Tuesday, May 24th 2011: Muscles started easing up and I didn't walk like Frankenstein quite as much.
Wednesday, May 25th 2011: I gave in and went to see the sports medicine doc about my knees. The good news: he didn't even remotely try to talk me out of running the Utah Valley Marathon in two weeks! It's weird - the pain is right on my knee caps. Kind of like if you fell and bruised your knees, although more sore when I run. He didn't think it was runner's knee or jumper's knee so I'll continue to keep an eye on things.
Thursday, May 26th 2011: 16.3 mile bike ride in 1 hour & 4 minutes (15.3 mph average). I rode with friends Shelly, Logan, Tom, and Darin. Even though I usually prefer running or riding by myself, I had fun on this ride.
Friday, May 27th 2011: 1 hour walk to loosen up the legs. I also did a fun 8 mile ride with Mel that night. Can I tell you why I get antsy when I'm not running as much? It bugs me because I know my body is capable of doing more. My miles certainly weren't fast, but I built up some pretty good endurance.
Back when I was younger (younger = 2 months ago) I ran 206 miles in a month. 206 miles! I'd go run a half marathon before work. I did a 34 mile training run. And I really loved the challenge. I'm looking forward to continued improvement so I can get back to that time when I felt so good.
Saturday, May 28th 2011: 3 miles in about 36 minutes. (I'm still in my anti-Garmin phase.) I told Mel I needed to find some dirt to run on, and convinced her to come on a section of the JEM trail with me.
I was wearing my Utah Valley Marathon shirt and my youngest daughter Kylee came up and started sounding out what the shirt said. Then she got to the part that said "Pain You Enjoy".
She got the most puzzled, confused look on her face. You'd have thought I told her my name was Celine Dion and I made really crappy music for my occupation. She said "Pain you enjoy? Like having a baby?" I said "Well, yea, I guess it's kind of like that." She was dumbfounded.
Even though it was in inferno outside we still had a blast on our run. The muscle soreness from the marathon last week is gone and this was one of the best runs I've had in a few months. And.....I'm happy to report that after about 10 tries, we finally got THIS!
"There are few experiences in life in which my physical and psychological abilities are as sharply defined as they are during marathon training and racing...The training and racing experiences have shown me sides of myself that I never knew existed. I've found perseverance, an ability to focus, stubbornness, compulsiveness, bravery, organization, a sense of humor, and a capacity for unbridled joy."
~ Gordon Bakoulis Bloch, How to Train for and Run Your Best Marathon
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34 mile training run! Dang that's awesome!! Enjoy your recovery:)
ReplyDeleteRun Happy,
AL
206 miles in a month! Crazy good. I wanna do that! Hey, I'm not sure if I'm capable of that.
ReplyDeleteGood thing the knees are holding up. Maybe just needed some R & R??
haha! love your daughter's response!
ReplyDeleteglad you are recovering well from ogden! I am running UV and cannot wait!
Two marathons in less than three weeks? Crazy!!
ReplyDeleteGet some rest!!
It is nice to meet you. Thanks for stopping by my BFF post.
I have to go run now, you made me feel slackerish!!
LOL at your daughter. Kids are so literal. This afternoon Greg was saying something about how he had to hold his tounge about something someone said at church today... and the 5 year old looked at him and grabbed her and tounge and said... "like this dad?"
ReplyDeleteSomeday I will run 204 miles in one month. May had been my smallest month this year, and I am feeling so weird about that. I know it's because I have literally been in either taper or recover mode, but June is going to be a good one for me. ;)
How do you jump so high? Or do you have computer tricks to make it look as though you are flying. Just curious.
Yeah, you're getting soooo old, gonna have to back off those 200+ mile months now!! ;)
ReplyDeleteLOVE that quote, I may have to steal it - thanks!!
Keep on with the improvement!!!
No computer tricks to get higher - the key is to lift your legs during the jump to give more air.
ReplyDeleteHoly cow 206 miles? You are a machine.
ReplyDeletewow, 206 miles in a month is awesome. I think the most I've ever run in a month is like 135-140 or something, with the highest weekly mileage being 40, haha
ReplyDeleteAnd a 34 mile training run? Also amazing, haha
Be careful with your knee, I'm surprised that the doctor didn't diagnose you as having runners knee or something. Pain in the kneecap is exactly where I generally feel pain right now and I was diagnosed with runners knee (my pain might be a little bit below the kneecap). Though if the doctor didn't diagnose you as having runners knee, then you must not have it. Seems to me that rest will help you out the most.
Though I'm not sure if running a marathon in 2 weeks is the best idea for your knees. Maybe do a 13 mile run and see if you have any pain, and if you don't maybe do the marathon? Otherwise maybe I would probably not do the race.
A quick google search on kneecap pain (patella):
http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/patelladisorders/a/kneecap.htm
good luck!
Very inspirational..
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