September 2007 Archives

This could be ugly ... but then again it could be very managable. Tonight I am scheduled for an MRI of my right knee to determine if I have a Plica syndrome or a torn meniscus. I didn't even know what a Plica was ... still not sure I do, even after the doctor explained it to me. But anyway, it sounds a whole lot less serious than a torn meniscus, so I'll take it!

Either way it likely will involve surgery ... at least that's the impression I have. The question then remains, how invasive, and how long is the recovery.

How did this happen you might ask ...

Today was an interesting experiment, as my training plan called for a 15 mile long run and usually my pace for long runs is around 10 miles/hour. But I had planned to do a 10k with my friend, Juls, because I wanted a current 10k benchmark to use for calculating my appropriate training paces going forward. Up until now, I've been using a pre IMCDA 10k as my benchmark (8:06 min/mi) but felt as though that may have been overly optimistic ...

I decided to run to the start of the 10k (about 4 miles), do the 10k, and then run the long way home. Unfortunately two things prevented me from getting an accurate 10k time trial. The first was that I didn't stop and restart my Polar monitor and stopwatch between my warmup and the beginning of the race. In fact I barely had time to get my number pinned to my chest before we were off. The second was that we were erroneously routed by the volunteers to a shorter distance (5.86 mi to be exact). The clock showed 48:06 as I came down the finishing shoot - and I felt pretty good. 50:53 is my extrapolated time for a distance of 6.2 miles which works out to 8:12 min/mile ... not a PR, but still something I'm happy with.

Now I remember why I prefer doing track workouts with a group - they suck! But at least with a group you suffer together versus suffering solo, like I did today. Before leaving for the track this morning I realized I didn't have my heart rate monitor ... and it was *almost* enough of an excuse to keep me from going. BUT, I didn't give in to this temptation, knowing full well that time is what mattered during this workout, not heart rate. There was nothing wrong with my stopwatch ... unfortunately.

The plan: 1 mile warm up - 3 x 1600 yd repeats w/ 400 yd recovery - 1 mile cool down

My splits: 8:51 - 7:32 - 2:37 - 7:38 - 4:20 - 7:33 - 10:48

Analysis: Even though it felt hard and suckie I am pleased with my splits - about 15 secs faster than I was expecting. Each one felt a little easier believe it or not, at least for the first and second laps ... then the hard work began. The human body is a surprisingly adaptive organism. It never ceases to amaze me what I am capable of IF I only TRY. My mind is my own worst enemy.

In addition to all the usual walkers, there was another girl at the track this morning doing a similar workout to me, except that she had a coach to drive her and to keep her company. Even though we weren't working out together it felt good to see someone else working as hard as me - it was a motivator.

Well, it just goes to show you that you should never ever give up ... I mean ever. Some days suck, some days are just ok and then there are those really great ones that make all the suckie ones seem worthwhile. I've come to the conclusion that you can only really appreciate "good" and "great" if you also have experienced the "bad" or the "suckie" ... that goes for training days and for life in general. There's also this thing that I've been reading about called "adaptation" in which our bodies undergo subtle changes during workouts that seem really hard, and that in time, it is these harder workouts that help to lay the groundwork for better performance. Gawd, I hope this is true ... as lately 9 out of 10 of my workouts have felt this way!

But today, I felt like I had a little itty bit of a breakthrough - my usual "tempo" run, which I do with a friend every Tuesday morning, felt easy. Admittedly he wasn't pushing like normal, due to his own back and hamstring issues, but I actually found myself holding back so as not to get too far ahead of him - me, moi! This has not happened in months where this particular running partner is concerned. I usually spend the run staring at *his* back and gasping for breath trying to keep up. It didn't feel easy, but it didn't feel hard either. In fact, per my tempo run pace (as prescribed by MacMillan Running) I should have been running a bit faster... but I don't regret not running at that pace, because I felt like I could have, with some ease actually.

There's a definite theme going on here ... first I felt like dancin' - life was good, my training was on track, I felt good. Then came that puckin' feeling - my workouts became harder and I had to cope - I still felt good though, hoping that as I persisted it would get easier. But this past week, my training routine has been disrupted by work and family commitments, and this past Saturday during a hilly 9 mile run, two old injuries reared their ugly heads. Now I'm doubting my ability to prepare adequately for my goal in December of completing CIM in under 4:00:00. It should be doable, but only if I DO the work and stay injury free. So these days, I feel like cryin'.

I think I still have time to prepare but it will take a very strong commitment and there's no wiggle room ... today I made a doctor's appointment on Wednesday to have my ankle and knee looked at and a sports massage appointment on Friday to treat them both. I will continue to try and complete my training as per schedule, including doing my weekly speed workout and tempo runs, but no more hills for awhile.