Pant, gasp...

Run - 6.4km total
10min walk warmup
2 x 2.5km (00:06:20 pace) with 200m walking recovery
1 x 1km (00:06:00 pace)
10min walk cooldown

6.4km! Four long, long months ago, 6.4km would have been nothing more than a tiny blip in my weekly mileage. Now however, the excitement of actually having gone as far as 6.4km is eclipsed only by the fact that I did a grand total of 18km last week. The joy, the rapture! It is so worth the stabs of pain that radiate from my quads with every thud of my foot on the ground. It is so worth the burning in my chest and the rasping sound of my own breathing heavy in my ears. And most of all, its worth the occasional twinges of pain from my knee, even though I still gasp in fear each time I feel one.

All in all, my knee has been quite well behaved through all of this "return to running" business. It has its moments of course, and plenty of times that, while it doesn't actually hurt, it just doesn't feel 100%. But I'm playing by the rules, doing my stretches and taking things fairlyly slowly, so I guess all I can do is keep on hoping, and keep on running!

Just a quickie!

Run - 5km total
10min walk warmup
4 x 1km (00:06:25 pace) with 200m walking recovery
5min walk cooldown

Its late, I'm tired, so this will be a short update.

This was one of those runs I probably shouldn't have done, but my pig-headedness asserted itself and I did it anyway. My knee had felt a bit iffy all day so I was a little wary of running on it, but things turned out ok. Actually, I felt great afterwards. Instead of heading down to the river as I usually would I decided to stick close to home, and did a few laps around the local streets. Nice for a change.

"On the road again... "

"... Just can't wait to get on the road again..."

Run - 10min walk warmup
4 x 1km (00:06:30 pace) with 200m walking recovery
10min walk cooldown

And she's back.

Now that I'm feeling like I'm training properly again, this blog can be more about running and less me whingeing about not being able to run! So, while these reports will in no way compare to the speeds and distances I was doing pre-Gold Coast, they're still better than nothing. Gotta start somewhere eh?

Not even dreary weather and drizzling rain could have kept me from hitting the road this morning. In fact, I think I'm glad of the unfriendly weather because it kept the majority of people indoors and left me with the river path all to myself. No one to leave me feeling like a plodding, slow-moving sloth as they cruise past me with gazelle-like grace. No one to hear my somewhat tortured breathing as I struggle to make my legs go forwards when all they want to do is stop and have a rest. No one to see me pulling what I'm sure are amusing grimaces and assorted other facial expressions as I sternly berate myself for being a wimp and wanting to turn around and go home. Nope, it was just me, the puddles, and the steady plop of rain on the brim of my cap. And it was great.

I'd love to say I cruised, but in truth it was a struggle. My heart-rate skyrocketed, my quads were burning, and that niggly voice in the back of my mind kept saying "Come on, that's enough for today, you're going to hurt your knee again". My stubborn pig-headedness won out however, and I finished the total of 5k feeling on top of the world. That's the longest distance I've covered since Gold Coast. Now all I have to do is keep up the momentum and I'll be back up and ready to race again!

Do not pass go, do not collect $200...

Yes, it does feel a little like I'm back to square one... My first "run" since the Gold Coast Half Marathon was an exercise in humility, as someone that thinks of themselves as a "runner" was reduced to the position of "runner-wannabe". I panted and staggered my way through my 5 x 30second intervals at a speed barely above walking pace, gasping like a fish that had flipped out of its tank and feeling like my legs were made from reinforced concrete. Nothing could have stopped the exhilaration though, the unadulterated excitement at being able to RUN! And it got better from there.

I've done a few more sessions since then, and each one has improved upon the last. Friday I did 3 x 800m repeats with 1-2min walking recovery, and last night I did 4 x 800m repeats. Its probably a little above what I should be doing, but as long as my knee isn't hurting I don't see the harm. I'm back to see the physio on Wednesday so if he yells at me I'll just accept it as justified and do my best to stick to whatever program he gives me. My stubborn and pig-headed side is very hard to subdue though! Especially since someone mentioned to me a marathon/half-marathon in January that, can you believe it, starts and finishes at the Cadbury Chocolate Factory in Tasmania! That race must have been made for me! Could I be ready for another half-marathon in 13 weeks? I really don't know, either fitness-wise or knee-wise, so I guess I'll casually mention it to the physio on Wednesday and see what his reaction is.

Meanwhile, I got some runnin' to do!

Finally, a positive update!

Yes, please don't die of shock or anything, but I've actually got good news to report for once!

I've spend the last two weeks walking like a gumby, and while my legs and glutes have been screaming in protest at this horrible mistreatment, it has paid off. The excessive load has been taken off my knee, which has broken the pain cycle, and during the past week I've been mostly pain-free. I've still had the odd twinge, but where one twinge used to mean I'd spend the rest of the day whimpering and dragging my leg behind me Quasiomodo-style, now it means I limp for a few minutes and then it subsides.

I've also spent the last two weeks doing some horribly uncomfortable neural stretches that make me feel nauseous as I'm doing them, but take any knee twinges away instantly. If you have ever felt a nerve being stretched, you might know what I'm talking about. Not everyone gets it, but y'know that sharp burning and pulling feeling you get behind your knees during a hamstring stretch? That's nerve stretching, and its possibly one of the reasons my knee hasn't improved properly, because I've got a lot of neural tightness down that leg. Either way, like them or not, the neural stretches help so I'll keep on doing them. I do look a bit of a nutcase lying on the ground with my leg in the air, but hey, I've kind of gotten used to the strange looks I get from people when I'm doing those sorts of things at uni. I mean, c'mon, they're IT students... Their only concept of a physical human body is as an inlet for pizza and an outlet for communication with the computer. The thought of using their body for *gasp* running would be an incredibly alien concept to them! But I digress...

Anyway, I'm allowed to work some running in this week. Sort of. Walk for 10mins, do 5 x 30sec run with 1min walking recovery, then walk for the remainder of 30-40mins. Not much, but its a start. I'm alternating between uncontrollable excitement at being able to run, and abject terror at the thought of blowing my knee up again! Guess I just have to get out there and try. Fingers crossed for me everyone!