Things that make you go hmmm...

Well here I am, sitting at work, pretty much the middle of October now. As of the end of this week I have taken 4 weeks off of running. My knee feels really good, and next Tuesday will be my inaugural re-entry to running. I have been swimming 2-3 days a week at the Nat here at the University, but I have no one to challenge me and I am bored with being inside. It will be nice to be back outside...even if it is rainy and cold. Part of me is a bit scared to get back into the swing of things...my last long run was 18 miles and now, who knows where I am at. I am going to be back out though, because no matter how crappy I feel, I know that the beginning is always difficult...like 2 years ago when I began running.

Funny how it is for me now to really want to be running but my body needs rest, a few years ago running was such a struggle and I would have liked an excuse to quit at times...wow, I have changed. I haven't biked for awhile either, my knee was hurting with the movement of peddling, so my doctor said to lay off of that until this next week as well. Hopefully there will be one more nice day for a bike ride before I put her in retirement for the season.

On a good note, my climbing has taken a jump in the right direction because of my knee I have been putting in about 2-3 hours/week of climbing in. I feel strong, and hopefully that will keep up, even when I am running. I was hoping to build a base of running to about 20-30 miles a week. This winter I refuse to train for a marathon. Last year, when I was training for Cleveland, the runs in the blizzard were enough to make anyone quit; plus, who wants to run on ice covered trails...blech. That way if I want I can run the Cleveland half, which puts me in a good routine by the time summer comes around...yes I am already thinking about summer.

Next year I hope to compete in my first marathon...FOR REAL...and I am planning (hope this does not jinx it) the Akron Full. Why leave town when I can sleep in my own bed. Who cares about time anyway, I just want to get one in!!!!!

MRI Results

Good news and Bad news...but the good news is better.

Yes there is a small tear on my lateral meniscus of my right knee, but no surgery needed. The doctor said I could begin to run as soon as all my pain was gone--good news. I guess the timing was just all wrong. No marathon...he said to wait at least another week before I begin running again and start out with a 2-3 mi slow jog (gag). I also need to take time to go to the gym to strengthen my quads to make up for the weak spot on my meniscus. So at least it worked out in my favor, no surgery is a REALLY good thing. Next year will be more opportunities for marathons and at least I know what happened.

Thanks for all of the love.

Knee report--On the Shelf: Running

So much for running..indefinitely.

Saturday morning woke up at 6:30 for my 20 mi run. Ate a nice meal of multigrain oatmeal, got all of my running nutritional needs together, charged my ipod, did morning yoga & a 7 minute yoga specifically designed for running and put on my brand new shoes (I got them right before the Air Force Half Mary and they have yet to finish a run with me...you cannot call it a run if you walked most of it).

I headed out at 7:30 am for a clear, fairly chilly morning that I knew would turn into a fairly warm day. Even out that early cars were filling the parking spots and tons of people were already headed out for their long run or walk on such a beautiful day. I felt so energetic and was anxious to get in my first ever 20 mi day, I made sure to leave before Paul so that we could finish up around the same time (cause he is amazingly fast compared to me). Turned my ipod on to some RZA and headed out.

I felt soooooo good, my energy levels were high (probably because I took a full week off of my knee and my carbohydrate stores were replenished) and I was cruising through the first mile with a vigor that I had not felt in awhile. First mile had to be around 9 minutes, judging on how many songs passed. Suddenly, with just one step my knee twinged like never before and every subsequent step after was filled with a sharp shooting pain along the medial side towards the center of the knee joint. I knew I was done, I could barely put the weight of my body on it while walking. I solemnly walked toward the end of Sand Run knowing that Paul would pass by in the car soon to stash his water bottles. On the way I ran into my father, who walked with me until I was able to flag Paul down. He tried to cheer my obvious disappointment of the situation but I was on the verge of tears; the pain of my knee and frustration were too much at that moment.

I was definitely heart broken, my training has taken a complete stand still...at least until I know what is going on with knee. Sunday I tried to run the Nat 5K as I was already pre-registered, only to find that my knee only allowed about 1 mi of running before going out again.

This situation is frustrating as this is the second time that I have been training for a marathon that I have had to cease training. Once in the spring and now in the fall and I really wanted to get my first marathon in before the end of this year. I realize that I know nothing yet, at least what is going on with my knee but I am fearful that this may be the end of my season...and I am not ready for that yet. At the same time I have to mentally prepare myself to know that I may not be able to run the full Columbus, that this may not heal in time.

So what is the plan? Try to get into a sport med doc before my Akron half mary this weekend (of course I already paid for this one too). Then, well, I guess move forward. I am going to swim this week, already planned that for tomorrow and Thursday and we will see what the week brings me.

I need some good juju sent this way and hopefully everything will work out. I will keep everyone updated.

Air Force Marathon

After a late start on Friday, my father, mother, and I managed to make it in time to pick up our packets at the Air Force Half Marathon. It was seemingly a trip through memory lane. The reason I really wanted to participate in this marathon event was largely due to the fact that my father was a fighter pilot for many years. He retired after many years of duty, but that part of his life and really our whole families lives was never forgotten. Military life was something that we all truly loved; the travel, the planes, the family, it was all part of us. Plus it was really cool to have a father who flew F-15 s at the speed of sound.

We have been away from a military life style now for over 12 years and my father, I believe, has stayed away because he missed it. That being said, a crisp, perfectly clear Saturday morning we headed to Wright Patterson AFB to begin our half marathon. We were greeted by a lone F-15 playing in the sky and it sparked so many stories of my fathers time flying that I felt for a moment that we were back, ready to watch my father take off...I am sure he remembers how to fly.

It was a perfect day for a run. The crisp autumnal air was brisk, but exactly the temperature that you want to run in. The half marathon began at 8:15 with 2000 participants, and we started with a 1000 ft gain in elevation in the first mile. My first mile was 9:30, my second was 9:30, my third mile was 9:45, 4th was 9:45, my fifth was 11:25...oh yeah on a hill coming down my knee began to ache. Dang. I knew that the med tent was coming up, so I made myself slow jog until I found it. A woman quickly wrapped it and I began to limp my way through...she tied the wrap way too lose, so mile 6 16:00. I was getting discouraged, why now on this perfect day for running is my knee hurting so bad. I walked/ran to the next med tent to get the wrap fixed a little tighter and the man there sure wrapped it up. In fact after limping for a half of mile I found that my foot was becoming numb and my muscles behind my knee were feeling tight. So I completely undid the wrap and limped two miles to the next med tent. I felt similar to Goldilocks as this woman wrapped it just right, but my knee would not allow me to run anymore. Thank goodness the field was large enough that I was able to walk the rest of the race and finish. There were tons of walkers, so this made me very comfortable with my decision. Why permanently injure this knee when I have the choice to finish with my limp/walk. My splits were around 20 minutes for the last few miles, I couldn't even walk fast with my knee the way it was. I did stop to stare at the dozens of plane fly bys along the way, why not, I was not making any PR anyway.

Unfortunately, my father and father-in-law were alarmed when I did not show up at my usual pace and they were in a tizzy when I showed up at 3 hours. It all worked out in the end. My father had the best run of the season, and that made my knee injury take a shelf. I was here for him and the reminiscing that occurred made everything worth while. I am sure we will participate in this race every year now, it was a good race, albeit injury.

Hopefully my knee will start to feel better after some time off. I did not play soccer yesterday and I am not going to run or bike until at least Wed. and that will be a short run, just to get the knee ready. Somehow I was deleted from the Buckeye Half Stats (like I did not even run) and this weeks run was crappy. I have the Akron Half Marathon and the Columbus Full to still look forward to, just hope that my knee holds up. So far this running season has been full of disappointments, but I cannot do anything about it now.

Just keep running, running, running...