basement door in the back (stairs were never a possibility) and I almost lost it down a hill. Maybe I should have let it go. Outside tried to kill me today, though. Hey good call on the excellence of "Point Break." Did you see my follow-up?

Zoomy - I didn't read this whole thing, so please forgive me if this is redundant... BUT, my knee issue is instability. However, my knee only acts up when my IT band is tight... but my Doc and PT didn't think it was ITBS. So I have to make sure to stretch my legs really well. Because it's a multi effect thing. My IT gets tight, my claves cramp, my knee hurts. The only one I use to notice is the knee. Know I keep an eye out for tightness in my IT band so I can start stretching before the knee can hurt.

That is sheer genius. Not to be confused with Shear Genius on Bravo. Not normally my cup o' tea, but since my wife's hairdresser is on it, we've been watching.

Who is it? Are they winning?

Zoomy - I didn't read this whole thing, so please forgive me if this is redundant... BUT, my knee issue is instability. However, my knee only acts up when my IT band is tight... but my Doc and PT didn't think it was ITBS. So I have to make sure to stretch my legs really well. Because it's a multi effect thing. My IT gets tight, my claves cramp, my knee hurts. The only one I use to notice is the knee. Know I keep an eye out for tightness in my IT band so I can start stretching before the knee can hurt.

You know, I've often wondered if I should pick up a foam roller and do ITB stretching, just to head stuff off. Can't hurt and it could help.

After a while I could sort of run, but it never felt right. That's how I knew something was wrong. MTA: I was in no way implying you couldn't handle pain. It's actually the I am as tough as nails mentality that gets people in trouble. There is a fine line between HTFU and doing more harm than good. My point was that I didn't see this coming at all. You, on the other hand, have an injury that is limiting your running not eliminating it 100% like mine, so be smart.

Yeah...I think what you had has got to be a bigger issue than what I am dealing with. I'm so glad that you finally have had it resolved, though. Now you just have a relatively short recovery, then you'll be back in fighting form in no time. I'm too lazy to have a truly hardcore tough-as-nails thing goin' on.

Does anyone have any experience with this injury?

Teresa, all lilttle minor injuries can be viewed the same way in general. #1 Does it limit your running, i.e. pace or volume? If so, back off one or both and treat it until it no longer has any negative effect. Many, many runners have nagging little injuries for years but it never has any negative effect. Although I have known people that could run every day of the week up to a certain point, say 5 miles and anything over that brought problems. Only time and experience will tell you if you have a cieling that you cannot go above. I mean we all do to a point. Not many can handle >100 miles per week, but not many have the time or desire to even run that damn much. So for ordinary people it just takes time to learn what your body can handle. And trust me, age does have an effect for most. If the last 3 months have taught me anything it's that I am now closer to 40 than 30 and regardless of how objectively fit I may be, I still have a musculoskeletal system with some years and wear on it. Coming to grips with that has been difficult, but the proof is in my stitched up knee. #2 Does it prohibit you from running? If so, the answer is pretty obvious.

Who is it? Are they winning?

My wife's stylist is Glenn (female). She's still in it -- there's 7 left out of the original 12. Funny thing is that the whole season has been filmed, and the contestants, of course, can't reveal what happened. My wife thinks Glenn either won or made it pretty deep into the competition, just based on demeanor, and a few offhand comments.