Project Exercise

I got up at 4am to go running.  Since I am babying an injured knee, I was just going to take my run a mile at a time.  As a last ditch effort to continue my training, I dumped my stability running shoes and used my old neutral running shoes.  I found that my knee felt much better during the run.  I am now convinced that the stability shoes were the source of my knee injury.  I did not have that excrutiating pain in my left knee when I started my run.  As a matter of fact, the pain was relatively low grade… at least for the first 2/3 thirds of the run.  Today I just had to deal with the injury "as is", I wasn't making it worse with the stability shoes.  The knee held up pretty well, at least for a while.  Around mile 13, I could feel pain increase, but then again, I just put 13 miles on it.  During my last long run, my knee was screaming at this point.  I could feel my right ankle getting a bit sore and my right leg, as a whole, compensating for my bad left knee.  As it turns out, my right foot overpronates a little bit while my left foot runs neutral.  So without the stability shoes my right ankle gets a bit tweaked.  Its not too bad though.  Ok, so from mile 13 to mile 15 I am dealing with the knee, however around 15.5 miles the knee pain and my right leg (that is compensating for the bad knee), is getting bad.  I  am also bonking as I have run out of water and I need some carbs.  I know I will get to a gas station mini-mart in about a half mile.  However, at this point I have to walk.  I get to the mini-mart and buy a Power Ade.  It was refreshing, but now I am trashed.  I am now 2 miles from home.  I could call my wife or I could hobble home.  Of course, I chose to hobble home.  So I am switching between walking and running.  I was running real ugly.  My legs are shaking (my body is not producing ATP fast enough) and my left knee is trying to tell my stubborn brain to stop.  When I start to run I can only go a few hundred yards and then I have to walk again.  I am in pain.  About a half mile from home my wife calls.  She is worried about my knee and I have been gone for an abnormally long time.  I tell her that I am trying my best to stay on my feet.  She offers to pick me up and because I am an idiot I tell her "no thanks".  I only have half a mile to go to make 18 miles.  After I hang up I begin running.  I wasn't going to walk any part of this last half mile.  My family actually walks down the road to meet me.  It was great to see them.  My son is cheering me on.  That gave me a small boost.  My son runs with me for the last quarter mile.  That last 2 miles were the worst ever!

That run really trashed me.  I am icing the knee and ankle as I type this post.  As I think about the distance of the marathon, I know that I would be hard pressed to complete the 26.2 miles in my present condition.  Cardio-wise, I have the wind.  No problem there.  However, my knee injury is my limiting factor.  I truthfully don't think my knee could handle the extra 8 miles.  I may have to take the marathon off my bucket list.  

I see the sports medicine doctor on Tuesday.  I will see what she says.

I am nursing the injured knee like a good boy.  I would almost be proud of myself, but I hate it that I am not running today.  If it feels ok on Saturday I may try to put in a few miles.  It sure would be nice if I could crank out 17 or 18 miles.  I am taking it one day at a time. 

So since I am grounded from running (self-imposed exile), I decided to do P90X+ Upper Body Plus early in the morning.  I haven't done this one for a long time.  I kind of enjoyed it.  I found that I actually miss doing those P90X+ workouts.  Who knows, if the doctor grounds me next week, I may have to do another round of P90X (minus any knee busting moves).

Today is a scheduled rest day.  Its perfect because my knee needs a break.  I have been running on a bad knee for quite some time.  I mean, I have gone on 16 mile runs on my bad knee.  THAT'S DUMB!  I am driven to a fault.  Now my knee is in pretty bad shape because I won't do what any normal and sane person would do… STOP!  I do know the source of my behavior.

I spent a lot of time in the military.  I caught the very last part of Viet Nam in 1975 (Operation Frequent Wind – the evacuation of South Viet Nam) and I went on more cold war missions than I can remember.  Quite frankly, some of the cold war missions were every bit as intense as our "official conflicts".  While I don't feel the need to be specific, I trained and operated in a small team environment.  I trained intensely because failure could cost lives or compromise national security.  I have mentally carried that into my workouts.

When I left the service I had a difficult time adjusting to civilian life.  I just could not understand how people could take things so lightly.  Not until I met my wife that I began to assimilate.  She continued to remind me that I wasn't in the military and the things I was doing as a civilian wasn't generally putting anyone in danger nor was I going to compromise national security.  I learned to let go of a lot of baggage.  She was very patient with me and over time I was able to make the change.  However, when it comes to working out, it has become a trigger to the past behavior. 

It drives my wife crazy that I keep running on my bad knee, however, she has been through this before so she doesn't force the issue.  She does, however, gently encourage me to do the right thing.  I guess it is starting to sink in.  Even those of you who read my posts know that I ain't right.  

I have only told you folks on a very high level what drives my training efforts, I won't get into the low level details because that would involve my trianing and missions.  Suffice it to say that it was intense enough to make me train extremely hard.  I am beginning to realize, as my wife says, that what I am doing does not involve national security, nor will resting and recovering my knee endanger anyone's life.  When I look at it in this light, I feel DUMB!

So will I stop running on my bad knee?  Well, I have an appt with a sports medicine doctor on Nov 3.  I will see what she says.  What about this weekend?  I would really like to go on my long run.  I keep thinking that I only have about 3 to 4 weeks before I start my taper.  To tell you the truth, I don't know what I am going to do between now and my appt.  One part of me wants to just take care of the knee and save it to train for my next triathlon.  Another part of me wants to pound one into the end zone.

Yesterday's run was a defining momemt for me.  My knee caused me to go down twice.  I was extremely angry with the situation.   I have been training hard for the marathon and I did not want to throw it away.  Not only was the marathon slipping away, but future triathlons were also on the line. 

Last night, my wife and I were looking up sports medicine physicians and ortho specialists to call in the morning.  That was really depressing.  I did not want to hear the doctor say, "don't run… rest the knee".  I mean, if someone goes to see a doctor and says, "my knee hurts", of course the physician will say rest the knee.

Anyway, I was tossing and turning all night trying to figure out what to do.  Around 4am, I had an idea.  Sometime ago I switched to stability running shoes at the advice of a salesperson that said I was overpronating.  Overtime, my knee had gotten worse.  It did help the ankle pain though.  I got the bright idea to use my old "neutral" running shoes.  It was a last ditch effort.  To me it was worth a try.

So I put on the shoes and went for a slow run.  The pain in the knee was not as extreme as it was yesterday.  I kept going and, while I could feel some pain, it wasn't enough to stop me.  Better yet, it didn't take me down.  Just as a precaution, I walked at the 2 mile mark for about .25 mile and then resumed running.   I was able to go 4 miles.  I could have gone farther, but I did not want to push it.

I am convinced that the stabilizing running shoe was the main cause of the knee problem.  I am going to proceed cautiously.  The knee is still damaged so I have to watch it.  

I got an appt for the sports med doctor, but the soonest I can see her is Nov 3.  So in the meantime I will take things one day at a time.

I took a recovery week from running and also cancelled my long run in hopes of healing my left knee.  So today I decided to start running again.  I was apprehensive because my knee did not feel like it got any better.  However, I wanted test it out.  Why you ask?  Well, those of you who follow my blog already know, but for those who are new to Project Exercise… I am not wired like others.  I am just driven to the point of failure.  I want to know that I have given it all.  Ok, maybe it is not the smart approach, but that how I do things.  As they say… "it is what it is. 

So anyway, instead of running the treadmill to get out of the heat, I decided to run outside because I hate the "dreadmill".  It was hot though.  When I started running at 10 am it was already 87 degrees and humid.  Not good, but it was nice to watch scenery go by.  As I began to run, my left knee was screaming.  The pain was bad.  Well, I have this 2 mile rule… if it still hurts after two miles I'll stop (yeah, right).  A lot of time, things loosen up and stabilize after 2 miles.  When I hit the two mile mark, my knee was still hurting, but you know, its like the pain just becomes part of the run… almost acceptable, so I decide to forge on.  Hey, I already said I am not wired right!

On my inbound leg, while running through Ala Moana Beach Park, I feel a sharp pain and my knee buckles.  I actually do down.  It happened so fast that I couldn't catch myself… I just go down.  Luckily, I land partly on smooth cement and partly on the grass.  I get up to see if I can walk.  I am able to walk so I walk for about about a quarter mile.  I start running again and in about a half mile, it happens again.  I feel myself getting really angry because I have put a lot of effort to train for the marathon and I don't want to throw it all away.  I walk for the next mile.  I start running again and I am able to make it the rest of the way to the gym to shower up.  Can you imagine if I fell on the treadmill at the gym?!?!

When I get back to the office, my boss, who really is a nice guy, starts asking me how the running is going and how my knee is holding up.  I snapped at him and told him I didn't want to talk about it.  You know, he didn't deserve that so later in the day I told him what happened this morning.  

I have a doctor's appt scheduled for November 6th, but I think I need to see a sports medicine doctor or an orthopedic specialist.  I am coming to the realization that I need to have my knee examined.  I am really tempted to run on it again.  The marathon is about 6 weeks out.  I would like to think that I can do some training and at least run/walk the distance.  I don't know… I don't like to think I got beat.  The reality is, however, that my knee hurts like hell.  It hurts right now as I type this post.  I am icing.  I bought a knee brace this evening and it helps while I walk.  Since my run this morning, I have a noticeable limp (I hate being gimpy).  Lateral and twisting movements are excrutiating.  I commute on a motorcyle everyday and it hurts to mount and dismount the bike because I have to put my left foot down and swing my right leg over the seat to get on and off.  The twisting motion on my knee kills me.

Ok, enough of that.  Its like I'm whining now.  HTFU (as a Christain, I don't really want to translate that for you – triathletes know what that means).

So it is a recovery day and I don't have any real training to report.  So I thought I would take some time to tell you about an audio book I just finished.  Ever since I started training for a marathon, I have become a big fan of audio books.  Listening to audio books is a great way to catch up on my "reading" while running.  I also listen to them on my commutes.

Ok, so I just finished "Pursuit of Honor" by Vince Flynn.  I am a big fan of Flynn's books.  "Pursuit of Honor" was just released about a week ago.  I like mysteries, especially cloack and dagger type.  The main character in the Vince Flynn books is Mitch Rapp, a covert operative for the CIA's Clandestine Service.   

Now, I have read every Vince Flynn book ever published.  "Pursuit of Honor" was the first time I "listened" to a Flynn book.  First of all, I wasn't crazy about the narrator.  He made Mitch Rapp, a hard as nails CIA operator, sound like Barney Franks without the Boston accent.  In fact, he had a tendency to make all the tough CIA guys sound like a variation of Barney Franks.  That kind of ruins the image of Mitch Rapp.  As it turns out, this was probably my least favorite Vince Flynn book.  I sitll liked it because I am a Mitch Rapp fan, however, when stacked up against Flynn's other books, this one did not have as much action.  

This book doesn't have the edge of your seat type of action that Flynn's other books have.  Books like "Memorial Day", "Transfer of Power", "Term Limits" to name a few.  

Would I recommend this book?  Well, yes.  It is still a Vince Flynn book and if you are a fan of Flynn, then it is a must read.  If you not a Flynn fan or not familiar with his work, I would recommend that you read one of his other books first… perhaps one of those I mentioned above.  You will get a better idea of who Mitch Rapp really is.  If you find that you like those books, then I would recommend "Pursuit of Honor".

Ok, so right now I am listening to "The Last Oracle" by James Rollins.

I have been pushing my body pretty hard for the past 2 years.  Prior to P90X I was exercising intensely for over a year.  There was even a time when I worked out while I had pneumonia (http://bit.ly/HYWRo).  Of course, that wasn't a smart thing to do and I don't recommend it for anyone.  My point is that I am driven to a fault.  The past few days my body has been pushing back.  I know I need a rest, but yet I keep trying to push.  Further, I have been running on an injured knee. 

Last night, I got on my indoor trainer and cycled for about 45 minutes.  At first I thought my knee was doing ok. I had some low grade pain, but nothing too bad.  After some time I noticed that my right leg felt much more fatigued than my left leg.  I realized that my right leg was compensating for my weak left knee.  I also noticed that if I pulled the left pedal up with my clipped in left shoe it would hurt my knee.  Long story short… cycling, while not as bad as running was not that great for my knee either.

An hour or so after I did my workout and showered up, I was in the kitchen getting something to drink and all of a sudden my vision narrowed.  My knees buckled and my legs began to shake.   It was wierd.  When my vision narrowed, it was like I was looking out from a tunnel.  My wife wanted to take me to a doctor, but I felt ok after a few minutes.  I don't know… it was just wierd.  I wonder if my blood pressure dropped.  My wife is still trying to get me to see the doctor.  I am so stubborn… I feel sorry for her.

With the injured left knee, right ankle soreness and the wierd thing that happened last night I finally decided to listen to my body.  I am taking recovery days and I have decided to skip my long run this weekend.  I am really pained to make that decision.  I will pick up my marathon training and strength workouts next week.   I will probably do some core work… nothing too strenuous though. 

I am a software engineer so I am looking at this like a "reboot".

Instead on of running today I decided to jump on my indoor cycling trainer for 45 minutes.  I wanted to give my left knee a rest.  It felt good pedaling the bike.  I used my HRM to keep my heart rate in the 70% range.  It was actually a good workout.  I got to use my non-running muscles.  My quads definitely felt the workout. 

After cycling I did shoulders and arms.  I used my bowflex dumbbells and lifted fairly heavy.  After lifting I used the bands to flush out the mucles.  

Ok, so I still have to figure out what to do about the knee and my marathon training.  For now, I am just going to take it one day at a time.

I would be lying if I was to tell you that I wasn't a bit worried about my knee today.  So as I was walking to the gym from my office, I was trying to psych myself up.  I got on the treadmil and the knee absolutely hurt.  So I push… 1 mile goes by, 2 miles, 3 miles and I finally stop at 4.  I wanted 5.  I felt like I gave up on myself.  However, the pain hit my threshold.  I don't like admitting that because my M.O. is to get past the pain. 

After the treadmill, I did a chest workout. 

I have to figure out what to do.  I have some options.  I could do non-impact during the week and just do my long runs.  I will, however, lose my base.  There is a half marathon coming up in November.  I could do that and call it a day.  I could also give the knee a rest and try to pick up the training next week.  I hate all those options.  Being hard-headed and stubborn, I am inclined to take the worst option which is to try another run.  I know the smart thing to do would be to rest the knee.  However, nobody has ever accused me of being smart! 

The thing is… if I can hang in there for another month, I will hit my taper weeks.  

I guess you will have to read my future posts to find out what I decide because, at this point, I have not made a firm decision.  

Yesterday was my rest day which always follow my "long run".  I ran 16 miles on Saturday.  It was a brutal run and my legs hurt like never before.  The next day, however, my quads and hamstrings felt just fine.  No soreness at all… a little fatigued, but not sore.  This is my normal pattern. 

My left knee and right ankle, however, still hurts.  I wouldn't say it is bad enough to make me stop, but it does concern me.  I am more concerned about it keeping me from running the marathon more than I am about the knee itself.  I know, that sounds stupid, but that's the way I am wired.  If I can check the marathon off my bucket list I will be happy.  I just need to be able to do that marathon.  After that, if the knee is too bad to continue triathlons, well, so be it.  At my age, I will feel like my knee gave me everything I wanted to do.  If the knee feels good enough to train for triathlons, then I will consider that a bonus.  

Ok, so I stayed home from work today.  I was on the fence about whether to go to work or not.  I didn't have a runny nose, nor was I coughing.  I just had a bad sinus head ache and felt a bit run down.  I wasn't sure if it was the beginning of a flu.  Well, it turned out that my son was sick.  So it made my decision easier… I would stay home with him.  We could have a father and son sick day!  Further, if it turned out to be the flu I did not want to give it to my co-workers.  

I would like to get a run in tomorrow if I feel better.  Again, I take my knee one run at a time.  The worst part about this knee problem is that I put in a lot pain and effort while training for the marathon and I would hate to throw that all away.