2012 4 Races for 4 PBs

Second Run Back

That was better. I wasn't looking forward to today's run. I was fully expecting another disappointing and unenjoyable half hour. I also was im two minds as to whether I should or shouldn't run. Instead the run went much better than expected. Glad I went out. Reluctant pessimism from last night has been replaced with cautious optimism.

Yesterday evening after around 400m the knee started to twinge. This evening I was hoping at least to get past 400m without feedback. I did. After around 600m though I had to stop at traffic lights, the restart brought the evening's first twinge.

I waited and waited for the next twinge to arrive there were a few tiny tiny bits of feedback, but it wasn't until just shy of three miles on a descent of Military Road did a second solitary twinge arrive. And that was it. No other feedback. Last night the knee was much noiser, complaining on pretty much every lap of the Memorial Garden GAA pitches. Tonight I managed a full lap of the Playing Fields (on grass) in the Park without significant feedback.

Earlier in the day I spent more time on the roller. Worked the hammers but to be honest there aren't too many sore points. I switched instead to the calves and ouch!! These brought up a sweat. I also turned over and worked the quads, more sweat. Stretched calves before going out for run and they felt very stiff.

I'll spend more time tomorrow on the calves and quads and repeat today's run.

Total 4.06M @ 8:32

Sidelined

Walked over to the Playing Fields on Friday morning. Accompanied by junior outforarun on her bike. Plan was for 4 easy laps, all on grass.

Lap 1 - a light twinge from the left knee after around 500m, then the rest of the lap is fine.

Lap 2 - a hint of a twinge once or twice.

Lap 3 - nothing, knee providing no feedback and legs feeling good.

Lap 4 - fine until I near the top of Acres then I can feel a very similar sensation to the one I felt during the aborted 10K TT. I keep running for around 500m but again it shows no sign of fading. I stop for a few seconds, attempt a cautious restart, at which point the leg protests and it's sore. I stop immediately.

Walk, tenderly, home. Booked appointment with physio for next Wednesday.

Don't know what to think about this one. I was so focussed on the knees, all week nothing suggested that there was any muscle/tendon issue, in fact aside from my knees everything felt good. I wasn't speeding (but was slowly speeding up) on Friday when the sensation arrived.

My best guess? Overtraining (33 weeks straight without a recovery week :rolleyes: ) finally caught up with me ahead of and during the 10K. It manifested itself in two ways: twinges from both knees, and then on the 10K TT a slight hamstring pull. The hamstring appeared to be very minor and within 48 hours I could feel no ill effects from it, a week later and three short and easy runs later the hammer had not complained at all, I was relieved and my focus was solely on the knees (left in particular). I'd also stretched and rolled the hammers and they felt 100% ok.

I guess the hammer was still on edge and despite a gentle return to running, I'd returned too soon, provoking a second, more serious strain.

I went to buy some veg this morning, around 500ms to the nearest shop. The left leg was tender and I couldn't walk at normal pace, slight limp. I write hammer, but I'm not 100% sure it's the hammer or just the hammer, potentially it could be a tendon near the back knee. I guess I'll find out Wednesday.

This feels different to last year's right hammer issue (grade 1 tear). Last year's wasn't sharp and was duller, last year's came on with a single stretched stride but I was able to keep running. This one came on gradually and build up until I couldn't keep running.

Going to stay away from Google. I expect to not be running again for probably 3 weeks, and then hopefully will start a gradual easy return. Can't see myself running anything in anger until October. I'd settle for that now.

Will check in here again Wednesday evening.

June Review

Casting my mind back to June, seems a long time ago.

Mileage was back up as I started to log 50+ mile weeks again. Sidelined now I've sifted through Strava and the log here to see if I can trace the origins of my current injury. There was no muscle pain or discomfort during June, but in the second half of the month both knees, but in particular the left knee, started to complain.

• On Friday 19 June my right knee twinged a bit during a descent of Chesterfield. This was two days after a set of 10x600s on the Polo Grounds Road Loop.
• The following Wednesday 24 June my left knee was painful going up and down steps after a Moneghetti session on the Polo Grounds.
• Friday 26 June, more left knee twinges while climbing steps after an easy run.
• Monday 29 June, knees a little grumpy after a tough weekend.

I think whatever the original source of the injury may have been, that Moneghetti session on 24 June definitely aggravated it.

Logged some very encouraging runs in June and I felt I was in a good place fitness wise. Early in the month I ran a 5.15M tempo at 6:15 pace and I felt very strong and comfortable. I had to actively stop myself from continuing to 10K.

Ten days later I ran just shy of 9 miles of hilly XC around the Magazine Fort and gullies at 6:33 pace. This was faster and far more comfortable than the 6 miles of the Faugh-a-Ballagh Cup in February.

I ran a 16 Mile Progression with each mile run faster than the previous: 8:4X pace, 8:3X pace, 8:2X, and so on, with mile 16 completed at 6:1X pace. Had to work over the last 3 or 4 miles but never doubted I'd hit my targets.

The last weekend of June I targeted a sub 19:00 solo 5K around the Playing Fields as part of a Pride run for a mate's club in Maryland. Felt comfortable for the first 3K but started to fade over the last 2K and really had to work to just sneak under with an 18:59. Followed this less than 24 hours later with an 18 miler, down and back to Dun Laoghaire. Legs felt good on this one, tired but good.

Also managed a 12x400 hill session on the Polos at the start of June, a headwind on the final 120m of each ascent added some spice to this one.

So all told I felt I was putting in some strong performances in June. Planned to get the boards 10K TT out of the way at the start of July, take a down week or maybe two to give the knees a rest and then resume group sessions with the guys at Donore.

Best laid plans etc....

Month | Monthly Miles | Daily mileage for month | Weekly Mileage for month | Daily mileage for year | Weekly mileage for year | Predicted yearly mileage
January | 203.31 | 6.56 | 45.91 | 6.56 | 45.91 | 2400
February | 226.40 | 7.81 | 54.65 | 7.16 | 50.13 | 2621
March | 222.74 | 7.19 | 50.30 | 7.17 | 50.19 | 2624
April | 170.06 | 5.67 | 39.68 | 6.80 | 47.58 | 2488
May | 201.37 | 6.50 | 45.47 | 6.74 | 47.15 | 2465
June | 209.75 | 6.99 | 48.94 | 6.78 | 47.45 | 2481
July | | | | | |
August | | | | | |
September | | | | | |
October | | | | | |
November | | | | | |
December | | | | | |

Physio Visit #3

Cycled to and from the physio earlier this evening.

First run back will be Saturday.

A very easy affair: 10x(1 min run +1 min walk). Then, all going well, for the first week it will be a 20min effort every other day, with more run time in each effort, 2min run + 1 min walk etc. Week 2 I should hopefully be able to drop the walking and slowing build up the distance: 3K run, 4K run, 5K run etc. Week after that I can start to focus on weekly mileage and build that up. Physio reckons in 4 to 5 weeks I should be back up to standard mileage.

I'm happy that there is zero negative feedback from the hammer during the physio session, and during the week. Tiny bit of left knee feedback this evening just half a second on one of the heavier equipments.

During the week also, the only feedback is from the left knee, usually going downstairs. Nothing terrible and doesn't last long, but enough to let me know it's still healing.

I will be so anxious on my first run back. I expect some knee feedback. I asked if knee feedback is a warning that the hammer could pull again, but the answer was vague. Cannot say for certain that the hammer and knee are directly linked (in terms of this injury) or if both are following their own separate recovery path.

Cycled to and from Dollymount on Monday, round trip of about 16 miles. Felt ok.

Long wait now till Saturday.

AuldManKing wrote: »

oh No - hope you recover well.
Hate to see this.

Thanks - laced up for the first time in 3 weeks this morning. Promising first steps back. Just need to be patient now. Hopefully hopefully on the mend.

Return from Injury - Run 2

7x(1min walk + 2min run)

Mixed emotions today. The positive:

• very little feedback from left knee
• no feedback from hammer

the negative

• left knee grumpy when walking after run

My knee is dictating my mood at the moment.

I was in Cork these last two days. Walked quite a bit around Fota. The longer I go without feeling something from my left knee the better my mood, then when the knee does protest (almost always on steps, mostly when descending) and sometimes on the flat after having navigated steps, my mood drops again.

Where we stayed there there were 4 flights of stairs to tackle from lobby to bedroom. This may have put to much pressure on the knee. As I write I'm wondering why I didn't take the lift, I guess normally I just instinctively take the stairs I never think to take the lift. I've decided this evening that for a while I should avoid steps or use the bannister as support and not have my left leg take all my weight on steps, have just my right leg do the hard work.

This afternoon I laced up again. Opted to wear a knee support to give me some extra mental confidence. Over the first few strides of the first 2 minute run slot I could feel some left knee feedback, but it faded quickly. The rest of the run it was fine (including the walk to run transitions) apart from one restart after a long traffic light stop.

Popped to the shop after run and knee protested a bit.

Mentally I'm trying to believe that the hammer is healing fine and that it will respond well as I slowly crank up the mileage. The knee is my concern and I just have to hope that it improves run by run. I also try to take some consolation from the fact that the right knee has been silent for some time now, maybe the left knee is just taking a while longer to follow suit.

I hate being injured.

Sunday 4x(1min walk + 5min run)

A little concerned ahead of this one. Spent the weekend in Waterford. Walked quite a bit and completed a slow 46K cycle. The cycle went well and I had zero feedback from the knee and hammer. Makes me think I should cycle a bit more as a way of keeping the quads in good condition. But around Waterford the left leg was providing occasional feedback, sometimes a twinge from the knee, sometimes an ache in or near the hammer.

This would be the final walk/run session. The left knee wasn't too happy over the opening 10m of run, and provided some mild feedback. It gave a sharp twinge instead on the next walk to run transition. I was then worried and tense ahead of the final two transitions, but they went ok.

Tuesday Easy 3K

My longest run in a month!!

Happy to leave the walk/runs behind. I don't enjoy the transitions, maybe provoking a reaction from the knee is something better avoided. I've been letting my right leg do all the work on stairs at the moment, precisely to avoid provoking the left knee.

The run goes well. Earlier in the day I was rushing to collect junior outforarun from a 'summer' group and I could feel something similar to the 'zing' I felt back in July. Origin seemed like top of the tibia (where the IT band is attached?). Part of me was anticipating another relapse on this run, I was braced for the worst. But the leg behaved, a tiny bit of left knee feedback, nothing from the hammer, no relapse.

Wednesday Easy 5K

Left calf was stiff this afternoon.

I find this injury more difficult to deal with than last year's injury. Last year I over-stretched a stride, felt a tweak in the hamstring, an ache settled in, physio confirmed hammer tear, rehab, re-entry, gradually the ache disappeared and confidence returned. Easy.

This year instead the injury feels like a moving target. I'm not even entirely convinced it is just one injury. Knee, calf, hammer, maybe IT band all seem to be unhappy at some point. Could I have mistaken an ache in the IT band as an ache in the hammer and led the physio down the wrong path? Top of tibia, sensation moving from below knee to up above knee, and knee pain involved. Ticks a lot of IT band boxes. Might float the idea to the physio.

I've been recommended a physical therapist (and Ireland triathlete) who I may visit however the leg evolves over the next week or two. Beforehand I have what may be a final physio visit next week.

Today's 5K? All told it went well. Left calf stiff beforehand, left calf stiff afterward. But during the run only some very mild left knee feedback on 2 or 3 strides. Mentally I wasn't relaxed, expecting the leg to 'zing' again. It'll take some time to build up confidence.

A 4 miler planned for tomorrow, then a day off before trying for 5M and 10K over the weekend.

I've also decided that really there's no need to return to 50M a week. I can (touch-wood) build slowly back up to 40M a week then start re-introducing some quality running. Hold it at 40M to the end of the year and then move back to 50M next year when hopefully I can start targeting DCM again.

Been rolling, stretching and hot-water-bottling over the last days.

Sunday Easy 10K

The week had been building up to this. Up earlyish, stretch hammers and calves. Cross my fingers and head out. A clean start without left-knee protest. I head for the Memorial Gardens and follow the tow path to Chapelizod. So far so good. I enter the Park at Chapelizod Gate. My first time running in the park since 17 July.

Follow the S-Bends back to Islandbridge. Home via a detour through Clancy Quay.

All in all the run went well. Probably my best run since being sidelined. I even caught myself not thinking about the knee on occasion. It provided some mild feedback on 2 or 3 strides. I could feel a presence in the left hammer, but not an entirely unwelcome one. Felt a bit like the right hammer when it was healing last year. I'd far prefer that the hammer provides some feedback that I can monitor then staying quiet before protesting out of the blue.

That's 20 miles for the week. Overall a better week than the uncomfortable stop-start run-walk week. Will push on to 25 miles next week.

Tuesday 5K Easy

A wet windy and slightly chilly lunchtime run. I'm waiting for the first run since late June that doesn't provide some left-knee protest. It wasn't this one. Another 2 or 3 mild to moderate twinges. I 'enjoy' my runs until the first twinge arrives, then I don't really enjoy the rest of the run as I'm anticipating more feedback, will it be this stride, that kerb, this turn, this climb etc.

Went to the physio again. Final visit for now. He seems happy with my progress, and is happy for me to continue increasing the mileage by 5 miles a week. He did some soft tissue massage on my left calf and the difference before and after was remarkable. Before I could find a stretch instantly in the calf, afterwards I had to lean much further before finding one.

Today Easy 5 Miles

Mile 1 from home to the start of Sarsfield Road - no left knee feedback. Mile 2 from Sarsfield Road to Chapelizod Bridge - no left knee feedback. Could this be the run? Mile 3 from Chapelizod Bridge to the Garda Rowing Club - left knee feedback, mild to moderate on 2 or 3 strides. Hammer is also a bit tight, but not concerning. On the final mile I head up Steeven's Lane and turn right onto Bow Lane. Ouch, moderate left knee feedback as the road descends. Not just for 2 or 3 strides but for every second stride or so for 200 metres.

I guess I need to expect to take one step back every so often to take two forwards. It's just frustrating that tonight almost 2 months on I had more feedback from the left knee than I did on 4 July when I first picked up the initial hammer strain.

I think I need to do more strength work and become more religious about it.

Planning 4 miles tomorrow.

July Review

This should be quick!

July opened with a rehearsal of 10K TT strategy around the Polo Grounds Road Loop. Ran 2 laps at early TT pace. The two laps felt good effort wise and I was quietly optimistic of a PB time (<38:38) come TT morning.

I remember stopping to tie my lace when I was done and feeling the left knee twinge when I stood up. Starting to bug me.

The day after the penny started to drop that I probably wasn’t going to just run this knee pain off. I ran up to Castleknock via Knockmaroon Hill and I was happy the knee didn’t protest, but later on a long Chesterfield descent, both knees were unhappy. Every 200m or so one or both of them would protest. I did not enjoy this run as I became very apprehensive of what each footfall would bring. I decided on that run that after the TT I’d take 2 down weeks.

On an overcast and humid TT morning all my focus was on my knees. Once I got going they felt fine. Furthermore I was feeling good, even risking going out too fast. Lap 1 in the bag. Then at the start of Lap 2, a ‘zingy’ sensation starts on the outside of my left leg slightly below the knee, it gradually works its way up above my knee. After 500m or so it shows no signs of disappearing. I’m concerned and I pull the plug on the TT on Lap 2 of 6. After a few hours it feels like the source of discomfort is the left hammer.

An 8 day break from running. Some after the horse has bolted stretching, strengthening and rolling.

Three easy runs on a cautious return. Hammer is fine, left knee is still grumpy – especially on stop-start transitions. The fourth run instead sees an unannounced return of the ‘zingy’ sensation. Stronger this time. It hurts. Abandon the run and book a physio. I’m limping for 24 hours.

Two physio visits in July. Hammer behaves on table. Diagnosis is a minor grade 1 tear, caused by overuse and not helped by tight calves and quads. I’ll take that. I’m not in a hurry and physio targets the second weekend of August for a return to running. All told it’s not a bad year to pick up an injury.

Mileage takes a big hit, but I’ve a big buffer built up since the start of the year and should still be ok to hit my 2000 miles for the year target.

Month | Monthly Miles | Daily mileage for month | Weekly Mileage for month | Daily mileage for year | Weekly mileage for year | Predicted yearly mileage
January | 203.31 | 6.56 | 45.91 | 6.56 | 45.91 | 2400
February | 226.40 | 7.81 | 54.65 | 7.16 | 50.13 | 2621
March | 222.74 | 7.19 | 50.30 | 7.17 | 50.19 | 2624
April | 170.06 | 5.67 | 39.68 | 6.80 | 47.58 | 2488
May | 201.37 | 6.50 | 45.47 | 6.74 | 47.15 | 2465
June | 209.75 | 6.99 | 48.94 | 6.78 | 47.45 | 2481
July | 42.87 | 1.38 | 9.68 | 5.99 | 41.93 | 2192
August | | | | | |
September | | | | | |
October | | | | | |
November | | | | | |
December | | | | | |

Last Weekend

A mid-afternoon Lockdown Loop run on Saturday. Legs took a bit to warm-up. This was mostly ok but a 'presence' settled into the legs for the last mile. No twinges though.

Then on Sunday I got out around 8:30 to go for my first run with company in a long long while. Meet up with overpronator and collect some of the Donore Guys as we head over to the club. Overpronator and I hang back along Chapelizod Road to swap war stories. The group grows, I only stay a short while and when we hit Chesterfield I veer right while the others continue up toward Castleknock. The chat helps take my mind of my knee. Miles 5 and 6 go mostly ok, no twinges, just a 'presence'.

That's my 4th week of rehab completed and my 30 mile goal hit for the week. Stepping up to 35 next week, that's the plan anyway. When I'm not running the leg feels much better than it did a few weeks ago. I've regained a lot of confidence for the hammer. It's really all about the persistent left knee feedback.

Easy 5 Miles

Yesterday wasn't great. Ran 5 miles anticlockwise around my Kilmainham-Inchicore-Chapelizod-Heuston-Kilmainham loop. The first 3 miles pass without incident. Optimism growing. Then as soon as cross the bridge in Chapelizod some mild feedback starts coming from the left knee, lasts around 100m. The prospect of 2 more anxious miles isn't appealing. I decide to take some action and I try increasing the pace, just to see. I don't push hard but definitely the faster pace feels more comfortable and the knee behaves for the remainder of the run. I'm fairly certain that if I hadn't sped up the knee would have continued to protest.

Solid 7 Miles

Wasn't looking forward to this one. If the left knee starts to protest after 3 miles like it did last night, I don't think I'll be able or willing to complete the 7 miles. Part of me is starting to think about taking another week or two of rest. Inspired my last night's final 2 miles I decide to run tonight's run faster than easy.

It works out really well.

This was definitely the best run since July 4th. I stuck to my Lock-down Loop as I wanted to stay close to home. The knee did not protest at all. No 'presence' either. Maybe a dim ripple of something on two occasions when I needed to make some sudden traffic avoiding lateral moves, but nothing of concern. Happy with this. I think running faster forces you to adopt better form and I think the knee appreciates that. Running slower allows me to be more hesitant and anxious about my stride and footfall and I don't think the knee approves.

I'll continue with this pace for the rest of this week, it's not super fast, tonight was 7:29 min/mile average. Next week I'll drop back down to easy pace for a run and see if things have improved.

It was good to run faster and finish with a bit of sweat worked up.

Ok I picked up a calendar and scribbled down the following:

Two comments.

First: if I'm unhappy with left knee feedback in one week's time, or if I'm unhappy with left knee feedback during week 3 below I will see the physical therapist I've been recommended.

Second: the lesson I've learned this year is that I need to incorporate proper down weeks. I'm going to implement a "4 on, 1 off" structure. So 4 weeks of regular training then one down week, with reduced mileage and no sessions.

After 4 of these 5 week blocks, the next week will be a 'transition' week, with low mileage and just one session. And then I start the next 4 of these 5 week blocks

That's the plan. I need a plan.

Week | Beginning | Planned Mileage | Week Objectives
01 | 14 September | 00 | Rest - Strengthening, Stretching, Rolling and Core
02 | 21 September | 00 | Rest - Strengthening, Stretching, Rolling and Core
03 | 28 September | 20 | All Easy Running 8:15 min/mile max
04 | 05 October | 25 | All easy Running 8:15 min/mile max
05 | 12 October | 30 | All easy Running 8:15 min/mile max
06 | 19 October | 35 | All easy Running 8:15 min/mile max
07 | 26 October | 40 | All easy Running 8:15 min/mile max
08 | 02 November | 40 | Introduce some marathon pace miles sub 3:10 and sub 3:00
09 | 09 November | 40 | Tempo 3x1M, plus a short 5K pace session
10 | 16 November | 40 | Tempo 4x1M, plus a short 5K pace session
11 | 23 November | 40 | Tempo 2M + 2x1M, plus a short 5K pace session
12 | 30 November | 30 | Down Week, all easy running 8:15 min/mile max
13 | 07 December | 40 | Tempo 2x2M, plus a 3K pace session
14 | 14 December | 40 | Tempo 3M+1M, plus a 3K pace session
15 | 21 December | 40 | Tempo 4M, plus a 3K pace session
16 | 28 December | 40 | Tempo 4M, plus a 3K pace session
17 | 04 January | 30 | Down Week, all easy running 8:15 min/mile max

Over the last 48 hours I've convinced myself that it's my IT band that is the source of my pain. Curious to see if physical therapist agrees on Monday.

Based on how my knee has felt over the last few days I think the plan I've drafted up is optimistic. I have a feeling that a much shorter plan is more realistic:

• 2020 Heal
• 2021 Rebuild
• 2022 Sub 3 attempt #1

AuldManKing wrote: »

FYP :pac:

Rumbled.

Quick Update

I feel I'm progressing well. The legs during the day are starting to feel mostly normal again.

The litmus test will be when I lace up again, but that will wait a little while longer. It's funny how in the early weeks of this injury I was semi-anxiously counting the days hoping not to lose too much fitness and trying to anticipate a return to running that would allow me resume proper training without too much delay. Now, almost 3 months since my 10K DNF that urgency has long gone. Fitness has dropped, weight has gone up (I'm almost certain of this but I don't want to step on the scales for the proof) 2021 goals have been shifted to 2022. But I'm at peace with all of this and I'm looking forward to the challenge of rebuilding next year.

I've been using the sliotar every night of late, 45 minute sessions applying static body weight pressure on the glutes, quads and hamstrings, while moving my knee as per PT instructions. Tedious but it does feel like it is having a positive effect on the legs.

I've been clocking up miles on the bike. It's not the real thing but it does offer an acceptable substitute high during this running cold turkey. Hills offer a challenge, but the rest of the time it feels the bike is doing the bulk of the work.

Second visit to the PT yesterday morning. Spent a lot of time on the table. Hamstrings, calves, glutes. When I lie on my back raise my left leg, bend my knee to 90 degrees and then rotate my lower leg inwards I have a good range of motion. The right leg instead is lucky to reach 60% of that rotation. Sure enough when the PT turned his attention to the right glute it hurt, a lot. This is an imbalance that I need to work on, in all likelihood it is forcing the left leg to do extra work.

I put on the Glycerin's and ran 80m up the road and back from outside the clinic and under the PT's watchful eye. I flick my legs outwards a bit when running and I've been prescribed some exercises addressing footfall. Those 160m, the legs felt fine.

I've been asked to go for a short tester run ahead of next appointment, very very short, maybe just 800m to max 1K. The thinking is that if I feel any twinges or new feedback then if necessary we can tweak the treatment sooner rather than later.

It's the start of October. I hope that come the end of October I will be back in the process of slowly building up weekly mileage.

August Review

False dawn.

Back on the road on the 8 August. Super cautious re-entry. Run-walk strategy for the first week. The very first run was 10x(1min walk + 1min run), it was sunny, the knees were fine, it felt good to be back.

Left knee feedback started on my second run, not a lot but still.

Did more stretching and strength work in August than I did in the previous year.

The left knee did not like the stop-start transitions and I was happy to get onto the second week of rehab where the run-walk strategy was dropped. Week 2 of rehab I ran easy runs of increasing distance 3K, 5K, 4M, 5M and 10K. Avoiding traffic lights as much as possible. Mild and moderate feedback from left knee for a few strides on all runs.

It wasn't until the end of week 3 and my final run of August that I ran twinge free. A whole 10K with no left knee feedback. Buzzed.

Some hope heading into September.

Month | Monthly Miles | Daily mileage for month | Weekly Mileage for month | Daily mileage for year | Weekly mileage for year | Predicted yearly mileage
January | 203.31 | 6.56 | 45.91 | 6.56 | 45.91 | 2400
February | 226.40 | 7.81 | 54.65 | 7.16 | 50.13 | 2621
March | 222.74 | 7.19 | 50.30 | 7.17 | 50.19 | 2624
April | 170.06 | 5.67 | 39.68 | 6.80 | 47.58 | 2488
May | 201.37 | 6.50 | 45.47 | 6.74 | 47.15 | 2465
June | 209.75 | 6.99 | 48.94 | 6.78 | 47.45 | 2481
July | 42.87 | 1.38 | 9.68 | 5.99 | 41.93 | 2192
August | 56.34 | 1.88 | 13.15 | 5.46 | 38.24 | 1999
September | | | | | |
October | | | | | |
November | | | | | |
December | | | | | |

PT Visit Number 4 and a plan for the rest of the year

"I'm being a little more aggressive today."

That's what the physical therapist said as he manipulated the 8 needles protruding from around my left knee. I was clenching the massage-table frame behind my head, sweating like I was running an interval session. This was a lot of pain, dull pulses rising to sharp electric jolts, my whole left leg twitching involuntarily.

"You are doing fantastic, short term pain, it'll be worth it."

I had to shout a few times. Lots of swearing. Near the end a scream.

"Don't worry the waiting room is empty."

When the aggressive needling was over he turns his attention to the muscles around the knee, heavily kneading them downwards until the knee felt numb and I could feel muscles trying to detach from my hip. Next I had to hang my knee off the end of the table, raise and lower as he dug deeper and deeper into supporting muscle.

I took forever to get my shoes back on afterwards and somehow I managed to cycle home with one and a half legs. That was a brutal session, right from the start until the finish.

But yesterday the left-knee felt 100% normal, as did the hammer above it.
If this is what it takes to clear the tension from around the knee then so be it. Another session or two like that could be the trick, won't be fun though.

I like to chat with the PT, but conversation was impossible Thursday while on the table. Just a stream of profanities and some manic laughter.

Since my last update here I've continued with short tester runs every other day. Max 1500m. The good news is that on none of these runs have I felt pain or any twinges or discomfort from the left knee. This is a source of optimism. What keeps that optimism in check is the fact that outside of running I continue to feel some form of mild feedback pretty much everyday from the left-knee or hamstring above it. Overall a sense that it is slowly slowly improving but a frustration that in my 5th month since that ill-fated 10K TT I can tell it is still not healed.

I outlined the following proposal to the PT and forwarded it to him today. In theory he said it sounded feasible and I hope to get an official thumbs up from him over the weekend. Time to start looking at building up the miles again.

Everything below will be easy pace.
Hopefully this really is the first road back to recovery.

Week | Beginning | Planned Mileage | Longest Run
01 | 16 Nov | 01 to 05 Miles | 3K
02 | 23 Nov | 06 to 10 Miles | 5K
03 | 30 Nov | 11 to 15 Miles | 4M
04 | 07 Dec | 16 to 20 Miles | 5M
05 | 14 Dec | 21 to 25 Miles | 10K
06 | 21 Dec | 26 to 30 Miles | 7M
07 | 28 Dec | 26 to 30 Miles | 8M


Been thinking more about what preceded my July 4th injury.
I don't think it was just the fact that I'd run 33 weeks of approx 50 miles a week without a break that lead to the injury, though it clearly was a factor. The other factor was surely the increase in intensity, first with the 16x400 type sessions at the club and then with the focus on short TTs, I ran 6 TTs of my 1.29M lockdown loop, and I ran the boards 1M TT, all through April and May. The intensity of these TTs I think was too much for the legs. I needed more downtime, more recovery. The first half of this year saw some good performances but not a lot of smart running. Live and learn.

Week 1 of Mileage Build-Up

Ok so the first week was navigated more or less without issue. The only blot on the copy was some surprise feedback from the right knee on Saturday's 3K 'long' run. Unfamilar feedback as it came from front of knee. Didn't last long. I have noticed a click from the right knee over the last fortnight or so on going up stairs. Purely audio when it clicks, no pain, nothing. Just another item to add to the litany of items that started to surface from late June. The feedback came inside the first K of the run so it wasn't due to stretching out to 3K.

The other 2 runs were fine. In general the runs are ok. As always it's the never too far away 'sensations' that I get when going about my day-to-day that keep optimism at bay. Sensations are mostly to the rear of the knee and feel soft-tissue sourced, not strutural.

Must say that the knee has felt improved since last PT session. If I successfully navigate week 2 then I'll arrange next session.

Mentally being on a 7 week plan is helping. Hope it's not premature.

Week | Beginning | Planned Mileage | Longest Run | How'd it go?
01 | 16 Nov | 01 to 05 Miles | 3K | Left knee passes, right knee protests a little, maybe it's just forgetting how to run. Total 4.40 Miles
02 | 23 Nov | 06 to 10 Miles | 5K |
03 | 30 Nov | 11 to 15 Miles | 4M |
04 | 07 Dec | 16 to 20 Miles | 5M |
05 | 14 Dec | 21 to 25 Miles | 10K |
06 | 21 Dec | 26 to 30 Miles | 7M |
07 | 28 Dec | 26 to 30 Miles | 8M |

Week 3 of Mileage Build-Up

Left the house this morning and headed for the Park, first time running there in over 2 months. Bitterly cold, but I did not care. Headed up the Khyber and even at easy pace I realise that I will have a lot of work to do to get back to summer fitness! Confidence is slowly returning, so much so that I risked a stop-start to take a photo of the white-out-fog by the playing fields. On the restart a faint presence from the left knee which passed soon enough. Further traffic-light stop-starts were fine. The run was a success, no pain and no discomfort.

Afterwards I had to leave the house straight out of the shower to head back to the park on foot. Not ideal, I wanted to ice the knee for 15mins. It did grumble a bit during the day but nothing terribly concerning.

Right now it's all about keeping the healing curve ahead of the training curve. The knee is getting better. I have my 5th physical therapist appointment booked for next Wednesday, if I see similar improvement following this visit as I did from my last visit then I will be very happy.

This injury may have come with an 8 week recovery. I tried 8 days off and went back to square one. Then I tried three weeks off and eventually went back to square one. I take consolation from the fact that I only really started to properly address this injury near the end of September.

I have the core of a rebuilding plan drafted for 2021, that would bring me nicely up to DCM. Eight blocks of 4 weeks. Between each block a down week. Clear objectives defined for each 4 week block. Won't discuss detail here for fear of tempting fate, but I do find it is so important to have a plan to work with. I have contingency built in and will rest/step-back if the legs tell me I need to. No races are set in stone for 2021, the goal is just to get back to where I was in June. But the plan does not feature anything faster than 3K pace, and 3K pace is not planned for anything more than 400m.

The other runs this week went well, apart from some stiffness from both knees on Saturday's easy 3K run.

First 3 weeks successful. Fingers crossed for week 4.

Week | Beginning | Planned Mileage | Longest Run | How'd it go?
01 | 16 Nov | 01 to 05 Miles | 3K | Left knee passes, right knee protests a little, maybe it's just forgetting how to run. Total 4.40 Miles
02 | 23 Nov | 06 to 10 Miles | 5K | Knees good while running. Right knee clicking on stairs. 5K milestone navigated successfully. Total 8.76 Miles
03 | 30 Nov | 11 to 15 Miles | 4M | Bit of stiffness in both knees over opening 100m of one run, otherwise nothing negative to report from runs. Still some complaints when not running. Total 13.47 Miles
04 | 07 Dec | 16 to 20 Miles | 5M |
05 | 14 Dec | 21 to 25 Miles | 10K |
06 | 21 Dec | 26 to 30 Miles | 7M |
07 | 28 Dec | 26 to 30 Miles | 8M |

Rehab Down Week

As decide during my last 5 miler, I took a down-week midway during my 8 week rehab block. Proactive rather than reactive. Definitely the inspiration for this down-week was the right knee not the left knee.

It was wise to take time off. The first few days the knee was very stiff and sore with nearly any movement. Come Wednesday it was generating a lot of heat as well, and was noisy on the stairs. I'm worried that it could be a cartilage issue. Contacted PT just to keep him updated. He said he might be able to fit me in for a session on the 22nd (in the end a slot didn't materialize). But then within 24 hours the right knee was no longer hot, stiff or sore. There was still some snap crackle and pop on the stairs but painless.

I really hope it was just some temporary irritation and hopefully it won't return. If it does I will be thinking it's MRI time.

Spent a lot of time doing S&C last week. Lots of rolling, focusing as instructed on the area where the needles were last applied (still some bruising there after last session). Powerband was used quite a bit as well. Running or not running I need to try target at least 4 proper sessions of S&C a week.

I'd been thinking about my runners. Is it a coincidence that my two worse injuries have been in the last 2 years and after I abandoned Nimbus (after 8 years) for Glycerins. It probably is a coincidence, but having nothing to lose I ordered a pair of Nimbus-21s during the week. I won't say I'm retiring the Glycerins just yet but I will give the Nimbus a go and see how I get on.

Back to running this week - I'll update on Sunday.

October Review

I started the month with a spirit-lifting Indian summer cycle to Howth and back. The knees are happy enough when cycling. For the first 10 days of the month I continue with the sliotar and other strength and conditioning work. Maybe overdoing it on one or two occasions causing the left ‘rear-of-knee’ to protest.

Then on October 11th I lace up again, 30 days after limping home from my last run. I think this is my longest break in over 10 years of running.

This time I start with a cautious 600m tester. All good. One more 600m tester before my third PT session. More work on the table, a nasty needling session in upper calves and hamstrings. The PT gives me a green flag to start slowly increasing the run distance. Always keeping a rest day between runs. So 600m becomes 800m becomes 1000m becomes 1200m becomes 1300m. In general the runs go ok, an occasional presence in the left-knee but mostly both legs behave.

Outside of running the left knee and sometimes the right knee continue to provide some sort of niggly feedback during the day, just enough to remind me that they are not yet fixed. I continue with some S&C work, focusing on using the sliotar for muscle release. I continue to cycle, including a marathon distance cycle in the Park.

Patience.

Month | Monthly Miles | Daily mileage for month | Weekly Mileage for month | Daily mileage for year | Weekly mileage for year | Predicted yearly mileage
January | 203.31 | 6.56 | 45.91 | 6.56 | 45.91 | 2400
February | 226.40 | 7.81 | 54.65 | 7.16 | 50.13 | 2621
March | 222.74 | 7.19 | 50.30 | 7.17 | 50.19 | 2624
April | 170.06 | 5.67 | 39.68 | 6.80 | 47.58 | 2488
May | 201.37 | 6.50 | 45.47 | 6.74 | 47.15 | 2465
June | 209.75 | 6.99 | 48.94 | 6.78 | 47.45 | 2481
July | 42.87 | 1.38 | 9.68 | 5.99 | 41.93 | 2192
August | 56.34 | 1.88 | 13.15 | 5.46 | 38.24 | 1999
September | 47.47 | 1.58 | 11.07 | 5.04 | 35.26 | 1844
October | 6.17 | 0.20 | 1.39 | 4.55 | 31.82 | 1664
November | | | | | |
December | | | | | |

December Review

The rehab plan continues. The first two weeks of December I feel 'a presence' in the left knee over the first 50-100m. Not pain but enough to make me nervous about how the knee will behave. In all cases once the first 100m are behind me the knee behaves fine. I wonder is my footfall tentative and un-natural when I start my runs and this triggers this presence? I also detect some stiffness in the right knee.

A return to The Park on a frosty and foggy Sunday morning

PT session number 5 is probably the toughest one yet. The needles target the left hip to try release stress on the IT Band and remove the pain from the outside of the left knee. This needling session provokes mostly very sharp pain. I'd be bruised for over 2 weeks following this. Mentally drained after the session. But again afterwards the left leg felt hugely improved. In day to day activities the knee grumbles far far less. Dry needling, I'm a believer.

Then to spoil the party the right knee starts to protest. Out of nowhere some limp inducing pain from the front of the knee while walking to town. Then a lot of stiffness and heat over the next couple of days. So much so that I don't notice the left knee anymore. And then, within 24 hours all the stiffness, pain and heat was gone. Just the going upstairs clicking remains.

Before the right knee properly flared up I'd opted for a proactive down-week, no running, just 5 good S&C sessions. Glad I called this week as it gave the right knee time to heal itself.

A repeat of week 5 of 8 rehab weeks included a return to my Chapelizod 5 mile loop.

And a return to Asics. Probably a coincidence - but I've abandoned the Glycerins and returned to Nimbus. My two worse injuries have occured since I went to Glycerins, after 8 years of just occasional niggles in the Nimbus. The Nimbus feel flatter and more stiff than the Glycerins, hopefully they will loosen a bit after a few runs.

Confidence returning, keeping fingers crossed that the right knee issue was a one-off.

Month | Monthly Miles | Daily mileage for month | Weekly Mileage for month | Daily mileage for year | Weekly mileage for year | Predicted yearly mileage
January | 203.31 | 6.56 | 45.91 | 6.56 | 45.91 | 2400
February | 226.40 | 7.81 | 54.65 | 7.16 | 50.13 | 2621
March | 222.74 | 7.19 | 50.30 | 7.17 | 50.19 | 2624
April | 170.06 | 5.67 | 39.68 | 6.80 | 47.58 | 2488
May | 201.37 | 6.50 | 45.47 | 6.74 | 47.15 | 2465
June | 209.75 | 6.99 | 48.94 | 6.78 | 47.45 | 2481
July | 42.87 | 1.38 | 9.68 | 5.99 | 41.93 | 2192
August | 56.34 | 1.88 | 13.15 | 5.46 | 38.24 | 1999
September | 47.47 | 1.58 | 11.07 | 5.04 | 35.26 | 1844
October | 6.17 | 0.20 | 1.39 | 4.55 | 31.82 | 1664
November | 21.93 | 0.73 | 5.12 | 4.20 | 29.43 | 1539
December | 58.47 | 1.89 | 13.20 | 4.01 | 28.06 | 1467

Rehab Update

Overall, things continue to improve.

When not running, the left knee is now 95% ok. And the 5% when it's not ok is usually nothing of concern. I cannot remember when I last felt any soft tissue feedback from behind the knee.

When not running, the right knee is 90% ok. It commands a little more concern than the left knee. It pops painlessly when going upstairs and sometimes it is a little stiff in the front.

When running the left knee is not painful. Over the first 100m of a run I can feel a 'presence' and I think this affects my stride, making it a little hesitant. But then the rest of the run the left knee is fine.

When running the right knee is fine.

One thing I'm noticing is that my stride doesn't feel 'natural' for the first 15mins or so of my runs. It feels like I need to lift my left leg a little more than normal, that if I don't do that it'll scuff against the ground. After 15 mins this tends to pass. It's strange, but not entirely dissimilar to a sensation I had in my right leg when recovering from a hamstring tear in 2019. I'm not overly concerned and trust that it will pass once I build up more strength in the leg.

I'm becoming more disciplined regarding S&C. I aim for 4 good sessions a week, each between 35 and 45 mins. These always consist of rolling: calves, hammers, quads, glutes, including hip area for ITB focus. Powerband work focusing on bridges and again on glutes. Calve lifts on stairs. Increasing elements of core work as well. Happy to report that this is starting to become habitual. For rehab I'm logging these on Strava and will continue to do so post rehab. Before every run I spend 12 minutes firing up the calves, hammers and glutes. This I will continue to do post rehab (though I won't log these post-rehab).

Fitness wise I will definitely have my work cut out in 2021. I've now logged runs of 5 miles, 10K and this morning 7 miles. The legs rarely feel fresh, and each new longer distance feels long. I think part of this is due to running everything at easy-pace (or at don't think-about-pace pace). Hopefully when the rebuild starts and I gradually introduce quicker paces this will pass. That said, I have been holding what I think is easy pace and have been logging some 7:4X miles while doing so. So maybe I won't have to dig too far to recover endurance fitness.

I will be absolutely thrilled if I can avoid injury and really focus on rebuilding this year.

Ran 7 miles this morning. The first 2 miles the legs felt tired and unresponsive. But over the closing 2 miles I found myself forgetting about my knees and forgetting about the fact that I was running. I caught myself processing and examining random thoughts, daydreaming, that headspace free of interruption that running provides and which I've sorely missed over the last months.

One more week of rehab. A down-week and then project Rebuild can start. Touchwood.

Week | Beginning | Planned Mileage | Longest Run | How'd it go?
01 | 16 Nov | 01 to 05 Miles | 3K | Left knee passes, right knee protests a little, maybe it's just forgetting how to run. Total 4.40 Miles
02 | 23 Nov | 06 to 10 Miles | 5K | Knees good while running. Right knee clicking on stairs. 5K milestone navigated successfully. Total 8.76 Miles
03 | 30 Nov | 11 to 15 Miles | 4M | Bit of stiffness in both knees over opening 100m of one run, otherwise nothing negative to report from runs. Still some complaints when not running. Total 13.47 Miles
04 | 07 Dec | 16 to 20 Miles | 5M | A painless 5 miles. Legs feeling good on a 5K. Three consecutive days running. Unexpected soreness from right knee while walking. Another table clenching needling session. Total 17.82 Miles.
05 | 21 Dec | 16 to 20 Miles | 5M | A repeat of previous week, having taken a down-week to allow the right knee settle. Debut to Asics Nimbus 21s. No knee pain. Total 17.81 Miles.
06 | 28 Dec | 21 to 25 Miles | 10K | No pain from knees. Again a presence form left knee at the start of runs. Passes after 100m or so. Outside of running both knees are feeling much better. Happy with a painless 10K. Total 21.54 Miles.
07 | 04 Dec | 26 to 30 Miles | 7M | Another painless week. Stride not feeling natural over opening miles, might be overthinking it. Right knee a tiny bit stiff after Sunday's 7 miler. Total 26.29 Miles.
08 | 11 Dec | 26 to 30 Miles | 8M |

Duanington wrote: »

Good to see the progress, I wouldn't stress too much over fitness. 1 - There is unlikely to be a race this side of the summer and 2 - I always find it amazing how when someone with a history of running strings 6\7 good weeks together, the body starts to pick up the fitness again.

Thanks! Legs are slowly slowly becoming accustomed to regular running again.

When I picked up this injury I was concerned about losing fitness if I didn't get back training inside 3 weeks. Now over 6 months later I'm just super pleased to have managed 8 pain-free miles last Sunday, and I have a whole new appreciation for just being able to get out and run on a Sunday morning. Agree, fitness will come back and I'll do my best to enjoy the process.

Rebuild Under Way

Last week was an uneventful step-back week. Managed three easy 5Ks and ran a chilly 4 miler on Sunday morning. The biggest takeaway from last week came from the scales. Weighed in Sunday morning at a shockingly heavy 76.1kilo :eek:

I can't remember the last time I was this heavy. May go some way to explaining why the legs have been so heavy of late and why the right knee is still a bit grumpy during the day to day. I absolutely have to put a serious focus on diet. I want to get back to 69-70 kilo by late Spring.

This Monday I started the rebuild. The plan is to dedicate the whole year to rebuilding. In total 10 blocks of 4 weeks, with a down-week between each block. Each block will carry its own set of objectives.

Block 1 of 10

• hold average weekly mileage of 30-35 miles
• build up longest run to 10 miles
• reintroduce marathon pace building to 2M @ MP
• start moving from 76.10 kilos toward 69.90 kilos

This is a gentle block to start with as I move away from easy running for the first time in months. Marathon pace I am setting at that of a 3:05 to 3:10 marathon. That's 4:23 min/km to 4:30 min/km (7:03 min/mile to 7:15 min/mile). Baby steps building up to 2 Mile at that pace by the end of the 4 week block. The goals will be easy in the opening blocks, the objective isn't to break any records, the goal is to gradually get back to summer 2020 form without relapsing into injury.

All runs will be preceded with some activation exercises, and I will do some post-run cool-down stretches. Every week I will aim to fit in 3 good S&C sessions.

As I type I'm three runs into Block 1 - Week 1. I started with a lunchtime 5K on Monday, in and around IMMA, avoiding pedestrians. This run went fine. Legs felt ok.

Last night was a milestone run. I reintroduced marathon pace. Very cautious 'session'. I programmed 4x400 into the watch and ran these up and down the Chapelizod Road. I ignored the 400m markers on the path prefering instead to let the Garmin provide me with too fast, too slow alerts.

It's been sooooo looong since I've heard the Garmin sound 'Beep, beep, beep, beep, beepeepeep'. I cannot help but instinctively take off far too fast over the opening 50m and then just gradually slow down over the remaining 350m.

Two intervals toward town, two intervals toward Chapelizod. All fine. This faster pace feels more comfortable than easy pace. Legs were fine during and after. I really enjoyed this. A run with bits! Seems silly to be so pleased with 4x400 @ MP, but it represents hopefully the first step back to summer 2020 form.

There's still a long way to go though, tonight I ran my 5 mile Chapelizod Loop. Legs felt pretty good throughout, but post run the right knee has been stiff and aching. Going to ice it after posting this. Tomorrow is a rest day, another short and easy run on Friday and then fingers-crossed the key run of the week, 4x800 @ MP on Saturday morning.