Monday, August 20, 2007

Still Making Progress

What an incredibly busy weekend!! Saturday morning started at 5:30am and just as soon as my feet hit the floor I quickly dressed and finished loading my car with all the needed supplies for my long run. I seriously feel as if I am packing for a trip.

List of supplies taken:
1 – 33oz bottle of Smart Water
2 – 20oz. bottles of water
2 – 20oz. bottles of Gatorade
1 – Granola snack bar
1 – Zip lock bag of peanut butter and pretzel snacks
1 - Zip lock bag of sliced water melon
Clean Shirt
Crocs
Water Cooler
Bag of Ice

I am sure that I am missing something and the list could go on. Managed to forget my new Tiger Tail Stick for the second week!!

Anyway, the trails were great and the weather was hot but bearable. At the same 10ish mile point it is like a snap of the finger and the knee pain arrives. Very strange! I had run totally pain-free until this point. A quick stop to stretch and my goal changed to just getting to the car to figure out what I was going to do to continue. After some more stretching I headed back out to get in as much as possible. The pain was bearable and only came in waves. As strange as that sounds I can tell that it is getting better. Just a very slow process. In the end I managed 17 miles and knew that I had pushed it as far as I wanted to. I was happy and the long run was over.

On Sunday I ran 6 of the scheduled 10 miles on the treadmill. Although I felt it in the knee the entire time I likely possibly could have continued to finish the entire 10 miles. To be honest I was just tired and wiped out.

Total miles this week: 42
Motion miles on Elliptical this week: 5 miles

Robin

15 comments:

Wes said...

That's probably about how long it takes to get your muscles to the "over used" state... Hmmmm. Glad its getting more bearable, a little bit better every day, eh? You are one organized gal! I had to create a spreadsheet for all my tri stuff I need before races :-)

Scott said...

I am really glad to hear that your runs are getting alot better and the pain is dimishing slightly each and every run.

This weekend - for the trail running - we will remember the Tiger Tail...

love you....

Marcy said...

LOL Wes!! I know it! I need some organization in my life, come on over!!

I'm glad that the knee pain is on the mend :-) I know how frustrating it is :P

OMG 5 miles on the elliptical. Ugghhhh I can't imagine. The things we do to keep running, eh? LOL

zanne said...

you take dedication to new levels. 6 miles on the treadmill? good god - i'd rather stick bamboo shoots under my fingernails. way to go!

J~Mom said...

I am glad it is feeling a little better!!! 17 miles is awesome!!!

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

Patience my Tiger Tail Buddy Patience and a lot of rolling ;-)

when I was recovering from my knee issue I would hit the pain around 8-10 miles but still was able to continue knowing it was just my wimpy quad causing my knee pain and wasn't anything major...those knots will be gone soon!!

Good job on ur miles!

Lori said...

17 miles is great! I am so glad your runs are getting better and the pain is getting less. I am amazed at the 5 miles on the elliptical, too!

Phil said...

Do you remember the care-free days when you just walked out your door and ran?

Congratus on your 17 miles of pain free running. And congratulations on your toe-touching stretch. The only way I can touch my toes is to remove my feet.

Scott McMurtrey said...

i'm trying to find info on who the knee gods are so i can pray to them. or offer sacrifices. i'll let you know if i make contact with him/her/them. if you make contact with the knee gods first please let me know. :)

Unknown said...

I agree with Wes and Bob. It sounds like it has more to do with the muscle "running out of gas" than with any structural problem. If you keep massaging the muscle and do some strength training, I'm sure you will have it licked.

Great job with the run!

Stephanie said...

Your pain sounds excatly what I had going on with my calf. It always came in waves and then one day it just disappeared.

Great 17 miler:-)

Larissa said...

Yowza, lady - you put in the big miles. Recovering from injury is never fun - you long for the days when it was simple - when the only thing you worried about was getting tired or what kind of pace you could maintain. Sounds like you're on the right track to healing - may your recovery be as speedy as you are.

Jason The Running Man said...

Great job on the 17 miler. Hope the knee pain goes away. I haven't been able to hit the gym since before my vacation but plan on getting there in the next week or two more consistently.

David said...

You did look super excited at the race, and I'm glad you are getting a lot of success. That's one heck of a list of supplies, though. I guess it's better to have too much than too little, though.

Thanks again for coming out to cheer on Mendy last Sunday. You guys are awesome!!

Mendy said...

Wow! 6 miles on the tm. That's a lot. I've done it before, but hated it. Like you said, it's all mental. Great job!