Knee Update

Knees are complicated things.  Prior to running my 15K in Dec, I don't remember having such issues with my knees.  I wonder if I've beautified my memories, so to speak.  I know that often times you block out the bad and remember the good.  For example I'm struggling with running and I don't have any memories of struggling like this during 15K training.  I'm sure I argued with myself during runs, but I did the miles.  This time I feel like I gained 100 lbs.  My body is heavy and I'm slower.  I know I'm slower, so there is something going on.  

I remember telling someone that my knee would start hurting between miles 3 & 4 but that I'd run out of it.  It would twinge for a bit, but it went away.  Did it go away?  I'm sure it did!  But now I'm questioning it.   Maybe I just ignored it and thought it went away.  But I distinctly remember telling someone that I would run out of the pain.  *shrug*   So when my knee hurt during the 15K I didn't think much of it.  I have no memories of when it started hurting or what it felt like after it started.   There's so much adrenaline during a race.  What I do remember is that as soon as I started walking after crossing the finish line that it hurt.  It hurt bad.  I was limping.  I thought it was from the race, the miles, the hills (I don't normally run hills).  I gave myself 2 weeks off at some point.  I started running lightly before really starting training for my half.  But yet here I still struggle with my knee.  I don't think it's my shoes anymore.  

I ran 3.5 miles on Wednesday and I told my chiropractor that it starting hurting after 1.5 miles.  Somewhere between 1.5 and 2 miles.  She said there's inflammation in my knee.  My massage therapist says there are muscles pulling on it and she finds some majorly painful trigger points.  My chiro gave me some natural supplements to help with inflammation.  I'm now icing my knee even on days I don't workout or run.  I'm also taking fish oil gummies as fish oil is suppose to help with inflammation also.   

Today I had 5 miles on the schedule and I'm not going to lie, I was worried about it.  I woke up and I iced my knee for 25-30 mins.  I took one Aleve and 2 Advil, hoping to help with inflammation.  I stretched my inner thighs before starting.  I ran 3 miles before I felt any issues and then it started out really minor.  I'm sure that I'm favoring my left leg even when my knee doesn't hurt in a way to protect it.  So I'm trying to keep my gait between my left and right leg the same.    When my knee stared hurting it seemed as if I increased my stride length that it felt better.  I run with a really short stride given how tall I am (5'10").  I finished the 5 miles at a very slow pace. (Why am I so slow right now?)  The good thing is that as soon as I walked there was no pain.  I was walking without a limp in my stride, no hitch in my giddy-up! :)   That's positive.  I should note that my knee never hurts when I'm not running.  When I first started running and I had the wrong shoes my knees ached when I wasn't running.  I felt pain going up and down stairs.  That is not the case now.  I think that's positive. . . sort of.  I'm not sure.  I stretched out my inner thighs when I was finished running and I rolled my IT band on the foam roller.   I then made my Shakeology smoothie and iced my knee again.  Next week my long run is 6 miles and then I have a step back week.  I hope I can keep making improvements.  I should note that my knee never hurts on the treadmill.  I know there's more give in a treadmill, but I'm still surprised that it doesn't hurt at all.  

For my five miles I ran around the block near my house.  I heard there was a 5K in town and I didn't want to get in the mix.  A country block is 1 mile on each side and I live a half mile off the block.  So from the end of my drive, the block, around the block and back to my drive is 5 miles.  It's kind of a boring run and I don't love it.  Here are my splits. . . slow as a turtle. 

You know, I have a degree in math. . . I've never understood the avg pace column.  The numbers match the lap time.  For example, on mile 2, my avg pace would be less than 12:06 cause my first mile was faster than my 2nd.  I don't get what that column is for.   It doesn't make sense to me.  

It was 30 degrees when I started running and 35 when I finished.  It's a heat wave!  It was sunny and felt so warm.  I took my light jacket off at mile 1.5 and ran the rest of the run in a tank top.  What a great day!

Weekend runs

I wasn't sure how long I would take off after the 15K.   Thursday night Roger and I were on our way sell a piece of furniture via a FB yard sale site.  Not sure if that is any safer than Craigslist, but at least I can snoop around the buyer's FB page first.  I was really avoiding Craigslist as lately I've heard too many stories of people being beat up, robbed and murdered via transactions.  On our way, as I was driving, I actually felt the urge to run.  My legs wanted to run!  Who am I?  I'm surprised I felt that.

I was off work on Friday so that morning I went for a run.  A short 3 mile run.  I was hoping my knee wouldn't hurt, but it did.  And worse than usual. This is discouraging.  I'm trying to think back to a few of my treadmill runs before my race. I don't think my knee ever hurt on the treadmill.  I don't remember.  But I might suck it up and do 3 miles on the treadmill sometime soon to test out the theory.  This 3 miles was much harder than I thought it would be. 

I was discouraged by how much I slowed down, but I had no choice.  I probably should have walked. But I have good news!  The running dynamics from my heart rate monitor worked.  I didn't do anything differently.  But maybe I had it on upside down during my race.  I knew there was a right and wrong way.  But I have to admit the shape is similar to my Polar HR monitor and I always wore that one a certain way.  In this case, that is upside down for the Garmin.  So maybe in my nervous-early-morning-it's-freezing-cold-haze I put it on upside down.  Here are the stats from Friday's run:

and here is the information from Garmin's site about those stats. 

I always read that 180 spm is the *sweet* spot for running. I am surprised at how close I am.  I'm also surprised at my vertical oscillation.  Since it says taller runners usually have a higher oscillation.  Plus I'm just an all around sucky average runner.   I expected I'd be in a lower category for that and not in the top purple range!   We'll see how that balances out as I move forward. 

I took Saturday off and on Sunday morning I put on some old crappy shoes that I don't even remember owning.   It was wet and sloppy outside and I really want to try my Reebok ATVs for running (just once) but wasn't ready to get them messed up even in the slightest.   These shoes I wore were clearly NOT meant for running but I had to see what my knee would do.  It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't as bad.  Of course I only did 2 miles. So the verdict is undetermined. 

When I bought my Under Armour Cold Gear outfit I found a Nike shirt that I really wanted.  But gosh the clothing is so expensive I just couldn't justify another shirt.  And I really wanted a *matching* outfit.  So I didn't get it.  But as luck would have it I got it online on Black Friday from Sports Authority. 

I fell for the pink/grey combo.  I love both colors right now. I'm kind of obsessed with grey actually.  But I loved how the sleeves were different.  And I gotta say it's hard to take a selfie and get the sleeves in the photo! :)   This shirt is really tight.  Of course I heard that you want it to be really tight in the winter.  It might have been a bit too warm for the weather on Sunday.  I got a bit sweaty and I had to have my hubby help get the shirt off of me.   I was just stuck to the shirt.  Lol.   I hope we get some cold weather that works for my clothing cause this stuff isn't cheap!!!!

Oh and another score for the Garmin - it successfully uploaded my 2 mile run via wifi.  So maybe I am finally getting this thing configured correctly.   Whew.