Yesterday I had a really good run. I finally managed to crack 10 km. It took wayyyy longer than it would have 2 years ago, but I still finished without feeling completely destroyed.
I didn't actually intended to run 10 km when I packed my bag yesterday. I grabbed my VFF sprints and some toe socks and decided to see if wearing those made a difference with my knees. I picked a section of trail I've run many times so I would know how far I had gone without constantly checking my phone. I started off slow, but was happily surprised that my knees didn't twinge a bit. Keeping my stride very short I plodded along, dodging sharp rocks and roots and it rained lightly overhead. I was happy for the canopy of trees so I could avoid getting soaked. I checked my phone and saw I had covered 3.3km. So far so good I thought so I figured I would keep going until I was doing more walking than running. The next thing I knew my phone read 5.1km. Sweet! I turned around and headed back the way I came. My quads and hamstrings felt a bit tight around the 8km mark but still, no knee twinges or shots of pain. In fact, the body part that hurt the worst was the bottom of my feet. It's been a long time since I've worn my VFFs and my tough feet pads have clearly softened up.
So am I on to something with this VFF thing? I don't know but yesterday's run has me thinking maybe wearing those might be the safest alternative for my own knees.
I had switched back to running shoes a couple of years ago when I got really into trail running. The trails around my area, the really fun trails that is, require a sturdy, padded shoe. The rocks can be huge and often the trail bed is clay, which in wet weather, can make your VFFs ice skates. However, I'm not typically running those trails nowadays. Nowadays the trails I travel are pretty tame, with crushed gravel and gentle slopes. That doesn't mean I still don't hit the fun trails every now and again, but the length is usually 1-2kms, not 10 or 20. So I guess there's no harm in switching to VFFs for a bit of training. Wearing them made my calves and feet stronger than they've ever been and recovering from runs was exceptionally fast. Hopefully my previous experience with them will repeat itself.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Hey "Good" knee-BEHAVE!
Wow, yesterday's run sucked SO bad. My tenacity kept me going through until I reached my goal. My whole body felt slow and lethargic starting out, which usually shakes off after a minute or so but just didn't this time for the whole run. Ugh. On top of that my GOOD knee kept having this periodic snapping pain across the front of my kneecap. It would be so sharp I would immediately stop running and walk like someone had kicked me square on the knee. It seemed to be worse on the inclines so I figured I was over striding and quickly tried to fix the situation by playing a 180 bpm podrunner song and shortening my stride. It helped a bit but not totally. It was only when I put more pressure on my bad knee that my good knee decided to ease up. Crazy. I can't tell anyone about it because, really, my GOOD knee now?! Seriously WTH??
I did some Googling and figured out it's probably a bit of tendonitis so I'm going to tape the good knee and see if that helps today. Holy hell, I sure hope it does because, I don't know if I can cope with both knees giving me grief. I can barely handle one!
All this on my first day of secret marathon training. I say secret because I'll tell my husband nothing until I can confidently run 20km again without pain. Once I can do that I'll feel confident to tell him my plan to conquer the marathon again. This week my mileage is 5km three times and then a 10km long run. Totally manageable...as long as my knees hold up.
I did some Googling and figured out it's probably a bit of tendonitis so I'm going to tape the good knee and see if that helps today. Holy hell, I sure hope it does because, I don't know if I can cope with both knees giving me grief. I can barely handle one!
All this on my first day of secret marathon training. I say secret because I'll tell my husband nothing until I can confidently run 20km again without pain. Once I can do that I'll feel confident to tell him my plan to conquer the marathon again. This week my mileage is 5km three times and then a 10km long run. Totally manageable...as long as my knees hold up.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Reigning in Thoughts of Lofty Goals
Running through the trails last night I thought a lot about my goals and if I even want any right now. A friend of mine had just stated that she was going to run another marathon this September and part of me wanted to say "me too!" The other part of me knows I would get zero support for that idea at home so I pushed it aside. The I started thinking.
If I were able to get through the first month of training, would the support at home change? I doubt it. In fact I would probably get reamed out for "trying to hurt myself" as opposed to trying to better myself. Could I do it? I don't know. You see, I have this medal hanger beside my bed that says "The only way to define your limits is to go beyond them." I try to aim for this in my running. I could run a marathon and 50ks before my accident and subsequent OA diagnosis, but can I do it now? Part of me wants to find out and another part thinks I'm crazy and should just be grateful to run 10ks without much pain. But could I go further?? I want to try.
Last year I trained and ran a half marathon. It went great until the 15k mark (literally, once I saw that sign it felt like someone had kicked me in the knee). From that point to the 21k finish my sweet brother and I ran/walked the final, slow 6km. I finished it but it was ugly. Should I just try and finish a half successfully or aim for the big prize of the marathon? Ugh, decisions. If I don't run a marathon this year it will have been 3 years since I completed anything longer than 35km race. For someone who usually ran at least one marathon and a 50k a year this feels like a really long running layoff.
I think I'll need to go for another run tonight to decide.
If I were able to get through the first month of training, would the support at home change? I doubt it. In fact I would probably get reamed out for "trying to hurt myself" as opposed to trying to better myself. Could I do it? I don't know. You see, I have this medal hanger beside my bed that says "The only way to define your limits is to go beyond them." I try to aim for this in my running. I could run a marathon and 50ks before my accident and subsequent OA diagnosis, but can I do it now? Part of me wants to find out and another part thinks I'm crazy and should just be grateful to run 10ks without much pain. But could I go further?? I want to try.
Last year I trained and ran a half marathon. It went great until the 15k mark (literally, once I saw that sign it felt like someone had kicked me in the knee). From that point to the 21k finish my sweet brother and I ran/walked the final, slow 6km. I finished it but it was ugly. Should I just try and finish a half successfully or aim for the big prize of the marathon? Ugh, decisions. If I don't run a marathon this year it will have been 3 years since I completed anything longer than 35km race. For someone who usually ran at least one marathon and a 50k a year this feels like a really long running layoff.
I think I'll need to go for another run tonight to decide.
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Doing this on my own-but I guess I always was
Life has gotten in the way of any decent running this past week. It's been a series of recital rehearsals then two recitals, a hospitalized uncle to visit, dance practice for my daughter, and oh my sister-in law is visiting. I am so looking forward to this weekend when I can sleep in and run on my favorite trail. The best part is, the leaves are finally out so it makes my favorite trail system feel like a scene in Lord of the Rings.
This afternoon though I'm getting a run-commute in. It's gorgeous outside so it will be a real treat. The best part is, I remembered to put on some KT tape around my knee, so I won't be hobbling towards the end...I hope. I think I'm finally starting to accept that my knee is how it is now and I need to adjust to this new reality. No one is going to adjust for me, and no one seems capable of relieving my pain, much to my disgust with modern medicine. My doctor says to giv'r, so I will. I have even ventured up and down the stairs at work more in the past few days than I have in over a year. Thankfully it is actually getting easier and less painful. I guess it's true when they say if you don't use it, you lose it. Mind you, I'm still as slow as a turtle going up those stairs and grip the handrail with life-or-death-desperation when descending, but it is getting easier!
My knee swelling is still an issue. I'm going to start icing it again at the end of the day and see if that helps. The KT tape, in an edema formation, has helped with the "water on the knee" swelling but I still have an obscene amount of swelling behind my knee. With summer coming, and leg swelling being common in my family, I'd really like to get that under control.
Well, off I go into another day. Today I'm aiming for between 5-6km for my run commute. Preferably closer to that 6km mark ;-)
This afternoon though I'm getting a run-commute in. It's gorgeous outside so it will be a real treat. The best part is, I remembered to put on some KT tape around my knee, so I won't be hobbling towards the end...I hope. I think I'm finally starting to accept that my knee is how it is now and I need to adjust to this new reality. No one is going to adjust for me, and no one seems capable of relieving my pain, much to my disgust with modern medicine. My doctor says to giv'r, so I will. I have even ventured up and down the stairs at work more in the past few days than I have in over a year. Thankfully it is actually getting easier and less painful. I guess it's true when they say if you don't use it, you lose it. Mind you, I'm still as slow as a turtle going up those stairs and grip the handrail with life-or-death-desperation when descending, but it is getting easier!
My knee swelling is still an issue. I'm going to start icing it again at the end of the day and see if that helps. The KT tape, in an edema formation, has helped with the "water on the knee" swelling but I still have an obscene amount of swelling behind my knee. With summer coming, and leg swelling being common in my family, I'd really like to get that under control.
Well, off I go into another day. Today I'm aiming for between 5-6km for my run commute. Preferably closer to that 6km mark ;-)
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