What difference does a second make?

Peckham

Pretty much all of my running is done on the road. Have some grass options around me, but they're not suitable for running in the dark.

Shoes should be okay. Am using the pair I was using for the last few weeks of marathon training (switched to newer shoes for the race), and would estimate they have <300 miles on them. Have tried to bend and twist them, and they seem to have a lot of support remaining. Might switch to the newer pair and see if it makes a difference.

TheRoadRunner

yeah I know it's stating the obvious but the roads really are a killer. I had a really bad knee complaint a while back. Every 100 metres or so I would get a shooting pain right in the middle of the knee.

I was training for a marathon at the time and had paid a lot of money in flights/hotel etc so didn't want to rest. I switched all my training off road for a month and it managed to rectify itself.

I'm lucky I can get out during the day though, it is tough to run off road with no light.

Maybe a trip to your physio and an x-ray might turn up some damaged knee cartilage or something along those lines.

Peckham

Feeling very envious reading the many positive training and racing stories here. Not great news from me as knee is still giving me problems. Have had it all checked out by a physio and whilst it doesn't look like serious damage, I'm going for a scan to get it checked out. Have also been given some strengthening exercises to do in the gym....however the upshot of it all means it looks unlikely I'll be back running this side of Christmas, which will mean a serious hill to climb with the training in the new year.

Not feeling particularly great about it all.

Krusty_Clown

Hi Peckham, think of it as 'giving the rest of us a chance to catch up'.
Sure the knee will be back in shape in no time, and sooner than you know it, you'll be back to wishing you had a few days off of running. Good luck for a speedy recovery.

donothoponpop

Chin up, Peckham! It's a tough break, particularly after your "limbo" time from Dublin, but these bad times are what you judge the good times by. You'll be back training soon enough.

Peckham

Still no running to report, but two good gym strengthening sessions on Sunday and Tuesday (coupled with Pilates tonight, my core strength will be getting quite good...although my aerobic fitness is probably down the toilet!).

The gym session I had on Sunday involved a lot of strengthening on the quads (i.e. sqauts and lunges), as this has been diagnosed as where the knee problems are probably emerging from. Was walking on Monday/Tuesday in the same fashion as I was the few days after the marathon!

Have booked in for a MRI scan on the knee on Friday, so hopefully that will dismiss any concerns about more serious damage.

stmochtas

You are similar to myself at the moment. My aerobic fitness will have been impacted by this break, but the core and strength work is going to have some benefit. I am working on flexibility at the moment as that may have been the source of my problem.

Peckham

MRI scan Friday evening. In a bizarre way, it made me feel like a proper athlete going for a scan - i.e. the way you hear of footballers or rugby players going for a scan after being taken off injured in a match. Will get the results of that this morning....am feeling slighly anxious about it, as I've been told that it could potentially come with a recommendation of retirement for the sake of my knee. On the flip side, it could also give me the all clear to go out and do a few miles over the Christmas break. Here's hoping!

Great gym session on Saturday morning. Was under no time pressures, so spent a good while there.

Ice skating in RDS yesterday - not sure if that counts as training in any way, especially considering the burger, fries and onion rings I had afterwards!

MCOS

Hope the scan results give you the information you want and you are back soon. I know it feels awful when you can't run and you feel as though your fitness is slipping by the minute. Good attitude about it Peckham, lucky with your OH and you never know the same plan with a slightly stronger core may be the difference that gets you a few seconds!

Peckham

Scan results give me the all clear, showing no problems with my right knee. Not only that, but it shows that the three marathons I've done so far have done no damage at all to that knee. Therefore, marathon running is a harmless activity. QED

Very relieved!

Knee pain I've been having comes down to a simple muscle imbalance. Am addressing this already through core strengthening and specific weights work, and will start back into gentle running over the Christmas break.

Sosa

Thats good news Peckham ....you can enjoy Christmas all the more now ...I had problems with my knees 6 years ago ...i thought i was finished at sport forever it was so painful.
But,similar to you,results showed no major problems,i did have to take 6 months off though,but when i came back it was perfect and has been ever since ( touch wood )
Keep thinking that one day that twinge will come back ....friends told me i was mad to take up running,that it would almost guarantee the knees to flare up again ...14 month on ...pain free.....who says running is bad for you ? The dont know what they are talking about !

donothoponpop

Great news Peckham. Enjoy your Xmas and look forward to that sub 3 in 2009- imagine the life of frustration if the scan had doomed you to never getting that extra second:eek:

MCOS

Excellent! Goal back in focus then

christeb

Great to hear there's no damage, onwards and upwards

Peckham

It's not for a long time that I felt so satisfied with a 2 mile run (even if it was 2 x 1 mile)!

Ran to and from the gym last night (1 mile each way), and my mind was on my knee the whole time, but couldn't feel any pain at all (whereas normally you can create fictitious pain if you think about it hard enough!)

Another good gym session - some of the work is getting much easier, notably the squats and lunges which may explain why the knee pain has gone (touch wood!).

Will get in a few runs over the next few days. Will aim to get out tomorrow and Friday (just 3 or 4 miles each). All going well with the knee, I'd like to get in 3 runs between now and Sunday, and then 4 next week (up to 5 miles) plus 2 gym sessions. If that all goes well then I'll map out a race plan for January to March.

Toyed with the idea of doing Streets of Wicklow 5k on Stephen's Day and taking it easy, but that would be a silly idea as I'd undoubtedly try and push the pace, so have dismissed it!

Peckham

Good Christmas so far for me on the training front. Have been out 3 times since last update, and all feels good. Knee still seems a little sensitive, so won't push harder/longer for a little while yet....but good to get out 3 days out of last 4.

Dec 25th: 3.62 miles @ 7:26 pace (HR 85%)
Dec 26th: 5.11 miles @ 7:19 pace (HR 82%)
Dec 28th: 6.22 miles @ 7:28 pace (HR 85%)

Trying to keep the pace down, but I seem to be programmed to that pace when running casually! HR data clearly shows the lost fitness!!

Tomorrow will hopefully be run to & from gym (2 miles total), plus 45mins core strength work whilst there.

donothoponpop

Good to see you back at it, Peckham. Those pace times seem a bit quick for someone coming back from injury, but, you're right, it's hard to slow down to an "unnatural" pace sometimes.
Have you targeted a Spring marathon?

Peckham

donothoponpop wrote: »

Good to see you back at it, Peckham. Those pace times seem a bit quick for someone coming back from injury, but, you're right, it's hard to slow down to an "unnatural" pace sometimes.
Have you targeted a Spring marathon?

Am trying to slow it down, but it's tough! It's something I've always struggled with in long runs and recovery runs.

No spring marathon for me. Hopefully Berlin in September, although yet to set the 2009 targets.

Peckham

4.2 miles today at about 7:30 pace again (80% HR). Didn't make it to the gym, but will do so tomorrow morning. Knee twinging a little.

Woddle

Great to see your back in the swing of things, hope that knee thing will disappear, have you ever tried a foam roller. My ankle has been hurting the last week and I put it down to not using the roller as much as I use to. Over the last few days I started using it, paticularly on my calfs and I'll be back running tomorrow, as it feels near on 100%
Will I see you at any of the xc races for bhaa

Peckham

Woddle wrote: »

Will I see you at any of the xc races for bhaa

I hope so! Objective is to get back into those races, but no way could I do it at the moment.

Peckham

Knee at me today, so walked to the gym and did a good 1 hour session there.

Probably no running until Saturday due to other commitments, but will try to get out on both Saturday and Sunday, plus a gym session.

Have started back on the Chondroitin/Glucosamine Complex to see if that helps the knee at all. Had dropped all supplements after the marathon.

Peckham

Away last few days, so nothing (bar a few strolls) since the gym work on Tuesday. Got out today for a 3.5 miler - knee was twinging a little, which is getting frustrating, but will stick at the stretching and will also change my shoes, even though they feel like they have plenty of life left in them.

Finding that I can keep the speed quite well, and today's run felt comfortable at 7:16 avg pace, with HR averaging at about 164 (which I think equates to about 82% max).

Am aiming for Raheny for a comeback, assuming I can get some type of speedwork done in the meantime. Certainly won't be a PB for me, but will be looking at sub-35. Am willing to act as a rabbit for anyone looking for a PB in the 34 minute area....

Short run to the gym tomorrow, and will do my standard session there.

Reading through other blogs, am envious of the training many of you have been able to do over the Christmas.

Woddle

as Billy would say, Keep the faith

and I might take you up on that offer for sub 34 but we would have to talk tactics and I wouldn't like to ruin or take over your comeback race.

Peckham

Woddle wrote: »

as Billy would say, Keep the faith

and I might take you up on that offer for sub 34 but we would have to talk tactics and I wouldn't like to ruin or take over your comeback race.

My comeback race would be purely for the satisfaction of giving me something to aim for and the satisfaction of finishing!

Can talk tactics closer to the tme.

Peckham

Good gym session today with a run home to cooldown (took a lazy lift to the gym rather than running).

Peckham

3.2 miles at about 7:40 pace last night. Felt very comfortable throughout, but knee is at me again today and feels quite bad.

Physio session tonight - may be trying acupuncture as a potential solution.

Peckham

No running yesterday, but did have some physio on the knee last night. Knee was really bad for most of yesterday, so got some physio on it last night. It was decided that acupuncture might be a good course of action, and it seems to have worked a treat.

Have never experienced acupuncture before, and it is rather bizarre. Basically involved five needles - four around the knee (see picture below, not for the needle-squeamish, and one in the ankle). After about 10 minutes there was this strange tight feeling across my quads and the top of my knee, which lasted for about 10 minutes. Needles were taken out after about 25 minutes, and knee was as light as it has ever been.

Walking on it this morning feels quite good. Will try a short run this evening and see how that feels.

Peckham

Out for my (now standard) 3 mile circuit last night in order to test the knee. Going by the lack of pain since the run it seems to have passed the test, however will dampen optimism for a while as have had a few false dawns in getting over this injury.

Was so cold when I was out at 6.30pm. Even though I was wearing gloves that I'd normally stuff in the pockets after a mile or so, my fingers felt like ice when I got home. Fair play to anyone who gets out for an early morning run in this weather!

Peckham

Got out last night and this morning. 3 miles last night, and a fast 4.5 this morning (avg pace 7:15 - hadn't intended to run that fast, but had just downloaded some good tunes and they pushed me on - even posted mile 3 at sub-7).

Unsurprisingly after this mornings run (maybe stupid!), the knee is a little sore - not too bad though. More acupuncture this evening.