Elliptical trainer

Fortunately, it didn't seem to cause any stress on my knee, which was surprising given that absolutely everything else does. So I might be able to maintain *some* fitness. I ellipticalled (hey, if I'm going to be injured at the height of racing season, I can make up my own words, 'kay?) for 40 minutes--it was ok, but I didn't feel like I got quite the same cardio workout that I get from running. I didn't have the resistance cranked up because I didn't want to stress my knee any more than I had to, but my cadence was pretty quick. Anyone have any tips for getting a good workout out of this blasted thing?

Argh.

Hurts to walk. Hurts to drive. This may take longer than I thought. The double cho-pat is helping a little, but the pain isn't calming down too much. I'll just keep working the exercises, but it might be time to get back in the pool...blah...

Recovery

Today was Day 2 of "Htown Runner Recovers From This Stupid Injury." It feels very slightly better than yesterday, but it's still pretty angry, so I'm doing everything I can to avoid irritating it further. But I woke up early and did a bunch of good stretching, and several exercises aimed at strengthening my quads and hips. Nothing that caused any pain in my knee, just a lot of isometrics and straight-leg stuff. The faster I can get balance restored to my muscles, the faster I can get back to running. I also did several rounds of cryotherapy, which is, of course, a fancy term for "strapping a bag of frozen peas to my knee."

Later on in the week, if the knee is starting to calm down, I'll head to the pool and swim. I'm willing to take a little time off, but I don't want to lose too much fitness. After all, it's racing season in Houston...

Hope your recovery is going well, too. Carpe Viam!

Aramco Half Marathon

I don't know what to say about this one. I hadn't run Houston in three years, and I really, really wanted to do it. I've volunteered for the last two races, and as great as that experience is, I just wanted to run through my neighborhood, with so many of my friends on the course as runners, volunteers, or spectators. So I was very reluctant to DNS. I thought that I might have to DNF, though, and I was ready to do that. Or at least I thought I was.

The knee started to hurt somewhere around mile 2. I got a little bit of a boost running through my neighborhood and seeing lots of familiar faces, but things were getting worse by mile 5. The small hills on Studemont took their toll, and by the time I hit the turnaround at Richmond, I was limping pretty badly. The most frustrating thing, though, was that to that point I had been ticking off miles at sub-7:00 pace, and I wasn't really breathing hard.

But I was close enough by that point that I could almost hear the crowd at the finish line. So I backed off the pace (not really voluntarily, though--my stride was very short by this point as my knee just didn't want to bend) and made my way to the finish.

Final time was 1:33:24. Not the sub 1:31 that I wanted, but a pretty darned respectable time all things considered.

Today I feel great--no fatigue, little muscle soreness, not much evidence that I went out and really threw one down yesterday. With one exception--I can't bend my right knee past about a 30 degree angle. Weight bearing isn't really a problem, but it's tough to walk or drive if you can't bend your knee.

I think that this is probably a kneecap tracking problem. It's something I've dealt with off and on since I was a wee basketball-playing lass. So I've already started back with the quad and hip strengthening exercises to try and get things back in balance, and I've been bonding with my icepack for the last 24 hours. If I can get the inflammation to calm down, hopefully I'll be back on the roads in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, it's back to the pool...

Am I an idiot for going out there yesterday? Yeah, probably. But with all of the stops and starts of the last few years, I just wanted to get back out there again and run in the event that really launched my running "career" (such as it is). So I did, and I ran hard, and I came close to my goal in spite of it all.

When I got home yesterday, one of my kids asked me if I won. I laughed and said "No, I didn't win." But I think I was wrong. I think I did win.

Carpe Viam!

It's MLK weekend in Houston, and you know what that means...

Why, it means I'm injured, of course!

I don't know what's going on, but since last Saturday my right knee has been very stiff and sore every time I've tried to run. I've only run twice since, and neither felt very good. I've been RICE-ing all week, so with any luck, I'll be able to suck it up and finish. But there's a not insignificant chance I'm going to DNF somewhere in the Heights and walk home.

Or at least to Antidote for a cup of coffee and a ride.

Frustrating.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

There weren't many people out at the park the other morning (I can't remember which day it was--the holidays make things run together a bit). It was about 41 degrees and raining steadily, the kind of morning that makes it really tough to get out of bed. But the holidays had thrown things off enough, so I reluctantly headed out the door. I had on my most "waterproof" jacket and a running cap to try to combat the weather. It didn't really work, but it was worth the try. Not wanting to ruin my iPod, I left it at home, so all I had for company were the random thoughts rattling around in my head. I watched the water drip off of the brim of my running cap as I pounded out a couple of loops around the park.

Strange as it sounds, I love mornings like that. They prepare you for race day more than anything, I think. On a day like that (or one that is hot, humid, windy, whatever), if you can get through a workout that isn't coupled to the adrenaline surge that comes with a bib number and a starters pistol, there isn't much that a race can throw at you that you can't handle.

And man, did that cup of hot coffee taste good afterward. Mmmmmmm...

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The Aramco Half is next weekend. I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I think. I've been training pretty hard the last couple of months--a steady diet of long runs with a fast group, track workouts with a different, yet equally fast group, and a nice, relaxing holiday all helped. I still have a couple of minor physiological obstacles to overcome, but nothing that should really slow me down too much. I'm looking forward to spring racing season--hopefully it will be a good one...