Ouch!

Yesterday, my kneecap jumped out of place. I was out for run on the Appalachian Trail north of Bear's Den. I had just completed a big stretch of uphills when I finally got a good descent. My right foot planted firmly on a rock, my leg collapsed, and I did a somersault onto the ground. I laid on my left side clutching my right knee with my hands. It was a familiar pain--I felt it thirteen years ago in gym class when my kneecap jumped out and back into its track...then again the following spring in a varsity soccer match when my knee fully dislocated. Which one was it this time? When I removed my hands for a look, the kneecap was in the right place. Phew. Then a cold sweat and a bit of dizziness swept over my body. Not good, I thought. Then my composure came back. All this happened in less than a minute.

I sat up and thought through my options. I could wait for someone--maybe those guys I passed five or ten minutes ago. I could call for help on my cell phone. Or I could try standing up and walking back. I looked at my GPS and saw I had covered a little over two miles. That seemed like a long way to limp, much of it over rocky footing. When I stood up, I didn't feel any excruciating pain, but I couldn't do much with my right leg without feeling my knee telling me to stop. My biggest concern at this point was doing something stupid and fully dislocating my knee. I started the long limp back. I found a perfect hiking stick and not long after found a pretty efficient technique of striding mostly with my left leg and then lifting my right leg until it caught up. I was careful to not push off my right leg. Over an hour later, I was standing back at my car smiling--it was, after all, a beautiful spring morning with sunny blue skies.

I simply forgot that I had a bum knee. So much time has passed since I had a problem. I was always careful to wear a knee brace when playing soccer, skiing, or any other activity that involved aggressive lateral movements. Most of my trail running was on even footing and didn't require a ton of weaving around the trail or scrambling over rock fields. So I just didn't think this one through enough. Looking back, this was exactly the kind of activity I should have protected my knee against. I didn't and I paid the price. What's a real shame is I've been getting into really good shape lately. My body has responded well to the upswing in training--I wasn't feeling any real aches or pains. That's why I thought I'd up the ante a little and hit the trail. I'm not sure about the 10k at this point. I don't want to run it just to run it. At any rate, I'm not making any running plans until I see the orthopedist this week.

10k Training: Weeks 1-2

Week 1 was an unofficial start to my 10k training--little more than base miles. Week 2 officially kicked off my training in earnest. The major difference was a uptake in speed training with a little hill work, speed work, and strides. I didn't take it easy, but I kept mindful about how my body was reacting to the increased load. So far so good. My legs felt a little sore at night, but the next day my legs loosened up after walking around the office. I enjoy the feeling of running faster. Over the last month, I've felt a lot more comfortable at faster paces than where I spent a lot of my marathon training. I'm starting to think that I picked a training pace that was too slow for me. I also love the fact that it takes me less time to finish my workouts and leaves more time for a cooldown and stretching.

The next week will give me a lot more information. If I can keep up the training, I think I have a good chance of meeting my goal. If not, I'll simply re-evaluate my goal. At any rate, it feels really good to be in training again.

Today's Inspiration

"I always loved running... it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
--Jesse Owens

Race Announcement

I decided to finally run the SunTrust 10K in Winchester, VA on May 5th. I went to high school in Winchester and since I started running again in 2002, I've wanted to run this race but found a reason to chicken out every year. The race is part of the larger Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival. If you've never been, I recommend it. If you think you'll be there, let me know, maybe we can meet up (see my contact information to the right).
Since I have a pretty decent running base right now, I decided to take a somewhat aggressive training plan. My goal is to keep a 7:00 pace, which would cut nearly five minutes off my PR down to 43:30. I think this is doable given the simple fact I've never trained for speed in a 10k. My body feels primed to run faster, so I hope everything holds together over the next month.

March Running Summary

March got off to a rough start. I was more in the mood to sit in the local coffee shop and read books than get outside for a run. But March is "in like a lion, out like a lamb" and transformations are possible. I finished the month strong and plan on continuing the trend into April. My current goal is to drop my 10-mile time considerably (I still need to work out an specific time goal). I also want to just run faster in general, something I know I can do but I never focused on. With the nicer weather and Daylight Savings Time in effect, it will be easier for me to get outside on the trails near my office. I'm also ready to leave the gym and damned treadmill behind for a while.

You may also notice a slight change in the format of my training log. I worked hard on revamping some Excel spreadsheet logs other people posted on the internet. Then I loaded the result to Google spreadsheets to make it easier to share on this blog. Let me know if you can't see table below.