Week Three of 2022
A whole bunch of easy runs to get me to my goal mileage for the week pre-long runs!
I got the mileage I was after, less the 32km I was to do on the weekend, and I was feeling great! I took Monday and Tuesday off due to being so busy. My partner even helped me get sorted one of the days. Without their help I wouldn’t have been able to meal prep nor would I have eaten healthy which really makes a big difference in how I feel with my running and training.
The weekend didn’t go so hot in the end. The first day of 16km on Saturday ended on a bit of a bad note. I had a slight niggle in my left knee which I noticed in the last 3 km. I ended up missing my window for trail time with the gates closing to the park I wanted to run in so I planned a loop in my city to get the run in. It was a nice run and I discovered some new routes to revisit in the future. I even busted out my head lamp!
The following day was worse. It was beautiful, lots of snow, but lots of people on the trail. It ended up being a horrible time of awkwardly walking around people on the single track made in a snow path, as about only half the people would step off to the side to let me pass. Numerous dogs unmoving on the trail, in a leashed trail area. It was really awkward.
I finally got going and then my knee pain came back, but worse. I was so disappointed but made the call to turn around at 5km in order to get at least 10km on the trail and head home and do the rest on the treadmill or on the road. I swapped some clothes and my runners and headed up for a heavy legged 6km which I was pleased to get done.
No knee pain for the road run–until I sped up to cross the road before the light changed, then quite a pinch! It subsided pretty quickly and I ran home, changed, and felt fine? Until I stood back up after dinner and it felt bad again.
This seems like a good time to rest and take it one day at a time. I don’t want my training to fall apart, but pushing through the pain would be such a huge mistake. I will see how it goes heading into my next week.
Week Four of 2022
This week was all about testing out the knee and letting it rest when I could. I still attempted some runs to see if I could move past it, and by the end of the week, I think I am in the clear to monitor and run on!
I tested it out on Wednesday giving it two days of rest on the treadmill doing a FARTLEK run and it was great! No pain, all running joy.
The next day I dared a road run with some strides at the end and it went well. I ran around a reasonably flat area and ended with strides on the track. I did feel a bit of a niggle then, but it subsided and I skipped icing and just stretched. I went to bed feeling good and happy to be doing a tougher workout after fearing being out for the week or more.
I should have had a rest day or recovery run day… But I met up with a friend and we went for a nice short jaunt in a local park. My knee did bug me here, but the conversation countered it… I swear! It was such a lovely sunny day and we haven’t ran together in so long.. It was so nice to get together to do so.
The next day was a 22km adventure up some trails along a lower mountain area near us, but we had a disastrous run! It was incredibly enjoyable and beautiful, with lots of snow. Unfortunately it was also some very slow going as we in totality ended up with a round trip of ~7.5km in 1:30 of moving time! Total time elapsed was 2:15 or so, so we made the call to just turn back. I wish I had all day to slog through but at that rate it might have actually taken us all of the remaining daylight to make it around the loop.
My knee felt good during all this, less a few twinges that came and went. It seems to be on the mend. I made the call to scratch any long runs the following day and rest. I apparently needed it as I slept quite a greater amount than normal.
Here’s to the next week with a cooperating knee and some fun runs ahead!
Off Trail Running 