Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Running semi-regularly but without confidence in my knee
Monday - ran with Rox for a very gentle 5km or so. Knee felt great so very happy with that.
Wednesday - was going to run again with Rox but she organised to run with a friend who is keen to start/increase her running. (An indicator of how Rox's fitness has improved is that she found this way too easy). I did 8.4km easy by myself instead. Not sure of the actual time as I stopped and walked with Gary Carlton for approx 5 mins discussing knee injuries. Knee was not too bad but could feel it a little bit over the last 3km.
Thursday - planned to do 2km warm up; 4 or 5 x 1km @ 3.45/km with 2 min walk recovery between; 2km cool down.
Did three 1km reps as follows: 3.35; 3.43; 3.39 so a bit all over the place with my pacing. Could feel the knee a little bit on the second and third reps and then when I started the fourth one, it was bit worse so I pulled the pin and jogged home (approx 1.5km).
I have iced the knee, taken some ibruprofen and put voltarin gel on it. It's not swollen and it's not painful (it wasn't painful when I was running either) but it is more of a discomfort and just doesn't feel right and it makes me think that I need to be careful or it is going to get inflammed and swollen again.
I'm just going to continue to take it easy and not push the envelope. Because of the development of my knee issue throughout the taper and then on the marathon day, I feel like I have this big aerobic base that I haven't really exploited. Apart from the knee, I recovered from the marathon very similarly to my recovery from the 35km long run I did in training (not surprising as the average pace was pretty much identical). I didn't wipe myself out at Rottnest simply because I wasn't able to run to my capacity having lost some condition over the "taper" and then because the knee blew up at 30km.
I'm hoping now that my knee can improve to the extent that I can still exploit some of that aerobic capacity before I lose it through de-training and at the same time add a bit of sharpness through some speedwork over shorter distances.
I'm using the foam roller every night and am now adding some core strength and other exercises. Just looking forward to getting back to having enough confidence in my knee so that I can go out and thrash myself in an interval workout and know that the only damage I'm doing to myself is fatigue and muscle soreness.
In other news ... New York City Marathon is on Sunday night Perth time (9pm I believe) and there will be a streaming telecast on universalsports.com.
Also - after a couple of seasons off, I'm looking to make a "comeback" to Masters cricket with Perth CC. Next game is on 8 November so will definitely need to get down to the nets for a trundle before then.
Wednesday - was going to run again with Rox but she organised to run with a friend who is keen to start/increase her running. (An indicator of how Rox's fitness has improved is that she found this way too easy). I did 8.4km easy by myself instead. Not sure of the actual time as I stopped and walked with Gary Carlton for approx 5 mins discussing knee injuries. Knee was not too bad but could feel it a little bit over the last 3km.
Thursday - planned to do 2km warm up; 4 or 5 x 1km @ 3.45/km with 2 min walk recovery between; 2km cool down.
Did three 1km reps as follows: 3.35; 3.43; 3.39 so a bit all over the place with my pacing. Could feel the knee a little bit on the second and third reps and then when I started the fourth one, it was bit worse so I pulled the pin and jogged home (approx 1.5km).
I have iced the knee, taken some ibruprofen and put voltarin gel on it. It's not swollen and it's not painful (it wasn't painful when I was running either) but it is more of a discomfort and just doesn't feel right and it makes me think that I need to be careful or it is going to get inflammed and swollen again.
I'm just going to continue to take it easy and not push the envelope. Because of the development of my knee issue throughout the taper and then on the marathon day, I feel like I have this big aerobic base that I haven't really exploited. Apart from the knee, I recovered from the marathon very similarly to my recovery from the 35km long run I did in training (not surprising as the average pace was pretty much identical). I didn't wipe myself out at Rottnest simply because I wasn't able to run to my capacity having lost some condition over the "taper" and then because the knee blew up at 30km.
I'm hoping now that my knee can improve to the extent that I can still exploit some of that aerobic capacity before I lose it through de-training and at the same time add a bit of sharpness through some speedwork over shorter distances.
I'm using the foam roller every night and am now adding some core strength and other exercises. Just looking forward to getting back to having enough confidence in my knee so that I can go out and thrash myself in an interval workout and know that the only damage I'm doing to myself is fatigue and muscle soreness.
In other news ... New York City Marathon is on Sunday night Perth time (9pm I believe) and there will be a streaming telecast on universalsports.com.
Also - after a couple of seasons off, I'm looking to make a "comeback" to Masters cricket with Perth CC. Next game is on 8 November so will definitely need to get down to the nets for a trundle before then.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
First run post marathon and knee update
Friday - went for 5.2km with Rox Friday morning. Ran at her pace apart from about 50m where I ran more of my own easy pace and definitely felt my knee more then.
Saw my doctor later that morning and discussed the outcome of the marathon. He believes that with patience and sensible ongoing stretching and massage there is no reason why I shouldn't make a full recovery over the next few weeks.
Had another cortisone shot straight into the bursar and a bit of tendon needling. Not much fun when the local wore off as I was driving home and limped around for most of the day at work but since then it has recovered a lot better than after my first cortisone shot.
Bought a firm foam roller on Saturday morning and have had a three long stretching sessions with it since then and can certainly feel the benefit of it. Quite different from the cricket ball which was more focused whereas the roller seems to give a more dispersed stretch.
I'll run again with Rox tomorrow morning and probably Wednesday and see how I'm going then. I would like to be running every second day by the end of next week and gradually pick it up from there, more in relation to regularity rather than distance which will stay moderate for a few weeks.
If all goes well, I may target the Peninsula Run (5km) on 15 November for a tempo effort.
Saw my doctor later that morning and discussed the outcome of the marathon. He believes that with patience and sensible ongoing stretching and massage there is no reason why I shouldn't make a full recovery over the next few weeks.
Had another cortisone shot straight into the bursar and a bit of tendon needling. Not much fun when the local wore off as I was driving home and limped around for most of the day at work but since then it has recovered a lot better than after my first cortisone shot.
Bought a firm foam roller on Saturday morning and have had a three long stretching sessions with it since then and can certainly feel the benefit of it. Quite different from the cricket ball which was more focused whereas the roller seems to give a more dispersed stretch.
I'll run again with Rox tomorrow morning and probably Wednesday and see how I'm going then. I would like to be running every second day by the end of next week and gradually pick it up from there, more in relation to regularity rather than distance which will stay moderate for a few weeks.
If all goes well, I may target the Peninsula Run (5km) on 15 November for a tempo effort.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
More Rottnest
Forgot to congratulate Sugar (3rd in 10km) and Sandgroper (2nd in 5km) on their runs at Rottnest. The clouds had cleared by the time their race started and with the humidity and the wind, it made for pretty tough going but they were both flying at the end - really strong performances.
Heaps of kids ran, particularly in the 5km and it was fantastic to see them putting in the trademark sprint at the finish. Absolutely flat out - I can almost remember when I did that ...
Should also menton that we had a couple of great meals after the marathon was over and done with. On the Sunday evening, we had dinner at Aristos on the Waterfront. Great view and great food. Rox and I had the special - Snapper and prawns with a creamy garlic sauce. The kids meals, particularly Sammie's calimari were great value. Real calimari, not those chewy squid rings either. Definitely recommend it.
Monday we had lunch at the pub. I had a great steak sandwich which hardly touched the sides.
Looking forward to our holiday on Rotto in January and some relaxed early morning running.
The start
Heaps of kids ran, particularly in the 5km and it was fantastic to see them putting in the trademark sprint at the finish. Absolutely flat out - I can almost remember when I did that ...
Should also menton that we had a couple of great meals after the marathon was over and done with. On the Sunday evening, we had dinner at Aristos on the Waterfront. Great view and great food. Rox and I had the special - Snapper and prawns with a creamy garlic sauce. The kids meals, particularly Sammie's calimari were great value. Real calimari, not those chewy squid rings either. Definitely recommend it.
Monday we had lunch at the pub. I had a great steak sandwich which hardly touched the sides.
Looking forward to our holiday on Rotto in January and some relaxed early morning running.
Off to the doctor about my knee on Friday. I'm half hoping (actually more than half hoping) for another cortisone shot so I can start some easy running next week.
Sugar took some photos at Rottnest as did Rox (I've been told the baggy shorts need to go ... )
At the start with Nick and Ben 
Drink station helpers 
After the finish with ice 
The start
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