Nothing

It's hard to write about nothing. At least that's what I feel like I'm doing right now. Almost a month since my last real run and progress is slow but I think I may finally be on the long road to recovery.

Last Thursday I had an early morning physio session which involved the usual massage, acupuncture, ultra sound, recommendation to strengthen my abductors etc. I felt good afterwards so at lunchtime I went for a run. My previous runs were less than 3 miles long (at 8+ min pace) and in truth after 2 miles I was essentially walking. So I limited the run to 3 miles but I thought that I'd push the pace a bit. In all I averaged 7:20+ pace and largely without pain too. I wonder will I end up needing physio before every run - maybe...:)

Last weekend was spent at the beach with the family and despite some walks and stretching there was no running.

Today I was feeling good and the sun came out so as I togged off for my run I thought of going longer than 3 miles if there was no pain (obviously!!). Things went well. The ache that started before the 1 mile mark last week didn't come on until after the 2 mile mark and the soreness didn't start until 3.5miles. That's progress. In all I completed 4.25miles @ 7:25+ pace. No records but progress....

More physio tomorrow and hopefully another run beforehand.

No gain without pain...

...or so they say.

That's what I thought on Friday morning after Thursday's physio session. I had no pain before the visit to the physio but my leg was certainly sore afterwards!! 'That's what sticking needles and an electric current into your leg will do Brendan - serves you right', or so I thought.

I went for my easy run on Friday as planned. A very slow (8:30 pace) 2.86miles. Neither the distance or the pace will set any records but at least I made it to the end, almost in one piece. My knee area was generally OK although pain did begin on the few occasions I ventured into 7:xx pace and when I ran uphill. In particular, the last uphill 200m was particularly painful. :(

Saturday and Sunday were busy at home and to be honest I thought that a bit of recovery after my 'long run' :) on Friday would be good! I did some stretching though.

Today was a lovely sunny day and I felt like a run. Again completion of my almost 3 mile route was the plan but I decided to push the pace into the 7:3x zone just to see if the onset of soreness was a function of distance or speed. Mile 1 was OK - a good start - no pain in my right leg/knee but my left quad, hip, calf and achilles were all sore for some reason (over compensation or maybe I did some damage working in the garden over the weekend??) The pain in my left leg continued for Mile 2 until...... the back of my right knee (top of right calf area) become sore followed by a sudden sharp pain at the top of my knee cap...Ouch - time to slow down. So I hobbled home at 10 minute pace. Walking down stairs later in the afternoon also proved painful.

Right now I've no pain in either leg so I think another 3 miles tomorrow is on the cards.

Physio update

I went to the physio, handed over €45 and got the good news that the problem doesn't appear to be joint related!! But as I feared the fact that it's been two days since my last attempt at a run and nine days since my last half serious run, there was no obvious evidence of injury so the physio had to work for her money to make a diagnosis.

After much pushing and prodding of my legs the working diagnosis is that it's more than likely related to my (very) tight 'vastus lateralis' muscle which has overstressed the area around the knee. I need to do more stretching and yes, mea culpa, I've been neglecting this muscle group probably for the last 18 years or so!!

So after some massage, ultra sound, and acupuncture (including some tens stimulation) I was told to keep running (very easy and not to the point of pain) and come back next Thursday morning for another consultation.

'Keep Running', I repeated in surprise for confirmation!! 'Yes', I was told, apparently there's nothing more to be gained by more rest. Usually after an injury the advice is 'no running and lots of massage etc for at least 4 to 6 weeks' or something similar so being told I could run (even slowly) was a pleasant surprise. I'm not sure how far I'll get but I think I'll start with my 'treatment' tomorrow....

Oh, in case I forget, good luck to all those running the 113th Boston Marathon; relax and enjoy the weekend and race well on Monday. I'm looking forward to those race reports...who'll be the first to get their post up?? My money is on Thomas...

On my knee...

Well after last weeks post I've ground to a halt...literally. Last Tuesday I went for the few easy (7:30+) miles as planned but there it ended!! After about 1 mile my knee was a bit uncomfortable, best described as a stiffness not unlike a twisted ankle feeling (if you know what I mean). By mile 2 with every extension and impact on the knee causing pain I had already turned for home. From the 3 mile mark I was resolved to walking home!! Work related travelling on Wednesday and Thursday and the Easter holiday weekend meant that I decided to defer making any physio appointments until today.

Since last Thursday I've had no pain and at this stage I'd find it difficult to explain the symptoms accurately to a physio so today I attempted another run. My naive optimism hoped that a further weeks rest would be enough to right the problem! Unfortunately rest alone will not solve this one. After about 0.5miles of feeling very good a tightness returned initially on the back outside of my right knee. Quickly, I decided to abandon the run and book a physio appointment. The tightness soon turned to soreness on the side and front of my knee and once again I was walking home.

So, 2 weeks later than I should have I've finally come to my senses and I'm seeing the physio on Thursday PM. More anon....

On the plus side I spent last weekend stuffing my face with chocolate and I've probably gained half a stone!! A good incentive to get back out running sooner rather than later.

Zero running

....that's what I've been doing for the past week!! So I can report

Week 30/03/09 to 05/04/09 - 0 sessions
0 miles - 0:00 mins - 0bpm

Coincidentally looking back through my diary the last Monday to Sunday week when I did absolutely no running was the first week of April 2008. Maybe this is becoming my annual holiday?? Although.... as far as I can recall the reason for my running holiday in 2008 was work related!!

Despite some soreness early on in the week my knee seems to be progressing well and I think I may go for a few very easy miles tomorrow to check - 8 full days recovery should be enough - shouldn't it??

By the way I thought that I'd have a lot of spare time now that I'm not running 4 or 5 hours a week but guess what - I've never been busier. I think I'll need to go for a run just for a rest!!!

4 mile in Carrignavar

Despite my comment on the last post I decided not to 'test' my knee yesterday in favour of leaving the 'test' to the pre-race warmup. So I did run in the 4 mile race today.

The last time I was in Carrignavar was when I ran schools cross country races i.e. not yesterday!! Carrignavar is a small village just north of Cork City and not too well signposted so I ended up taking the scenic route which ended in me inadvertently driving the race route. In hindsight this may not have been an advantage. The course seemed to be essentially 2.5miles uphill followed by 1.5 mile downhill -ouch!

I went for a 2 mile warmup and my knee felt fine for the first 1.5 miles, but... it started to ache when I ran the 0.5 miles to the start line. Nothing too serious and afterall I made it to the start line so I had to run - didn't I!!

The start was downhill which is never the best from a pacing point of view particularly if you know that a long uphill follows. I tried to take it steady but my instantaneous pace dipped into the low 5:xx over this section. As the route entered the village we took a right hand turn and the uphill began. The pace dropped to more than 6 mins/min on this section. Overall I passed the Mile 1 mark in 5:53mins (169bpm).

A slight downhill allowed the pace to quicken into to 5:4x range but I was struggling to keep pace with those around me and I dropped a couple of places. The next uphill section quickly came around shortly before the 2 mile mark. Mile 2 lasted 6:03mins (177bpm) - a sign of the uphill struggle!!

I ended up in a bit of no-mans-land and at this stage of the race I felt like I was running hard but not racing. Mile 3 was even slower @ 6:16min (182bpm).

Over the latter part of mile 3 I began to slowly close the gap on the runner ahead so as I crossed the mile marker I felt like was beginning to 'race'. With about 1200m to go I caught him and I pushed hard to pass. The finish was steeply downhill so I just left gravity to the work ('cause I couldn't and there was a headwind!!). Mile 4 ended up being the quickest of the race at 5:44min (183bpm).

I stopped my watch at 23:58min (avg 178bpm). My race.....

The results show that I came 24 out of 68 competitors (i.e. top 35%!!) in an official time of 23:59 mins. East Cork AC won the O35 team prize but I was 5th club runner home so I didn't count!! Well done to the guys Frank Hayes (5th), Eric Meade (7th), Denis McCarthy (16th) and David O'Dwyer (18th).

Shortly after the race my knee began to stiffen up. I tried to go for a warm down but within 30sec later I had to call a halt.

Although I was knackered afterwards I now feel that I didn't put myself as hard as I could have today. I don't think my head was right. Interestingly comparing my last 4 mile race where I ran 23:15 I averaged 179bpm and 167, 178, 183 and 188 bpm for each of the miles (generally higher than today). Although I appreciate that there are other variables I wonder is this a sign that I didn't push it today? Maybe my knee issue was in the back of my mind, maybe the cough which is still lingering from the cold last week was a factor, maybe something else... Whatever the reason REST / RECOVERY is now certainly on the cards!! I reckon I'll not run for at least a week or 10 days and hopefully regroup for the summer season targeting a quick autumn half marathon.

Week Total (23-03-09 to 29-03-09) - 3 sessions
12.51 miles - 1:25:45 - 6:51min/mile - 162bpm

Potential disaster...

.. but hopefully not.

The pain I felt in my knee yesterday evening could only be described as a 'stiffness'. Strange how during the run I was fine and the pain only appeared 8 hours later!!

So today I tried to go for an easy run at lunchtime. But I was only 100m in when I knew something was wrong. By quarter of a mile I decided to bail. So today I recorded a huge 0.5mile @ 8min/mile pace!!

Sitting here now I've no pain so I think I'll take it easy and rest for a couple of days and hopefully things will settle!!