Seriously, it’s one step forward two steps back at the moment! Coming off the back of a great interval session on Tuesday Sam and I headed out for a lazy 10km last night. 1 slow kilometre in and my knee said “no fucking way”. What a jerk. I couldn’t believe it. I kept going, a slow pace, but then my shins started to hurt and I felt like my legs were made of lead. It was like the time I gave up caffeine for 24 hours and I could barely move my body haha. I was also wearing my new shoes. In the past week I think I psyched myself up so much about having new amazing runners that I honestly expected them to rocket me to 5min kms and a 10km PB. What a dumb! The new shoes were a great fit, and comfy, but Didi, mate, they don’t have super powers. Dammit. I was so hippo slow and heavy that I was actually clipping my toes on the pavement with each step forward. Fuck me. We stopped. We stretched. We continued. I had to call it quits after 5.6km and I was super mad. I’d bought victory choc milk and everything.
Sam as usual was upbeat, she’s been here before. We talked about having a break from running for a few days, and reassessing goals. Maybe a half at August 10 is too early for me. For my knee? My husband had said the same thing the night before. Not to be a douche, but to encourage me to set realistic goals.
I know also that the 1am finish the night before probably contributed to the trainwreck state my body was in. Stupid Tour de France ruining lives…. it’s addictive… somehow it makes its way onto my tv and I am mesmerised by all those fit cyclists. Less mesmerised by the constant close ups of sweaty men in tight lycra with their junk wobbling all over the place but still…. It’s an incredible race and I love the commentary and the scenery.
Today I snagged an appointment with a physio (not physio Steve, but his colleague who Sam raves about). Let’s call him physio Andrew. Physio Andrew was really great. He laughed at my jokes for a start. I basically wanted to touch base with a professional to see where my body is at and whether or not the knee pain is bad and what should I exactly do from here. Short story, physio Andrew dry needled my left thigh and calf – yeowch! But so very, very good. He laughed when I demanded he do it. It was painful, and good. We had a chat about the upcoming half in August and I whined about “race pace” (thanks Pete) and where the fuck I was going to fit it in etc. He asked me a very important question nobody has asked before:
“Does 5:40 have to be your race pace?”
I paused for a moment. I felt like I was making a breakthrough in some kind of therapy session.
No.
5:40 does not have to be my race pace.
And just like that something clicked inside my head: I am aiming for a goal that at this point in my recovery may not be achievable. That at this point in my recovery is actually perhaps a bit foolish to attempt. In my head I’ve been pumped to smash that 2 hour target. I have my pacers all lined up ready to take me there. My head is ready. My heart is ready. But my body is not ready. I’ve been struggling to try and fit in “race pace” training runs (which Pete btw physio Andrew agreed were a good idea) and as a result I’ve felt like I’m failing, or not achieving what I should be. My knee fatigues at about the 10km mark. Physio Andrew said that’s ok, running a bit further is not hurting my knee or setting back my recovery per se. It’s all about core strength. It’s always about fucking core strength.
So, I’ve been told it’s ok to run 14km this Sunday. Slowly. 6:15-6:30 pace. Physio Andrew said I don’t necessarily need to take a break right now, and to see how my knee feels after 14km and then we’ll reassess. As Rogue Pete told me today “You’re not on the canvas yet” 🙂
Last year I completed the Freo Half in 2:13. Would I be ok completing the Perth Half in that time? Mentally I want to beat that time because last year I hardly trained to get that time. To get 2:10 I’m looking at a 6:10 pace. Perhaps that’s doable. I’d still beat my time from last year (which I ran before I injured my knee btw).
The biggest thing for me at the moment is to get my arse across the finish line to the start line.
toughmudderof4 