Midsummer's Knee Update

A year ago I was going Uh Oh, had been sitting out for two weeks and was wondering when the knee pain would end. By then I'd made yet another appointment to an orthopedist and last July he gave me the bad news about osteoarthritis. So I had rehab and months and months of limited activity, and no running.

So far things have been good this year. Even though I'm not setting any records (personal or for age group at races) I've put the knee to the test. For example, over the past two weeks I've run 13 of 14 days with weekly totals of 52 and 44 miles; two runs were about 12 miles (hilly too, with up and coming 15/16 yr olds from Team FAST); two races with the Flint Hills Mile and yesterday's very tough hill run and huge descent; in addition to several challenging workouts. After all that, if anything, the knee feels better now than it did in May or June.

My running expectations for this year have been exceeded. I'm doing more and feeling better than expected.

Still I need to keep my training diverse with some rollerskiing, ski walking, and cycling, and should probably do a better job of mixing those in every week. My overall volume is moderate this summer, about an hour a day plus one or two weight workouts with the kids. I could make the time to do more, but that's been hard to squeeze it in with work and coaching and all. Well that's my excuse anyway.

For now at least I can enjoy summer with some training and racing, and consider that news of the imminent demise of my aerobic life, which seemed to be the case last year, was a bit premature. Appreciating every stride because someday it will end, or be very tough to get out there.