100 km de Millau 2011

Well well well, clearly I never managed to finish my training due to an ongoing and annoying kneeproblem. BUT, my husband, Mr T did run the race in his huaraches in 14h 57min. Hats off and Respect! Here's a quick glimpse of him filmed by a random fellow runner:

Silence

Oops, a long time since I've updated my blog. To be honest, not much updating to do. Running has been rubbish since beginning of March. I'm just not able to increase my mileage without getting the pain back on my right knee. I still run once or twice a week but that's really nothing. I'm still doing loads of other stuff though, body combat, cycling, ice skating and even roller skating. I've now come to the conclusion, that I might just have to modify my goal and aim for a marathon instead of a 100 km race.

My Husband, Mr T, is doing fantastic though. He's just flying with his huaraches.  Well done mate!

We've discovered sport enthusiasts' website Endomondo. A great tool to help you track your workouts. Highly recommended!

Back to business

just very slowly though. I've managed two short runs after my massage. Just 35 mins at a time and on a road, flat, avoiding too steep hills. Knee has been fine both times. Well, not exactly fine, as I can feel something, but at least no pain. I could feel the pain on my last skating session last Thursday. That was something new and a bit alarming, but I put it down to overuse right after massage (2 days). Patience is the key.

We've had a glorious weather here for the last 3 days. Beautiful, beautiful sunshine with daffodils springing up everywhere. Really lifts your mood!

ITBS

Got my massage today from lovely Joanne and she diagnosed my kneepain as Iliotibial Band Syndrome. A very common problem for runners. Good news is that it can be treated, but obviously it might take some time. I'm not very good with patience, but not a lot I can do at the moment. Just stretch, take it easy easy easy with running.

Agony, pain, frustration

No running for two weeks. I decided to give my knee a proper rest and I've also been fighting off a cold. So far the long arm of a winter flu hasn't managed to grab me properly "knock the wood", but it is trying its' best. There's been sneezes and coughs and I've spent one day on a sofa doing NOTHING.

I haven't been a complete lazy bone though, I did some spinning and combat earlier in the week. Yesterday I was feeling better and it was time to braze the storm and go for a run. First half an hour was great despite the rain. After that, the pain struck again and this time it was worse than before. I actually had to stop running, walk and let the pain ease. Journey home took a long time as I was only able to run for 50 m, walk 100 m and so on. I'm really annoyed and frustrated, as I feel I'm fit enough to start training properly, yet this knee problem is holding me back. I'm going to see a sports massage therapist tomorrow. She sounded very promising over the phone and I'm really hoping she can do something to help me.

km's for this week: 9.2.

Studying

This week I've started to read more about preparation, running tips, racing and training programmes for ultras. I will allow 20 weeks for serious training, so from the beginning of May, it will be bye-bye to ice-skating lessons and other extra activities and hello to running, running and more running.

This week I haven't managed more than one, very short, 4 km run on a treadmill. I stopped as soon as I started to feel the pain on the knee. It's been a recovery from running, although I did allow myself one spinning class and today's ice skating. Had a fantastic skating lesson and every time I'm amazed at how hard exercise it actually is. And amazing for the core. You really work every muscle of your body.

Will try a run on a Saturday evening. Sunday will be spent at work, but next week I should  be able to manage 3, possibly 4 sessions.

Week seven and painful pleasure

Totals for this week:

3 running sessions (14.5+10.5+10.5), total km:s 35.5
Spinning X 1
Recreational swim with my daughter.

I'm not happy. Have pain on the knee and on sciatic nerve! Have iced both areas, plenty of stretching and ibuprofen. I really have to look in to what could be causing this. I haven't had any pain caused by running for over a year and a half, but now that I'm trying to increase the mileage, all the problems seem to start. I think one reason could be the way I've been landing. I've possibly been running too much on my toes, rather than on the ball of the foot. Tried to really focus on that today. Or is it simply just too much too soon? It is very frustrating as I feel fit and have a great feeling during and after the run. I feel like I could run longer, don't get any stitches and definitely don't get the feeling that i'm just gonna die! It's just that the bottom half of my body seems to be falling apart. Not happy.

Anyway, here's the top pick for this week. Another hypnotic rhythm from David Guetta.