Healed Slug

The knee seems mostly mended, so that's the good news. I must admit at not feeling very spry yet, two and a half weeks after starting up running again. Doing an hour or so a day all easy so far and this week I have done two workouts with substantial hills. I'll keep that pattern next week, but will race on the weekend. Distance-venue to be determined, but I think I have a plan.

Sluggishly Bound

It's amazing that just a week or 10 days off from running renders you to a feeling of total slugdom. After some days off, I ran three days in a row now, and feel quite slow. Still good though, an off day from running is better than a day not doing anything. It's probably the cycling, which always makes my legs feel heavy.

Mid-Year Reboot

Had to push the reset button on my training. Everything was fine at Jim Loftus Mile the other week, in fact someone was asking about my knee that evening and I said all is good and been getting better every year since the 2009 injury. So I ran an easy 50 minutes the next day (a week ago Friday) and felt a little tired but otherwise fine. Saturday I did the Spruce Tree Classic as a tempo run (averaging just under 7 minutes a mile for the shortened 6 mile course that goes over the UAF ski trails) and that also felt good, although I noticed some knee pain on the return through the T-Field.

On Sunday I’d planned on a 15 miler over the hills, but only made 5 before turning around and walking back. This time it’s not the cartilage in the joint but the infra-patellar tendon, an old nemesis from the early 2000s (my longest injury setback that lasted from late 2000 though most of 2003). The dark years.

So I took it very easy last week, two days off, then an easy 4 miler on Wednesday. Two more off, etc. Last Saturday I ran an easy 35 minutes and it felt okay, but a few hours later the knee was all stiff and creaky. So I’m taking this week off, doubling the NSAID dose, icing two or three times a day. And I started up some rehab exercises (hopping off a 4” plank onto both feet and modified dips off of the weak leg). It’s mid-week and all feels good again.

I plan to start small with just a 4 or 5 minute (not mile) run later this week and then build from there. If all goes well I hope to be back to near in a week or 10 days. A little mid-year break isn’t such a bad thing and I’ll make the best of it. Doing some cycling to keep active. I'm a pretty lame cyclist but it's decent cross training.