I practice karate, and spar in class as well as in tournaments. I used to use on of those boil and bite type mouth guards. They worked great. There are cheap ones, but I usually used one of the better quality mouth guards made by Shock Doctor. When you boil the traditional boil-and-bite mouthguards, they become soft, then mold to your teeth when you bite down on them.
But when I got my braces put on, I couldn’t use those mouth guards anymore. The problem is that when you bite down on the softened warm plastic, they will stick your your braces. Shock Doctor makes a mouth guard for braces, which I bought at the local sporting goods store. You don’t boil it. It is this big bulky soft plastic thing. I used it for lack of anything else. It wasn’t very comfortable. It didn’t fit to the teeth, so it was difficult to talk. When I kiai’d while sparring, I have actually had it come flying out of my mouth.
So I continued searching for an alternative. I found a mouth guard for braces made by a company named Shield. It is called Extreme Braces Mouth Guard. If you do a Google search for “shield extreme braces mouth guard”, you find various places to but it. The mouth guard is made of two different types of plastic. On of the plastics gets softened when placed in boiled water, the other type doesn’t. I boiled some water in a hotel coffee maker, and placed the mouth guard into the hot water for the 35 seconds according to the directions. I pulled it out, put it into my mouth, and bit down. Then I ran it under cold water. It fit great! It fit as well as the traditional boil-and-bite mouth guards, but worked with my braces! I used it for the karate tournament. It was great!
Becoming an Ironman: First Encounters with the Ultimate Endurance Event by Kara Douglass Thom
SUMMARY: Great book! Funny! I think anyone would enjoy these stories!
I really enjoyed this book! The book is a collection of people’s stories about their first Ironman Triathlon. The stories are told in their own words. Some of the stories are serious, but many are funny. One of my favorite stories was about Bob Babbit’s first Ironman Triathlon. He showed up thinking the race was two days, and had bags loaded on his bike with tent and sleeping bag, etc. I was laughing out loud as I read his story. But as I said, many of the other stories were also funny. There were all very interesting as hey talked about what got them to try racing an Ironman Triathlon, and then how their race went. I have never really considered racing an Ironman, but I am considering trying a shorter length triathlon. I just need to improve my swimming. If you are interesting endurance events, running, swimming, biking, etc, you should check out this book!
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After my workout on Saturday (aikido, running 8 miles, biking 11 miles), I felt fine. That is until I attempted to start my 13 mile scheduled run on Sunday. I would run 30 seconds to a minutes, and I would start to get a sharp pain on the outside of my left knee. After a few attempts and less than a mile, I finally abandoned my run for that day. My knee felt fine when I wasn’t running. I had aikido class on Monday, but no scheduled running. My first scheduled running was on Tuesday. I went and did a 2 hours of karate class, then came home, and started my 5 mile easy run on the treadmill. My knee felt fine until I hit about 3.5 miles. Then I started to get a growing discomfort on the outside of the left knee. I managed to finish my 5 miles. Then I took some Ibuprofen, and iced the knee.
Tonight I had an 8 mile tempo run scheduled. I was a little nervous how the knee would be. People on a running related message board suggested it was my IT Band. I didn’t even know what an IT band was. I looked it up, and it is short for Iliotibial Band. I found some stretches for that were supposed to help Iliotibial Band pain. So I did some of them. Then I got on the treadmill. I managed to get to about 7 miles before I started to feel just the slighest pain on the side of my knee. I finished my 8 miles, and took a quick shower. Now as I type this, I have ice on my knee. Reading on the web, I think I might be suffering from Iliotibial Band Syndrome. It sounds like what I have been feeling. I don’t think mine is ENTIRELY running related. I had been doing fine running. I think the 11 mile bike ride I did on Saturday may have aggravated the Iliotibial Band. So I am going to hold off my bike riding until after the Las Vegas Marathon. Then following the Marathon on New Years Eve, I am looking at doing a 50k. And we are heading into winter. So maybe in spring I will start to ride my bike. I might be able to get some winter rides in if I dress warmly, and there is no snow on the ground. Mean while I am going to keep an eye on my iliotibial Band, and cross my fingers that it doesn’t keep acting up.
After the knee pain I had when I tried to run or walk fast on Sunday, I had aborted my scheduled 13 mile run. I had no running scheduled for Monday, but did an aikido class. I was scheduled to run 5 easy miles on Tuesday. I decided to do it in the evening, after karate class instead of in the morning before work. I would have been more rushed in the morning, but not in the late evening. Also, it would give me knee that much more time to recover.
So last night, I go on the treadmill, and began to run. I started slow, then built up speed. I was supposed to be any easy run, so I didn’t go any faster than a 11:30 pace. My knee felt fine. But around 3 miles, I started to feel some light discomfort in my left knee. I kept going, and completed the 5 easy miles. I didn’t really feel “pain” in my knee, but more a growing discomfort. Following the run, I took 800mg Ibuprofen, and strapped a cold pack to my knee, and went to bed.
I am scheduled to run an 8 mile tempo run tonight. We will see how that goes. Then another 5 mile easy run tomorrow night. Friday is a rest day so no running. I have a karate tournament on Saturday, and probably wont have an opportunity to do the scheduled 5 mile pace run. But Sunday I am scheduled to do the first of two 20 mile runs. This will be my longest run ever. It may be good to rest my knee before that long run. I am thinking riding my bike aggravates the knee.