The Moaniness of the Long Distance Runner

actwithoutwords

Tough session today, though again showing improvement.

9 miles in 68:36 at 7:37 min/miles.

Splits:
7.50
7.50
7.55
7.46
7.44
7.39
7.26
7.12
7.11

Was a bit stiff and clunky at the start for some reason, particularly my shins. Wasn't really until mile 3/4 that I started to feel comfortable. I tried to run on feel rather than the watch, keeping up a difficult pace, but a sustainable one. For some reason that got quicker and quicker as the run went on. The last two miles I definitely lost the run of myself a bit, but I was practicing keeping a solid form and focusing on a point in the distance and running to it. It's surprising how much an effect keeping your head still, and not constantly looking at the watch has on speed. I had a fairly relaxed stride for those last two miles, and definitely wasn't killing myself. Could have done another mile or two I reckon at a similar enough pace.

Bit sore afterwards, particularly as I had to immediately launch into making dinner for my brothers who were coming over to visit. So haven't really had a chance to sit down and recover, nor do the full repertoire of stretches, which isn't great. But anyway, very encouraging. 7.37 pace is approaching what's necessary for the sub-100 minute half.

actwithoutwords

Ah crap. Not feeling the best today after too much wine yesterday evening. So laid low for most of the day in anticipation of an aerobic 9 miler. Bloody Garmin ran out of battery after less than a mile. I didn't really know what to do as I wasn't on a route that I would know the measurements of. Decided to run home through the park, got caught out by locked gates twice, and shuffled home after getting rained on. What a waste. 2.5 miles it turns out, at some awful kind of pace. Grr.

actwithoutwords

Got out to do the run I intended to do yesterday. 9 miles out to the Poolbeg Lighthouse and back. Quite nice. Though the surface of the South Bull Wall was very uneven, so I wasn't really able to look up and enjoy the scenery properly.
Felt a bit dead in the legs for some reason, though I was intending to take it easy anyway. 9 miles in 80:01 at 8:53 pace.
Back on course, mileage-wise for the week. Though it wasn't particularly good timing for the Rás UCD tomorrow morning. Not really holding out too much hope for that. I was quite stiff for a long time again today, shins and calves.

Really made the wrong decision last night. Very annoyed with myself for panicking and just going home. Should at least have ran on for a while and made a roughly 4 mile recovery run out of it. A salutory lesson about over-reliance on technology.

In disgusting body-related news, of which there hasn't been any in a while, it looks like I'm going to lose my first toenail to running. I never understood how that happens. But the second toe on my left foot was very sensitive after Tuesday's 9 miles and now appears to have gone a strange colour. That's something to look forward to at least.

Anyway, UCD tomorrow should be fun. Though I'm not holding out too many hopes for a good time after today's run.


EDIT: 300 miles for the year too, which is very pleasing.

actwithoutwords

Woo. 20.17 on my watch for the 5k. Delighted with that. Though obviously would have been nice if they actually had chip timing. Something like 20.25 on the official clock as I finished. I also neglected to turn on the Garmin GPS in time, and couldn't see any Km or mile markers, so no splits which is a pity, as I would be interested to see. Went out waaaaay too fast, despite my plan, which was to do the exact opposite. When I get clogged up by fun runners, my natural inclination is just to bomb it. Started to seriously flag after 2 laps, seriously wheezing, which is a point I never get to in training these days. Managed to hang in there anyway, and knocked off a few places towards the end.

Probably shouldn't have gone at it so hard, but still, very enjoyable to push yourself. Almost 6:30 min/mile pace, which is quite a bit faster than anything I've done in training. Beat my friend with whom I have the 1:40 half, 3:30 marathon challenge as well, which was nice. Though I have done more speed training than he has. He will still have me over 13.1 in Connemara I reckon.

actwithoutwords

12 miles this evening in 1:43:56 at 8.39 m/m.
Was too exhausted this morning for this weeks LSR. Funny how racing 5k can take it out of you more than a 19 mile run. Held off until the evening, when I felt a bit better. Though in the meantime I'd had a large Sunday dinner. Combination of fatigue and fullness led to me feeling quite sluggish at the beginning. Though started to find a rhythm after 6 or 7 miles. Felt grand really by the end, until a very uncomfortable last mile when the post-dinner discomfort reached something of a peak and I put in an 8 minute mile out of necessity rather than design.

Glad to get the LSR done and in or around my now standard long run pace, though very much looking forward to a rest day tomorrow. Hope I'm not overdoing it, but starting to get a bit tired, and the calves/shins continue to be stiff as rocks for the first few miles of every run.

50 mile week including a 20 mile LSR ahead. Eek.

actwithoutwords

Good tempo run again today. Wasn't particularly feeling up for it, and the wind, sleet, rain and snow didn't exactly help, but went quite well in the end.
10 miles in 1:16:19 at 7.37 min/mile. So bang on pace again to break 100 minute half marathon.

Like last week's 9 miles at this pace, it was again a bit raggedy pace-wise. Not much consistency, though a bit of an improvement.

Splits:
8:02
7:45
7:32
7:26
7:41
7:37
7:42
7:36
7:30
7:23

That said, the wind probably had a fair part to play in the lack of rhythm. The fastest I've gone for the longest time, so pretty happy overall. Feeling a bit sore now though. I had to rush back into town after I got home to meet someone, so didn't get much chance to recover.

One thing I've been thinking about in the last few days is how to approach the half in Connemara. The extent to which the 5k tired me reminded me how much racing takes it out of you. Given that Connemara will be sandwiched between two 20 mile LSRs, I can't really afford too much recovery time. On the other hand, once I'm at a race, I really struggle to rein in my tendency to go hard. Particularly given my head to head battle with my friend. After today, if I can do 7.37 pace for 10 miles in training without really killing myself, that would indicate that I could keep up that pace for 13.1 without taking a lump out of my training schedule. Though the hills in Connemara might argue differently. Anyway, very much caught in two minds. I suppose to an extent it depends on how I feel on the day, and trying to be sensible about it.

5 miles recovery tomorrow, and then another 10 on Thursday which I will use for some hill work I think, and maybe strides, which I've never done before. Will leave any intervals until next week.

actwithoutwords

5 miles in 44:35. Very leggy indeed, and was at a pace well above 9 minute miles for much of it. One of those occasions where running slowly was not a problem at all. Felt grand afterwards, didn't take much out of me. But quite tired later on this evening, and surprisingly a bit stiff. Worried that this mileage is taking its toll a bit. Shouldn't be so wrecked after a recovery day. Although this was the first time a recovery run has gone up to 5 miles.
10 tomorrow, 5 on Friday and 20 on Saturday may be a big ask after feeling so tired today. Hmmn.

actwithoutwords

Another 10 miles this evening in some nice sun, out to UCD and some hill reps up and down the Roebuck Road and Mount Anville Road. Found a half-mile stretch of constant uphill so did 2 full repetitions of that, and one quarter-mile at the end, as I wanted to keep the run to 10 miles in total.

10 miles in the end in 1:22:57 at 8:17 m/m. Probably a bit faster than I had intended. Calf was not impressed with the first climb at all, but was fine for the others. Starting to feel my groin though, right leg felt very tired after the hills. I'm somewhat concerned that I'm right at my limit at the moment in terms of how much I'm pushing myself. I may skip the recovery run tomorrow to save myself for the 20 miles on Saturday. At least once I get through that, I will have a mini-taper next week before Connemara. Fingers crossed.

actwithoutwords

Phew, glad to have that over. First ever 20 mile LSR, out to Killiney and back.
Decided to take it a bit slower than usual, so aimed for 9 minute pace instead of 8:45, as I didn't want to push myself past breaking point, and also, these runs are about time on your feet I suppose, so wanted to be out there for 3 hours.

Felt a bit fresher this morning after a day's rest, though the leg still a bit fragile. That bore out when I was running. Generally felt pretty good, but could feel my groin every so often, particularly after the hills around Killiney. Not exactly pain per se, just a bit of discomfort, and a definite feeling that it's not too strong. I'm not running half as confidently as I was a week ago.

Still fairly pleased with it overall. According to the revised Garmin elevation data, did a 100m climb over 2 miles from 8-10, which was good practice for next week. Felt pretty comfortable until about 14 when it started to get a bit tough, and then the last two miles were quite ragged. Everything hurting. Despite my concerns over my leg, strangely the worst thing to happen was to my neck/shoulder. I had stowed away my bottle behind a wall in Dun Laoghaire, and on the way back I went to pick it up, but it had fallen over and rolled a bit so was just out of reach. As I stretched to drag it back my neck, shoulder and arm went into spasm. Unbelievably painful. I got the water, but it took a good half a mile of grimacing and rubbing for my top half to start feeling normal again. It's not too bad now, but we'll see in the morning. That knocked me off my stride a lot, just as fatigue was starting to set in.

Splits:
First 5 miles: 44.34
5-10 miles: 45.58
10-15miles: 44.34
15-20 miles: 44.00

Total: 20 miles in 2:59:13 at 8.57 mins/mile.

Negative split again, which is nice, despite losing a good 20 seconds with the bottle incident. Just noticed those figures don't add up. But having done it twice, I'm presuming it's because every mile is rounded to the nearest second on Garmin Connect.

45 miles this week. Would like to get to 50, so will hopefully do a very gentle 5 mile recovery tomorrow. The plan was to do one VO2 max session on Tuesday as the only hard session for the next week, but that's entirely dependent on how confident I feel in my leg. So really not sure about that one now. Hopefully a few days of rest will get it back to normal. 360 miles for the year also gets me, albeit briefly, into the top 40 of the 100 mile challenge. Though presumably as others are in taper mode for their spring marathons, or have already done them, whereas I am at peak mileage at the moment.

actwithoutwords

Whee. And there's my first ever 50 mile week.
5 miles in almost 50 minutes. Sloooooow, but gentle and energising. Felt grand. I definitely have a tender point on my groin, really hope that doesn't flare up. Intervals at 5k pace probably not a good idea then. Might have to just stick to gentle aerobic runs this week. It is a recovery/mini taper week after all. 1 week to Connemara now. Booked train yesterday, really looking forward to it. The craic was mighty last year.

actwithoutwords

Quite depressed about this groin injury to be honest. I had been absolutely loving being able to run freely and confidently for the last couple of months. So it's pretty dispiriting to be back into this crap again. Can't put my finger on when it happened, there was no one tear that I can remember. Just it coming on slowly during last week. The area is really quite tender at the moment. There isn't a lot of damage done, but it's enough to make me worried about making it worse.
Should probably be ok for a slow run tomorrow (it's only really actually hurt me when running up hills and when under serious strain). But don't really know after that, specifically whether I could/should push the pace in Connemara on Sunday.

Oh also, new shoes today. Or rather, another pair of Asics Nimbus. The gait analyser in Elvery's reckoned I'm a slight supinator, as opposed to a slight pronator which I was in September. Maybe I should pay the extra few quid to Runways at some point...

actwithoutwords

5 miles slow this evening to test out the leg. Felt very clunky altogether, but no pain while running anyway. Didn't feel particularly good though, after 2 days rest should definitely have had a bit more spring in the step. Glad I got through it anyway. Will probably do another 5/6 miler tomorrow and again on Friday, and maybe by Friday I might test out a higher pace. Still gutted to reach the peak of training only for the body to fall apart again. I thought I had built mileage much more steadily and approached pace much more sensibly this time. Anyway, enough feeling sorry for myself, the injury is not half as bad as September, and fingers crossed won't have the same effect on my training.

5 miles in 44:12 at 8:50 min/mile

actwithoutwords

Horrible waste of a day, but running worked its usual magic and I didn't feel quite so bad afterwards. Not exactly a classic performance though. 6 aerobic miles, of which the first 4 felt pretty awful. Clunky and sore all over, and a moderate pace requiring much more effort than it should. No pain at the exact point of the injury at least, but the groins on both legs didn't feel good at all. Loosened up over the last 2 miles, and started to feel solid at least. Raised the pace a bit as well without too many consequences.

6 miles in 51.34 at 8:35 m/m

actwithoutwords

Another slow 6 yesterday evening. Definitely more solid, but still a bit of a chore. I can mostly only feel the injury when I'm cycling, which is possibly an indication of how I got it (?)
Anyway, off to Clifden now. Should be a good weekend.

6 miles in 53:33 at 8:55 m/m

ronanmac

Good luck tomorrow, actwithoutwords. Any lingering injury will disappear once the race starts and the buzz kicks in! Hope it goes well for you, your log suggests it will!

actwithoutwords

Phew.
Got back from the Wesht yesterday evening. Fairly exhausted after the race (and the ensuing revelries). Not too bad today, though still a bit of stiffness.

Anyway, short story: injury got worse before it got better; was limping on Saturday, but a huge improvement on Sunday morning, ended up racing it after a gentle start. PB in 1:40:58 on my watch. Gun time of 1:41:11. Disappointed to miss out on 1:40, but very pleased I was able to race it.

Longer story:
I was seriously considering dropping out on Saturday. It was sore to walk, which hadn't happened before, so I really didn't think running a half marathon would be too good an idea. It settled down as the day went on, but I was still limping a bit in Clifden in the afternoon. My friend was a bit disappointed that our battle wasn't going to happen, but I felt good enough by the end of the day that I reckoned I could jog it at least.

Woke up to a big improvement on Sunday morning. The area was much less painful to touch, and there was none of the pain of the day before. Decided just to run it on feel as to how comfortable I felt. Gorgeous day in Leenaun, the scenery was looking absolutely amazing. Started off a lot closer to the front than last year, which worked out very well. I had to negotiate my way around a couple of banks of girls, but otherwise was around people of a similar pace after only 500 yards, as opposed to 2 miles last year. Deliberately didn't look at my watch until the mile marker to see that I had done it in roughly 8:30. Felt fairly good, though I did think I had been going a bit faster. Resigned myself to a sub 2 hour effort. But then slowly upped the pace to test out what kind of pace I could live with. Did the second mile in under 8 minutes, and then the third in a crazy 7:05. By that point I realised I could probably have a go at racing it as long as I was careful. 1:40 was out of the equation after the slow start, but I could still beat my 1:43:30 time from the year before.

Got more and more comfortable as the middle section went on, with splits ranging from 7:20 to 7:50, depending on the hilliness of the mile and found myself gradually moving through the field, focusing on one guy in a blue shirt in particular to pace me, who I gradually reeled in. Spotted my friend, who had streaked off at the start, and pulled up behind him after 7 miles. That was great, and not something I had expected at all. He burned himself out with such a quick start, and couldn't stay with me. Felt particularly good from 6 to 9, really felt the benefit of all that mileage. Suddenly, I was on time for breaking 1:40.

Unfortunately, that all unravelled on the Hell of the West. I actually neglected to look at the course profile this year, and misremembered that it ran from 10-12 miles, whereas it's actually 9 to 11. Thinking that I was only half way up and absolutely dying I got a bit demoralised, and possibly could have pushed harder had I known. Suddenly I was at the top and spectators were saying it was all downhill, which was an unbelievable relief. The two miles of hill produced splits of 8:20 and 8:26.

Having felt completely out of it on the hill, as soon as I hit downhill I felt really strong again and pulled out splits of 7:19 and 7:15 for the last two full miles. The damage had been done on the hill though, and I knew I wasn't going to do it. If I hadn't been in the middle of marathon training, I could have gone for it more over the last few miles, but that would have been ill advised. Given the slow start, the injury, and the conditions I was delighted with 1:40:58 really. Sub 1:40 is definitely there for the taking on another day, which is encouraging at least...

Anyway, a very enjoyable weekend. A bit stiffer than I would like in the aftermath, but should recover fairly soon. Groin feels mostly ok, though there's a bit of discomfort in my right knee. Decided two days rest would be for the best, so will do a recovery 5 miles tomorrow, and then see how the rest of the week pans out. I don't think I'll make the 50 miles, but should hopefully get in my second 20 mile LSR on Sunday. Feeling more confident now after being pretty down in the dumps all last week.

actwithoutwords

First post-Connemara run today. Still not feeling the greatest. Mainly a point on the inside of my knee close to where the groin tendon problem was last week. Didn't feel right when I started running at all, but got better as I loosened up. So hopefully that's a good sign. Lovely evening though, and saw one fellow shuffler in a Connemara 2010 shirt on Sandymount Strand.

5 recovery miles in 44:38 at 8.55 pace.

ronanmac

Well done, actwithoutwords, on Connemara. So near, yet so far on a sub 1:40 but as you say, it's definitely there for the taking. Glad to see the injury stayed away for the day, hope it stays like that...

actwithoutwords

ronanmac wrote: »

Well done, actwithoutwords, on Connemara. So near, yet so far on a sub 1:40 but as you say, it's definitely there for the taking. Glad to see the injury stayed away for the day, hope it stays like that...

Thanks a lot. I must do some research on a summer half to keep me in shape post-Edinburgh, preferably nice and flat...

Anyway, out again this afternoon. 10 miles in 1:22:21 at 8.14 min/mile.
Great to get back to doing a decent distance at a decent pace in training, have done a lot of recovery pace miles in the last couple of weeks. Went out to do an aerobic 10, but upped the pace a bit in the middle as I was feeling quite good. Knee felt much better than yesterday, though after a couple of sub 8 min miles in the middle it complained slightly, so I pedalled back a bit. Enjoyable run nonetheless, nice to get back into 'proper' training after treading water pre and post Connemara. Hopefully knee doesn't react too much, with a 20 miler on Sunday. A 10 and a 5 tomorrow and Saturday may be too much I think, not sure what's best. I don't want to exhaust myself.

Anyway, now that agonising over whether to race Connemara is over the next thing dominating my mind is my goal pace for Edinburgh. The interim plan was to go for 3:45, but I think if training continues to go well I can do quite a bit better than that. McMillan says crazy things based on my 20.19 5k time, but on the basis of Connemara it says 3:32. Given that it was a hilly course and on a day when I moderated my pace at various points due to injury, it does make me wonder whether I should have a shot at 3:30 this time around. I tend to be quite greedy, but am very nervous of a repeat of DCM 09 where I blew up due to doing the first 15 miles too fast. That said, I (fingers crossed) will be ten times better prepared this time around. I think maybe the best way to do it would be to incorporate 8 minute miles as PMP into my training for the next few weeks and see how that goes. 3:35/3:40 might be more sensible though.

actwithoutwords

Weeks To Race|LSR|Others|Total miles
18|10 miles||27.4
17|11 miles|6 miles tempo|20.4
16|12 miles|6 miles tempo|30.5
15|10 miles|3 miles tempo|24.4
14|14 miles||23.4
13|16 miles|3 miles at 5k race pace|30
12|8 miles|trip to England|12
11|17 miles|3 miles at 5k race pace|37.1
10|19 miles|8 miles tempo, 5x800m intervals|43.5
9|12 miles|9 miles tempo, 5k race|39.6
8|20 miles|10 miles tempo|50
7|13.1 miles|Half-marathon race|30.2


Right, just experimenting with a table to summarise my training (Yes, I may be bored.)
For a lot of the early weeks I didn't feel strong enough to push the pace too much, plus naturally tempo pace now is lower than January. I've left out PMP miles as I'm not wholly sure what that is now, but a decent proportion of the midweek miles have been in or around PMP, and some of the LSRs included sections at the PMP of the time.

actwithoutwords

5 miles at potentially PMP this evening. 5 miles in 39.43.

Awful awful waste of a day. Getting out on a nice evening in a fresh breeze was really very nice. Felt pretty good. Knee occasionally giving a bit of discomfort, but no pain, and it soon goes away again. Will do a gentle recovery session tomorrow before the LSR on Sunday. Hopefully the weather keeps up for the weekend.

actwithoutwords

5 miles recovery in 45.18 at 9.03 m/m

Lovely run along Sandymount Strand on the sand in gorgeous sunshine. Beach starting to get busy now. Forgot that sand takes it out of you a bit. Probably expended more effort than I would have liked, but ah well. Starting to get slightly worried about the knee, the odd feeling has travelled from the inside out to the front now. Have been very lucky to never really have any knee problems in training before, so not entirely sure how to deal with this. Twenty miles tomorrow will certainly test it, but I'll have to keep the pace in check, though I really need to re-introduce PMP miles into my LSRs.

actwithoutwords

Bam. 20 mile LSR number 2. Only one monster to go.
Today wasn't too bad actually, felt pretty good for most of it. Knee occasionally gave some jip, but again no pain, and nothing sustained. Could have done without the hills around Killiney at half way, but will toughen me up anyway...

Kept up 9 minute mile pace for most of it, and then attempted to bang out 4 miles at PMP at the end. Didn't go quite to plan. Miles 14-16 unfortunately dropped to 9.15/9.20 pace as I was conserving some energy for the final push, and the last 4 miles took 32.12, so a bit over the target. Strange how the mind works, I probably felt more tired during 14-16 when I was slowing down, than 17-20 when I put the boot down. It's incredible how much of the running game is mental, if you let go of the bit between your teeth fatigue is very quick to set in.

All in all 20 miles in 2:56:57 at an average of 8:50 mins/mile.
Out in 1:29:54:, back in 1:27:03.
Pace was quite uneven. During the first 13 there were some 9:20s and some 8:30s, which wasn't really ideal, but at least partly due to the seriously hilly Dalkey/Killiney coast.

Was very glad of the cloud cover I have to say. Would have been quite difficult if the sun had been out, particularly water-wise. Didn't really enjoy carrying an almost full litre bottle for the first 7 miles, but I needed it. Maybe I should think about getting a belt for the summer. Carrying a heavy bottle like that doesn't do my running form any good at all, though I don't particularly fancy the idea of a belt either.

Anyway, a very enjoyable run overall, the only disappointment was drifting off the 9 minute pace towards the end. Very enjoyable time listening to the very funny Seven Second Delay for the first half, and the bloody excellent new LCD Soundsystem album on the way home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLPeQ9U_f-0

actwithoutwords

Forgot to update this yesterday.

Weeks To Race|LSR|Others|Total miles
18|10 miles||27.4
17|11 miles|3.5 miles tempo|20.4
16|12 miles|4 miles tempo|30.5
15|10 miles|3 miles tempo|24.4
14|14 miles||23.4
13|16 miles|3 miles at 5k race pace|30
12|8 miles|[trip to England]|12
11|17 miles|3 miles at 5k race pace|37.1
10|19 miles|8 miles tempo, 5x800m intervals|43.5
9|12 miles|9 miles tempo, 5k race|39.6
8|20 miles|10 miles tempo, hill reps|50
7|13.1 miles|Half-marathon race|30.2
6|20 miles|5 miles PMP, 4 miles of LSR at PMP|45


The focus now I think is probably on miles at 8 min pace. With a step-back week in advance of the last 20 mile LSR, I was thinking I might have a go this weekend at the tergat 5,4,3,2,1 session that people mention a lot here. Sounds like a good challenge, and would give me a good idea how sustainable that pace is.

pgmcpq

Great performance in Connemara - a Connemara time is a better time in "the real (flat earth!) world".

On the water bottle issue. I carry one small bottle from a running belt that I clip to my shorts (make sure it does not chafe!). Once you get used to the feeling you start to forget about it. It's a compromise between carrying a bottle and a full belt.

actwithoutwords

5 miles recovery in 46.22

Pretty nondescript gentle run. Feel fine, apart from the knee continuing to feel... weird. It's almost worse when I run slowly than when I run fast. Tingly sensation just below the kneecap. I think I should possibly have it seen to. No real conception of how knee injuries work though, so it could be nothing, or it could be something potentially bad. It's a bit annoying either way.

actwithoutwords

Noooooooooooooooooooooo.
Knee didn't feel great at all yesterday do I didn't go out. Booked into Sports Med Ireland this morning. From what she could tell it's an overuse cartilage injury. I have to stop running for 6 days at least, and do core exercises to strengthen up surrounding muscles. Best case scenario the inflammation settles down with rest and the core work prevents it reoccurring. Worst case scenario the degeneration of the cartilage/meniscus is such that I might have to give up running.

She said not to worry yet, as it's not long since the injury came on, but with an emphasis on yet. There was talk of MRIs if the symptoms don't go away and the phrase 'career ending' was used. I didn't know whether to laugh at the idea of having a running career in the first place, or cry.

Anyway, profoundly depressing. Was so close to getting to the end of the marathon training programme without any significant interruptions and finally doing myself justice. And now suddenly I'm faced with a potentially serious problem. Hadn't mentioned it here yet as I haven't received a confirmation, but sent STI a deposit for the New York Marathon last week. Oh dear.

Just have to plug away with this strengthening for the week, start swimming again and hope.

ronanmac

actwithoutwords wrote: »

Noooooooooooooooooooooo.
Knee didn't feel great at all yesterday do I didn't go out. Booked into Sports Med Ireland this morning. From what she could tell it's an overuse cartilage injury. I have to stop running for 6 days at least, and do core exercises to strengthen up surrounding muscles. Best case scenario the inflammation settles down with rest and the core work prevents it reoccurring. Worst case scenario the degeneration of the cartilage/meniscus is such that I might have to give up running.

She said not to worry yet, as it's not long since the injury came on, but with an emphasis on yet. There was talk of MRIs if the symptoms don't go away and the phrase 'career ending' was used. I didn't know whether to laugh at the idea of having a running career in the first place, or cry.

Anyway, profoundly depressing. Was so close to getting to the end of the marathon training programme without any significant interruptions and finally doing myself justice. And now suddenly I'm faced with a potentially serious problem. Hadn't mentioned it here yet as I haven't received a confirmation, but sent STI a deposit for the New York Marathon last week. Oh dear.

Just have to plug away with this strengthening for the week, start swimming again and hope.

Horrible, horrible news. Let's hope for the best case scenario! I guess it's best to follow the advice and take it handy for a few days and see how it develops. Best of luck with it....

plodder

Sorry to read about your knee problem. With a bit of luck, you've caught it early enough though!

actwithoutwords

50 lengths of the pool this afternoon. First time I've swam in over a year, so my stroke was all over the place, but I was just glad to get out. Have been bouncing off the walls for the last few days. Didn't ever really swim fast enough to properly tire myself out, though the fact I did 50 lengths without ever feeling like stopping was pleasing. Even when I was swimming loads I would always take a break at least once.

Managed to get a float belt thing and tried some aqua jogging afterwards for about 15 minutes. I didn't really know what I was doing, and may have overdone it slightly as my knee was a bit stiff afterwards.

It's been a pretty frustrating few days, it's really hard to discern any progress with the injury, as the discomfort is fairly amorphous and intermittent. Have been struggling with the exercises though, finding them quite difficult and really not sure I'm doing some of them correctly. Hopefully they will get easier as I strengthen up a bit. Anyway, thanks very much for the kind words. Fingers crossed indeed.