Just catching up the last few weeks.
On November 14th the plan called for a 17 miler. I was anxious to see how the exercises were helping my knee.
For the first 5 or 6 miles, everything was great. No pain. But then around 8 miles I started to feel it again. I run a loop so have the option at 9 miles to turn for home, or to keep going. After stopping and stretching, I reluctantly turned for home. The pain was minor, but I didn't want to risk it. With 3 weeks to go to CIM, not the confidence boost I was hoping for.
Looking at my running log, the start of the knee pain coincided with a new pair of running shoes. The kayano 15s had been my 3rd pair in a row, and had checked out okay on the slow-mo video, but still - it seemed a little too much of a coincidence. That afternoon I went back to the running store, got a refund on my orthotics (they'd come with a 4 week guarantee), and used that money towards a new pair of kayano 16s. It may just be mental, but if it helped - I was all for it. Worst case I had 2 pairs of shoes I could rotate.
Sunday off, I went back to treadmill running on Monday. The shoes felt great, and so did the knee. I'd get off every mile or so and do one of the stretches the physio had given me for a few seconds. I ran 6 miles Monday, 6 on Tuesday and even managed a double on Wednesday (6 in the morning, and 6 in the evening), and another 5 on Thursday. If I didn't have a marathon in a few weeks, I wouldn't have been pushing so hard, but I was feeling no pain.
Then at the weekend I tried another test outside. I adapted the plan to run 17 miles again. This time it was a lot better. For the first 8 miles I didn't feel a thing. At 8 I had to stop at some lights, so used the break to lie down and stretch. Then I ran another 3, and then stopped again to stretch. I did that 3 times in total. Either my knee was getting better, or the stretching was 'fixing' things each time. I ran the 17 miles, and ran them pretty quickly. Partly the exuberance of getting out side with minimal pain, and also because I was foolishly trying to make up for lost time and training, but I ran them @ 7.38 pace. I know, I know - not smart, but for me it was a big test. With a marathon in 2 weeks, if I couldn't get through 17 miles at a pace that was 20 seconds / mile slower than I hoped to run in the real thing, then I should be thinking about dropping out. I iced the knee afterwards.
The next day the knee was a little tender so I took the day off - in fact to be safe I took 4 consecutive rest days. Then it was Thanksgiving Day (and my 41st birthday !) and time for the 4 mile Turkey Trot in Wash Park. The anniversary of my first race last year.
The weather was great - forecast to be close to 70 later in the day, it was in the 50s at 10:15am as we lined up. I'd met 4CHI - Phil - and his brother before the race. I thought I was fairly close to the start line, but when the gun went off I had to spend a good minute weaving through the joggers. 10,000 runners were estimated although many unofficial. I didn't have much of a plan - my ideal was to get under 25.52 - the time for the AA wave in the Bolder Boulder, but with the limited training and knee issues - I didn't want to push it too hard. I tried to maintain a 6.28 pace to get there, and was successful for 3 of the 4 miles. For some reason the 3rd mile came in at 6.40. I didn't feel bad - perhaps just not concentrating. So I finished in 26.07 - nearly 4 minutes faster than the year before, and enough to place me 9th out of 322 in my AG. The best news - no knee pain at all.
The next day it was a little tender again. I'm seeing a pattern here. No issues on the day, but a little sore the next. I did go for a very gentle recovery run and met another runner on the trail from out of town needing directions. I ran with him for a few miles and we chatted about Boston. Immediate common ground - one of the great things about the sport.
The next morning, on a whim I logged into the 'injury section' of the runners world board. I looked for anyone with advice for my minor knee issue. And found it in bunches ! My injury is also known as 'runners knee'. There was a lot of advice from others who'd had it and beaten it. There was also some great information on how to tape it. I learned about the McConnell method and found a video on youtube that showed me how to do it myself. I hadn't planned on running that day, but taped my knee and went for a half mile jog to see how it felt. Amazing ! No pain - nothing. Just a few pieces of tape to pull the knee cap back in line, and it felt good as new. I ended up running close to 7 miles and would have run further if we hadn't had plans.
Finding this taping method was perhaps the final piece of the puzzle. I'll rest and take things easy this next week, and then tape the knee on race day. The advice from the boards very much mirrored what the doctor and physio had said. Rest on it's own likely won't help - I need to stretch the IT band and strengthen the quad. I'll spend much of my December doing that so hopefully I'm good to go in January. The taping is a little bit like a safety blanket - giving me the piece of mind I needed, and also preventing further inflamation. The tape is literally doing what the stretching and muscle strengthening will do - pull the knee cap back to the correct positioning, so the beauty of it is that it's not masking the pain - it's preventing it.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Patella Femoral Syndrome
So that's what's going on in my left knee. A minor case of patella femoral syndrome. My IT band on the outer side of my left leg is tight, so it pulls the knee cap slightly over that way. That leads to additional rubbing of cartilage on cartilage, and the pain I've felt.
Just backing up a few days. I took most of last week off running. I'd gone to Runners Roost to have my new shoes checked out on the slow-mo video. They'd said they were fine, but the sales lady took literally 2 seconds to tell me that. I took a drive up to Road Runner Sports in Thornton for a second opinion. I tried on several new pairs of shoes but with so few miles on my current ones, and with them getting the thumbs up there too, I decided to stick with my kayano 15s. I did get some custom insoles made to help distribute the foot strike more evenly across the foot.
I went for a very easy 3 mile jog Saturday and felt pretty good, so decided to attempt the longest run on the CIM training plan - a 22 miler on Sunday. It was partly a test. If I couldn't get through a good portion of it, then I'd consider canceling my December marathon. Things started off well - far better than the week before. The plan was to run around 8 min/mile pace, which is my marathon goal pace + 40 seconds. About 5 miles in I could feel some tightness in the knee but it was very minor. Still, it was constantly on my mind. I tried different running styles - standing tall, leaning forwarders a little, exaggerating the heal strike on the left foot, all to see if I could get any cues of how to help. After 10 miles I could feel a little pain so started thinking about calling it a day. I decided to run one more mile to the half way point where I'd left some gatorade. I'd stop and take inventory. So that's what I did. I stopped for less than 30 seconds to switch out bottles (I use a lower back carrying sleeve). I stretched my leg and rubbed the knee cap and started back up. No pain. Nothing. I figured it would come back in a mile or two, but it didn't. So I kept running. The next 'bail' point was 17 miles - that's where the loop I follow gives me the chance to turn towards home. No need - I felt fine, so I kept going. My pace for the first 21 miles was 7.48 min/miles. For the last mile, wanting to practice for a race, I picked it up and ran a 7.21, so overall 7.47 average. Faster than I'd intended, but best of all - my knee felt fine.
Monday was a rest day, and I could feel some tightness in my legs and knees - not unusual following a 22 miler. Tuesday it was much better, but I decided to take another day off to be safe. I'd casually chatted with a doctor at the running store but decided to book an official appointment with my doctor for Wednesday. That morning I almost canceled because everything felt fine, but went anyway. That's when I learned it was a minor case of patella femoral syndrome. He sent me upstairs to the physio, also a runner, who gave me some exercises to loosen the IT band and strengthen the quads to counteract. He also offered to tape my leg the Friday before the race which would help.
I was very glad I went. Knowing that it wasn't a bone on bone issue, and something that was very fixable made me feel great. I took Wednesday off, and then ran a gentle 10K on the treadmill Thursday to minimize impact. I iced the knee straight afterwards. It felt great, but it's normally the next morning where I can feel it. Nope - I woke up and couldn't, so ran another 6 miler on the treadmill Friday. Again - everything good. Very encouraging. CIM is literally 3 weeks away, so the taper is beginning.
While things appear to be slowly getting back to normal, it definitely messed up my training schedule for CIM. No track, no fast or tempo runs, lots of rest days, just easy and long miles. The weekly mileage has been around 25-30 instead of 60-70, and that with the majority in the single long run. My expectations now center more on just completing it at a reasonable pace, chalking up marathon number 2. Gone are the goals of the sub 3.10 time that I'd been harboring. Those will still be there another day.
After 70 degree temps this week which I missed either with rest days or treadmill running, today it's cold. It snowed last night and there's a bigger storm due in this afternoon. Today was meant to be speed work, which I don't want to risk yet, so I'll switch things around and do my long run for the week - 17 miles - today, and likely take a rest day tomorrow. The Broncos have an early game anyway so that works out.
Just over 3 weeks to CIM, and then the rest of December off...
Just backing up a few days. I took most of last week off running. I'd gone to Runners Roost to have my new shoes checked out on the slow-mo video. They'd said they were fine, but the sales lady took literally 2 seconds to tell me that. I took a drive up to Road Runner Sports in Thornton for a second opinion. I tried on several new pairs of shoes but with so few miles on my current ones, and with them getting the thumbs up there too, I decided to stick with my kayano 15s. I did get some custom insoles made to help distribute the foot strike more evenly across the foot.
I went for a very easy 3 mile jog Saturday and felt pretty good, so decided to attempt the longest run on the CIM training plan - a 22 miler on Sunday. It was partly a test. If I couldn't get through a good portion of it, then I'd consider canceling my December marathon. Things started off well - far better than the week before. The plan was to run around 8 min/mile pace, which is my marathon goal pace + 40 seconds. About 5 miles in I could feel some tightness in the knee but it was very minor. Still, it was constantly on my mind. I tried different running styles - standing tall, leaning forwarders a little, exaggerating the heal strike on the left foot, all to see if I could get any cues of how to help. After 10 miles I could feel a little pain so started thinking about calling it a day. I decided to run one more mile to the half way point where I'd left some gatorade. I'd stop and take inventory. So that's what I did. I stopped for less than 30 seconds to switch out bottles (I use a lower back carrying sleeve). I stretched my leg and rubbed the knee cap and started back up. No pain. Nothing. I figured it would come back in a mile or two, but it didn't. So I kept running. The next 'bail' point was 17 miles - that's where the loop I follow gives me the chance to turn towards home. No need - I felt fine, so I kept going. My pace for the first 21 miles was 7.48 min/miles. For the last mile, wanting to practice for a race, I picked it up and ran a 7.21, so overall 7.47 average. Faster than I'd intended, but best of all - my knee felt fine.
Monday was a rest day, and I could feel some tightness in my legs and knees - not unusual following a 22 miler. Tuesday it was much better, but I decided to take another day off to be safe. I'd casually chatted with a doctor at the running store but decided to book an official appointment with my doctor for Wednesday. That morning I almost canceled because everything felt fine, but went anyway. That's when I learned it was a minor case of patella femoral syndrome. He sent me upstairs to the physio, also a runner, who gave me some exercises to loosen the IT band and strengthen the quads to counteract. He also offered to tape my leg the Friday before the race which would help.
I was very glad I went. Knowing that it wasn't a bone on bone issue, and something that was very fixable made me feel great. I took Wednesday off, and then ran a gentle 10K on the treadmill Thursday to minimize impact. I iced the knee straight afterwards. It felt great, but it's normally the next morning where I can feel it. Nope - I woke up and couldn't, so ran another 6 miler on the treadmill Friday. Again - everything good. Very encouraging. CIM is literally 3 weeks away, so the taper is beginning.
While things appear to be slowly getting back to normal, it definitely messed up my training schedule for CIM. No track, no fast or tempo runs, lots of rest days, just easy and long miles. The weekly mileage has been around 25-30 instead of 60-70, and that with the majority in the single long run. My expectations now center more on just completing it at a reasonable pace, chalking up marathon number 2. Gone are the goals of the sub 3.10 time that I'd been harboring. Those will still be there another day.
After 70 degree temps this week which I missed either with rest days or treadmill running, today it's cold. It snowed last night and there's a bigger storm due in this afternoon. Today was meant to be speed work, which I don't want to risk yet, so I'll switch things around and do my long run for the week - 17 miles - today, and likely take a rest day tomorrow. The Broncos have an early game anyway so that works out.
Just over 3 weeks to CIM, and then the rest of December off...
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
One Year In
It's November already. How time flies. It was the realization of turning 40 last November which spurred me back to running. Reaching the one year point got me thinking about how far I've come and the mistakes that I've made.
My first runs were last October. I've kept track of everything in a spreadsheet. Last November I ran 52 miles, almost all on the treadmill. I ran my first race - the 4 mile Turkey Trot in Wash Park on November 27th. I'd hoped to run below 30 minutes, but was just a few seconds over that. While intuitively I'd known it would be harder to run on pavement than a treadmill, that was the first tangible evidence I had. This year I hope to run that same race again with the goal to run below 25.52 to qualify for the AA wave in next year's Bolder Boulder, so more than a minute per mile faster.
Last October I was 183 lbs. Now I'm 153 lbs. Since the summer of 2008 I've actually lost close to 40 lbs.
Back then I didn't have much of an idea about training plans. I'd basically go and run 30 minutes on the treadmill, 3 times a week. As I was able to run further and faster I'd basically just up the distance, but still try to run close to the fastest pace I could go. It wasn't until after I'd run my first half marathon in May that I looked into creating a more detailed training plan for the Chicago marathon in October. I looked at several plans online and came up with one that I thought might work, varying mileage through the week with an increasing mileage long run each weekend. Even then I had no idea about different paces. I thought that by running a fast pace for all my training - including the long runs - was the best way to prepare. What benefit could jogging slowly possibly do ?
Since last November I steadily increased my mileage. December was my first 100 mile month. I was amazed that I'd run that far in a month. The weight was falling off - 4 or 5 lbs a month. For my New Year's resolution I set a goal to run 1000 miles for 2009. I figured it would take me the year. I reached it by the start of August. From January to May I averaged 120 miles / month. In June as I started my Chicago plan, I increased the mileage. 150 in June, 170 in July. 205 in August. My first 200 mile month. September and October dropped a little as I had to taper for, and then run the marathon, but I still averaged 170 miles / month. Again - mostly all at or close to full speed.
I can't completely knock the approach. It did get me a BQ at the first attempt, but now reading the Pfitzinger plan, and getting advice from more experienced runners, I've realized I've been doing a number of things very wrong. It's surprising that I didn't get injured much during the year.
Unfortunately that luck seems to have run out. The past 10 days I've been getting knee pain during and after most runs. Nothing too bad. It'll hurt for a few minutes, then stop. A few hours after the run it's as if nothing had happened, but it's something I need to shake. It's definitely impacting my running.
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have signed up to CIM so soon. I should have taken a month off giving my body time to recover with just some gentle training, then slowly got back to it.
Still - I did sign up for it, and with the money all spent I'm going to see how things go over the next few weeks. I've decided to stop training this week and take 3 or 4 days off. Then I'll try a gentle jog Saturday. If I don't experience any pain I'll run my long run on Sunday, again at a slow pace. That's the longest run before CIM, so I'd then be beginning a gradual taper anyway. If the pain doesn't stop - then I will. I signed up for CIM wanting to beat my Chicago time, but I'm realistic to know that pushing myself for it could set me back for future races.
I don't want to over dramatize this - having experienced knee pain last year and worked through it, I'm confident that a little R&R will help fix things and that I'll be able to go ahead with my second marathon of the year. I may adjust my expectations, but that's okay. I went to the running store earlier and had a custom support added to my shoe. With the slow-motion video analysis of my running gait they told me everything looked good, which makes me feel more confident that rest is all I need. I've already got the fitness base, so taking a few days off really shouldn't have much of an impact.
Moving forwards, however - I'm going to have to drastically change the way I train. While I'll likely increase the mileage to 60 - 70 miles / week, those miles will be run much smarter. A combination of long runs at a slower pace (marathon pace + 40 to 80 seconds per mile), recovery runs at an even slower pace, tempo runs at half-marathon pace, some repeat sprints at varying distances, and perhaps even some cross training and a few races. I've read blogs of other runners on the Boston runners world boards and have seen that similar plans have lead to huge improvements. I'm not sure if I'll see the kinds of gains that they have, but if I can get a little faster and avoid the injuries, then that's fine by me. I'm at an age where runners typically see a decline. A 35-39 year old needs to run 3.15 to qualify for Boston. A 40 - 44 year old needs 3.20. At 45 that time drops to 3.30, reflecting what appears to be a steep decline in running performance. Who says life begins at 40 ?!! :)
Still. A year into this, I'm very glad I got back to running. I love my level of fitness. I'm very happy with the weight loss and the way I feel. I'm proud to have achieved the Boston qualifying time at the first attempt. I also realize there's still a long way to go and hopefully some improvement to be had.
My first runs were last October. I've kept track of everything in a spreadsheet. Last November I ran 52 miles, almost all on the treadmill. I ran my first race - the 4 mile Turkey Trot in Wash Park on November 27th. I'd hoped to run below 30 minutes, but was just a few seconds over that. While intuitively I'd known it would be harder to run on pavement than a treadmill, that was the first tangible evidence I had. This year I hope to run that same race again with the goal to run below 25.52 to qualify for the AA wave in next year's Bolder Boulder, so more than a minute per mile faster.
Last October I was 183 lbs. Now I'm 153 lbs. Since the summer of 2008 I've actually lost close to 40 lbs.
Back then I didn't have much of an idea about training plans. I'd basically go and run 30 minutes on the treadmill, 3 times a week. As I was able to run further and faster I'd basically just up the distance, but still try to run close to the fastest pace I could go. It wasn't until after I'd run my first half marathon in May that I looked into creating a more detailed training plan for the Chicago marathon in October. I looked at several plans online and came up with one that I thought might work, varying mileage through the week with an increasing mileage long run each weekend. Even then I had no idea about different paces. I thought that by running a fast pace for all my training - including the long runs - was the best way to prepare. What benefit could jogging slowly possibly do ?
Since last November I steadily increased my mileage. December was my first 100 mile month. I was amazed that I'd run that far in a month. The weight was falling off - 4 or 5 lbs a month. For my New Year's resolution I set a goal to run 1000 miles for 2009. I figured it would take me the year. I reached it by the start of August. From January to May I averaged 120 miles / month. In June as I started my Chicago plan, I increased the mileage. 150 in June, 170 in July. 205 in August. My first 200 mile month. September and October dropped a little as I had to taper for, and then run the marathon, but I still averaged 170 miles / month. Again - mostly all at or close to full speed.
I can't completely knock the approach. It did get me a BQ at the first attempt, but now reading the Pfitzinger plan, and getting advice from more experienced runners, I've realized I've been doing a number of things very wrong. It's surprising that I didn't get injured much during the year.
Unfortunately that luck seems to have run out. The past 10 days I've been getting knee pain during and after most runs. Nothing too bad. It'll hurt for a few minutes, then stop. A few hours after the run it's as if nothing had happened, but it's something I need to shake. It's definitely impacting my running.
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have signed up to CIM so soon. I should have taken a month off giving my body time to recover with just some gentle training, then slowly got back to it.
Still - I did sign up for it, and with the money all spent I'm going to see how things go over the next few weeks. I've decided to stop training this week and take 3 or 4 days off. Then I'll try a gentle jog Saturday. If I don't experience any pain I'll run my long run on Sunday, again at a slow pace. That's the longest run before CIM, so I'd then be beginning a gradual taper anyway. If the pain doesn't stop - then I will. I signed up for CIM wanting to beat my Chicago time, but I'm realistic to know that pushing myself for it could set me back for future races.
I don't want to over dramatize this - having experienced knee pain last year and worked through it, I'm confident that a little R&R will help fix things and that I'll be able to go ahead with my second marathon of the year. I may adjust my expectations, but that's okay. I went to the running store earlier and had a custom support added to my shoe. With the slow-motion video analysis of my running gait they told me everything looked good, which makes me feel more confident that rest is all I need. I've already got the fitness base, so taking a few days off really shouldn't have much of an impact.
Moving forwards, however - I'm going to have to drastically change the way I train. While I'll likely increase the mileage to 60 - 70 miles / week, those miles will be run much smarter. A combination of long runs at a slower pace (marathon pace + 40 to 80 seconds per mile), recovery runs at an even slower pace, tempo runs at half-marathon pace, some repeat sprints at varying distances, and perhaps even some cross training and a few races. I've read blogs of other runners on the Boston runners world boards and have seen that similar plans have lead to huge improvements. I'm not sure if I'll see the kinds of gains that they have, but if I can get a little faster and avoid the injuries, then that's fine by me. I'm at an age where runners typically see a decline. A 35-39 year old needs to run 3.15 to qualify for Boston. A 40 - 44 year old needs 3.20. At 45 that time drops to 3.30, reflecting what appears to be a steep decline in running performance. Who says life begins at 40 ?!! :)
Still. A year into this, I'm very glad I got back to running. I love my level of fitness. I'm very happy with the weight loss and the way I feel. I'm proud to have achieved the Boston qualifying time at the first attempt. I also realize there's still a long way to go and hopefully some improvement to be had.
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