Tues (6 miles)

Woke up very tired. Not really legs tired. Just overall exhausted, definitely due to Monday run. Not it shape to run that fast yet.

Ran Tues. in severe storm. Scary lightning swooped in very fast. Wind was horrible.

Knee clicking again. 45MPH winds today so I am just icing and staying inside.

Looking for weight bench but not much luck.

Monday (8 Miles)

Brisk, sunny day. Mopac again. Strongest run I've had in quite a while.

Started off hoping for 8:30 first mile, but legs were ready to go much faster.

7:15 pace for the entire run, with three 7:00 miles.

Left knee tightened a bit after 4 miles but loosened. At the end, the right leg was more of a concern.

An hour later, body is tired, but not overly so.

Lots of ice and stretching tonight. Read today that body weight strength training can be done more than every other day. Great. Ugh.

Friday (10 miles)

Hit Mopac hoping to avoid knee issues. Lots of online info pointing to cambered roads as a cause of knee problems, including runner's knee.

Fast run. Average pace of 7:30, and that was with 8:30 miles going out. Coming back I held steady at about 7:15. That's a comfortable pace but one that would wear me out after 8 or 9 miles, I think.

Woke up Saturday feeling good all around.

Wedding Saturday. Recovery Sunday. Now knee still clicking a bit but still improving by the day. Right leg feels pretty good, too.

Puzzled as to where to take training this week, honestly.

6 miles and strength

Strength first.

Hard going in the wind. Flat route.

Right leg continues to nag a little. Calf tightness comes and goes.

Left knee still weird. Almost like a band of tightness all the way around it, with pressure under the kneecap.

More ice, stretching, rolling, hoping.

With a wedding on Saturday I don't know if I'll get 50+ in this week. Right now doing 15 tomorrow seems iffy.

9 miles

Left knee felt improved but not 100% today. Wasn't sure if I should even attempt a run. But the weather was too nice -- 55 degrees, sunny, no wind.

Started very carefully and yet somehow wound up with an 8:15 overall pace, with multiple sub-8 miles. I wasn't winded at any point and my heart rate never topped 180, which is weird.

Left knee tightened a few times. Stopping and loosening things for a minute makes a big difference. I don't get it.

Right now my right knee is a tad sore. Lots of ice tonight for both.

Mon (8 miles) Tues (strength)

9:00 miles on Monday. Left knee not particularly happy even though I ran very gently.

After three straight days it was time for a break. Just stretching and strength training today. And lots of ice and sitting. Hoping it will feel much better in the morning.

Sat (8 miles) Sun (12 miles)

Both runs went pretty well.

Increasing soreness in both legs after Sunday, including that sore feeling again in the middle of my right calf.

But all in all, hard to believe that I ran more than 50 miles without too much trouble.

Thurs. 19 miles

8:30 pace on a somewhat hilly Ceresco route. I capped my pace at 8:00 miles for the entire run but occasionally dipped below that.

Gorgeous day, muddy roads. At about mile 11 my legs started feeling heavy. That was about the time my knee twinged.

I got very worried that I had already got ahead of myself and overdone things again. But I took a break in Ceresco and stretched a little.

The knee backed off. I did feel it twinge on some uphills, but holding form and going slow kept it from getting worse.

Today (Friday) I do feel fatigued but I don't feel any problems. The next 10 days will be about restoring volume and conditioning, strength training, and avoiding injury.

Sun thru Tues

Sun. 10 miles
Mon. 6
Tues. 8

My leg doesn't hurt at all during the day anymore. Managing some sub-8 miles in the past three days.

I'll spend the next week getting back volume but with slower per-mile pace.

My goal is a long shot at this point so I'll have to start considering another race.

Thurs. 6 miles

On gravel and mud. Started out at 10-minute pace. Leg still feels slightly weird in spots, esp. going up/down hills. Once in a while it hurts downhill if I land just the wrong way.

Surprise of the day...finished with an 8:00 mile on accident. Felt good and the leg wasn't twinging at all.

Today is Friday and there don't seem to be any issues from that speed. Hopeful that this might be the turning point.

Monday

No running.

Leg aches and sometimes hurts going up and down stairs. Doesn't hurt at all now when I roll on it.

Rest and stretching do not seem to be helping. I backed off on the constant icing because that also did not seem to be doing much good.

Friday

Still no running.

I can't get it to hurt with the roller now, which seems like a good sign. But it still aches no matter what I do.

No running this weekend as we'll be on the road.

Yesterday, 3 miles

Walked about half it.

No real pain, just a strange tightness that got worse as I tried to run.

Woke up today and it was somewhat sore as I walked around the house, but when I roll it is the same as it was two days ago.

So, no real difference except that it seems dumb to try and run.