Tempo Thursday

I know, I know - last week I said I was going to take a break from running.  And I did.  When I wrote that post I had every intention of not running until I was completely pain free.  The little break did make my knee feel a lot better.  And so I decided to try a run again on Monday and it went really well.  I guess I can be kind of dramatic sometimes.

At my ART appointment on Tuesday, I brought up the subject of running back to back days.  Last time I tried it at Thanksgiving I could barely walk down the stairs but I thought I might be ready for it and my ART guy cautiously agreed.  So I ran Wednesday morning - just an easy run and then planned to try another run Thursday morning on the treadmill at the gym.

Despite my grumpy face, I was excited to run.  Just not quite fully awake yet.

Of course I was a bit nervous how my knee would feel and as I started running my knee was stiff but as I kept going it slowly eased away and I decided I was ready for a tiny tempo to see where I was at.

My biggest worry with this injury break was how much fitness I would lose.  I had been in a really good place fitness wise and I have been trying not to think about how much endurance and speed I have lost.  This morning I tried 4x1000m at tempo pace to test out where I was at.

And it went really well.  I did 2 of the 1000s at 7:19 pace on the treadmill and then 2 more 1000s at 7:14 pace.  This is a good place to start building my running back up.  Now to just find a race to train for....


Also this week at my ART appointment we did a little assessment of how far I have come since my first visit back before Thanksgiving.  Besides having better hip extension and flexibility now, I can also finally do a lunge without pain which I think is a huge step.  Since the major problem (my hip) has been worked on, we moved on to other areas of my right leg.

I have had arch cramping and slight pain since I stopped running college track back in 2009.  I remember when it first started and I really had no idea why.  It has bothered me on and off since then but never enough for me to stop running.  I always thought that my arch was cramping because I didn't have enough potassium, but I could never figure out why it was ONLY my right arch.

On Tuesday, my ART guy worked on my right shin muscles and I could feel a weird sensation down in my arch.  Seems like the tightness in my shin was causing the arch discomfort.  How crazy is that? It always amazes me how every part of the body is connected.

He also worked on my quad.  At every appointment he always warns me that I "might" bruise but I never do until this week!  It seems he may have finally pressed hard enough to cause a tiny little bruise.  Please check out my lovely captioned picture for more information!

So it seems I am making a slow comeback to running.  Things are feeling good and I although I am not 100% pain free, I can run and I know that I am getting better.  Still have that weird bump on the top of me knee/patella though.

Happy Almost Friday!


***Just don't let me stop cross training a few months down the road.