ESPN The Weekend 5K (5K@22:17)

Official Results

Overall Place: 55 / 1450
Gender Place: 45 / 753
Age Group Place: 6 / 76

Run (Long) - 2009/02/22 (6.3 mi@1:02:07)

So much for taking it easy! I wasn't going to run at all this week and I ended up putting in 17 miles. This run included about a 1 mile walk starting at about 3.75 miles. My knee was acting up again, and I have at least learned to back off when it starts to hurt. After the walk, I was able to run the rest of the way, so that is a good sign I think. I did discover that when I concentrate on not twisting my foot inward after foot strike, the pressure on the outside of my knee is greatly reduced. Something new to try, but I do plan on taking this week off in preparation for the ESPN The Weekend 5K at Disney next weekend. We'll see!

Run (Long) - 2009/02/22

Run - 2009/02/21 (3.06 mi@26:04)

I had planned on taking today off to rest the knee, but I felt so good on Friday, I decided to give it a go. Besides, we were having coffee and donuts after the run, so I had to be there! It was a crisp, breezy morning, but the sun was out and it was a perfect morning for a run. I didn't push it all the way to the beach, which was probably a good thing. My knee did get a little sore towards the end of the run, but keeping the miles low does seem to keep it from hurting for days.

Run - 2009/02/21

Zoo Fun Run - 2009/02/18 (1.68 mi@14:07)

In preparations for the Stingray Shuffle 3K in a few weeks, The Running Zone is hosting three fun runs at the Brevard Zoo over the next three Wednesdays. The goal is to get the animals somewhat acclimated to people running through the zoo. Even with my knee aching, I decided to give it a try with Mrs. Larry Who. The course is very twisty and is made up of every surface you can think off: dirt, concrete, pavers, mulch, brush, etc. I did manage to make it the whole way, but I could hardly walk afterwards. This knee thing is starting to make me mad! This will be a very slow race given the number of turns and the uneven terrain. I'm still on the fence about actually running in this one. I guess I'll wait and see how the knee is progressing before I decide.

Zoo Fun Run - 2009/02/18

Camp - 2009/02/17 (4 mile tempo run)

Tonights 4 mile tempo run came with a target pace of 7:15/mile. With my knee feeling better, but not 100%, I decided to shoot for 7:30/mile. My splits came out to be:

Mile 1 - 7:28
Mile 2 - 7:21
Mile 3 - 7:38
Mile 4 - 7:30

Not bad. My knee did start to flare up during the 3rd mile, but it wasn't too bad, and I was able to mostly push through it. I'm back on the ice and ibuprofen tonight, and hopefully it will feel better in the morning. It was good to be able to run fast again!

Camp - 2009/02/17

Injured (but, hopefully on the mend)

So I finally pushed too hard, and I hurt myself. All the running books and magazines talk about it - increase distance and/or intensity too fast and you will likely end up injured. Well, I'm proof that this theory really is true. Everything had been going great, but when the running camp started last month, I definitely ramped up the intensity too fast. My weekly mileage didn't change that much, but the twice weekly camp workouts have been tough.

After running the Tiger Dash 5K last weekend in near a near PR time for me, my right knee really started to complain! This is supposed to be for fun and health, and I was in pain. I self diagnosed myself with ITBS (Iliotibial Band Syndrome) and prescribed the usual treatment - RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation). I ended up working late on Tuesday, so I missed running camp, but I needed more of the R, so I was OK with that.

By Wednesday night I was chomping at the bit to go for a run! Bad idea! My knee hurt, and my whole leg felt like it wanted to collapse on me. I made it 3 miles, but very slowly. So much for healing quickly. I went back to the RICE, but the R part only lasted 24 hours this time. Thursday was camp night again, and I thought I would give it a go. Nothing too hard, just an easy run while the rest of the group did their 330 meter repeats. Well, there was nothing easy about that run. Again, my knee hurt and my right leg had no strength. I only made it 2.5 miles before I gave up and went home in pain.

After more research, I decided to add ibuprofen to the RICE recipe, and I think that did the trick. I hate taking pills, but in this case I made an exception. I kept up with the ice too, and today I was able to go for a 4 mile run with just a little pain. I'm still not 100% (more like 75%), but I feel like I'm on the mend. The leg is still weak, so I'll stick with the ice and ibuprofen for a few more days. Here's to a much better week!

I'll include links to all 3 runs for this week in this entry. None of the runs were worth writing about by themselves.

Tiger Dash 5K

It's been a couple of days since the Tiger Dash 5K, and it's about time I blogged about it. I should be more excited about the outcome of this race, since this was the first time I actually won my age group! But I'm not, and I have many complaints. First, I wasn't able to improve on my best time. I think my time was respectable given 1) my sore right knee, and 2) the twisty, turny course, but I'm used to improving every race. There were 3 - 180 degree turns and at least 9 - 90 degree turns over the course of the 5K. If you know me, you know how I hate running where there are lots of turns and corners. I think that is how I hurt my knee in the first place. Also during this race there were two long stretches where I had to run single file because of two way traffic on a side walk. After reviewing my watch data, it looks like I was slowed substantially during one of these stretches, and that was probably enough to cost me a PR. Given all of that, my time was only 10 seconds off of my best time.

So, after all of that, I guess it could have been worse. I'll just have to try harder at the ESPN The Weekend 5K coming up at the end of the month. That event should be well run and a lot of fun.

Results

Here is the watch data:

Camp 2009/02/05

OK, so it is freezing here in East Central Florida, and I'm running circles in a parking lot! The workout for tonight was actually relatively easy: warm up for a mile, 20 X run fast 20 seconds, then run slow 40 seconds (20 minutes total), cool down a mile or so. I didn't really try to hit a specific pace on the "run fast" parts, I just ran about as hard as I thought I could manage. I ended up running 4.74 miles total. My right knee is still bothering me, but I'm hoping I can run through it. I'm actually going to go shoe shopping tomorrow. Maybe I just need a new pair of shoes!

Camp - 2009/02/03

After a week away from camp, it was time to hit it again. For tonights workout I was supposed to run 2 X 2 miles at 7:00/mile pace with a 5 minute rest after the first 2 miles. Sounds easy, right? I programmed my watch for the entire workout which included beeping at me when I went too fast, or more likely, too slow. Well, after the warm up mile or so, I was ready for the first 2 mile interval. I mistakenly hit the "Stop" button instead of the "Lap" button. I tried to get the watch back on program by hitting all the buttons I could find, all while running somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 miles an hour! I decided that I was back on track, but the watch never made a sound, and I knew I wasn't running exactly the right pace. After running for what seemed like 2 miles I hit the "Stop" button again, and I saw that I had only completed 1.92 miles of the first interval. I ran a little longer for good measure, but the precise logging of the run had been lost. I did my 5 minute rest, and completed the last 2 mile interval without incident. Once I got home I was able to piece enough of the workout together to see that I missed my goal time of 7:00/minute miles:

1st mile 7:02, 2nd mile 7:08, 14:10 total for first interval
3rd mile 7:08, 4th mile 7:17, 14:24 total for second interval

Not bad considering I had really no idea how fast I was really going. Here is the link to what I was able to capture:

Camp 2009/02/03

Run 2009/02/01 8.0 mi@1:08:16

Today was long run day, so a friend and I decided to go run along side A1A in front of Patrick AFB. The view of the beach was nice, and the weather was perfect for a run, but there isn't sidewalk the entire route, so we ended up running through the grass at the side of the road. I prefer to run on hard surfaces, so we will look for a new route for next weekend.

Here is a link to a new website that I am using to track my runs. It is called Run Saturday and I really like the features that it has: