Week 2 of My Recovery

I could not bike to school today. It was very rainy and I didn't want to show up to class soaked. Reluctant to pay $5, I told myself I would do my workout when I got home.

I rode my bike to my running spot(1.88 miles), ran(0.5 miles), and rode back(1.88 miles). It was a KILLER workout and I didn't have any problems with my knee!

Physical Therapy

Today I went to the schools physical therapist. I heard they were giving out a free exam to first-timers. I told the physical therapist my story, my stack of injuries due to overuse, my dreams of running an ultra, etc. I tried to not mention that I run barefoot since I figured he would recommend custom orthotics.

Anyway, he looked at my knee and thinks that it is patellar tendinitis. He taught me how to really stretch and showed me some exercises. I was really excited because even after the stretching the pain went away. Essentially, my quad was really tight and I was not stretching it while pushing out my hips. He was really nice and told me to come back if I needed anything.

On my way out the door he asked me if I was planning on doing an ultra. I told him I would try to do the Alex's Fat Ass 50K next year. He then asked, "You don't wear those five-finger shoes do you?" Hesitantly, I confirmed. What he said next was the best news I have heard all day... "Awesome! I have a pair. I read Born To Run and it kind of convinced me."(I am paraphrasing...)

This is awesome news. Physical therapists, or at least mine, are looking into the barefoot movement and appreciating it. Good job bare-footers.

The moral of this story is to go to doctors/therapists, even if you think they won't agree with your opinion. You might be surprised and they actually know what they are talking about!

Doing it in the Woods

Long time I know. I will try to keep up. I have just been doing strengthening exercises based on my hips and legs. I think they are helping my knee problems.

I saw the above poster at school and immediately sent an email to the leader. He said they usually run 45 minutes to an hour, every business day of the week, on road and dirt trail. Sounded fair enough.

I tried to run shortly after reading that poster. I just did a quarter of a mile. I went by my instincts and did what felt right to me. I fully engaged my hips and tried to twist the leading knee's hip above the knee. This resulted in a little waste of energy, but my feet glided across the ground. To me, at least at this point, less stress on my knees is what I need and that is exactly what the glide does for me.

I am going to continue doing strengthening exercises on Tuesday and Thursday. I will also run and do some yoga Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Saturday I will do whatever I want and take off on Sunday. This should be a good balance between rest and exercise.

So far I am pretty excited about the running group. I am not sure how they will perceive my barefootedness, but I'm sure they won't mind. If they do I just won't run with them.

I am going to wait until I feel capable of running for 45 minutes until I join the group. I wouldn't want to hurt anything.

I have a review of my new yoga mat coming up soon. Keep in touch.

Seeking Improvements

For the past week I have been trying to improve myself.

DailyBurn

I signed up for a DailyBurn account and have been tracking my diet. It actually helps limit how much I eat in some testing situations. I do not track my exercises that can be tracked on RunKeeper with it. I found that even with my dinnertime overeating I typically don't exceed the calorie limit that is suggested for me. I've been drinking a protein shake with black beans(Trust me it's good. I'll post a recipe later). For lunch I have rice or quinoa with black beans. I figured out how to use the crock pot to make black beans. It's so easy and cheap.

Cycling

As I discovered this morning, riding a bike is fine with Vibram Five Fingers even with my Primo pedals. I was out of breath(I figured I would be) but felt great for the one class I had today.

Exercises

On top of the various workouts I have been doing for my knee and lower body, I have also started doing the 100 Pushup Challenge, 200 Squat Challenge, and 200 Sit-Up Challenge(again). This time I am sticking to the intermediate level.

and of course... Running!






Wish me luck!

2 hr Farleks aka:fart licks

My first attempt at running based on time and not distance. Weird for me.
Tyler set me up a ascending and descending time Fartleks program..
I ran 2 hours alternating between brisk walk, slow trot and moderate running.

Temp 29 degrees, Ran in Vibram Five Fingers shoes, then last 15 minutes barefoot..feet were numb from temperature.

Wearing Hydration back pack (new Camelback Octane, XCT, 2011 model)

details of run at http://runkeeper.com/user/AlaninDahlonega/activity/23895051

The numbers to the right of each segment is the total elapsed time, it was the only way to keep it straight . I had to run with the program printed out.

(Listening to Rock...Bush, Van Halen, and Kidd Rock)

3 min warm up walk

1 minute walk - 4 mins
1 minute slow -5 mins
1 minute moderate -6 mins

2 minute walk 6-8 mins
2 minutes slow 8-10 mins
2 minutes moderate 10-12 mins

3 minutes walk 12-15 mins
3 minutes slow 15-18 mins
3 minutes moderate 18-21 mins

4 minute walk 21-25 mins
4 minutes slow 25-29 mins
4 minutes moderate 29-33 mins

5 minutes walk 33-38 mins
5 minutes slow 39-43 mins
5 minutes moderate 43-48 mins

4 minute walk 48-52 mins
4 minutes slow 52-56 mins
4 minutes moderate 56-60 mins

3 minutes walk 60-63mins 1:00 hr-1:03 hr
3 minutes slow 63-66 1:03-1:06 hr
3 minutes moderate 66-69 1:06-1:09 hr

2 minute walk 69-71 1:09-1:11 hr
2 minutes slow 71-73 1:11-1:13 hr
2 minutes moderate 73-75 1:13-1:15

(changed the tunes to Five Finger Death Punch- metal band)

1 minute walk 75-76 1:15-1:16 hr
1 minute slow 76-77 1:16-1:17 hr
1 minute moderate 77-78 1:17-1:18 hr

2 minute walk 78-80 1:18-1:20 hr
2 minutes slow 80-82 1:20-1:22 hr
2 minutes moderate 82-84 1:22-1:24 hr

3 minutes walk 84-87 1:24-1:27 hr
3 minutes slow 87-90 1:27-1:30 hr
3 minutes moderate 90-93 1:30-1:33 hr

4 minute walk 93-97 1:33-1:37 hr
4 minutes slow 97-101 1:37-1:41 hr
4 minutes moderate 101-105 1:41-1:45 hr

Took off shoes! celebration run

5 minutes walk 105-110 1:45-1:50 hr
5 minutes slow 110-115 1:50-1:55 hr
5 minutes moderate 115-120 1:55-2:00 hr

cool down run

DONE

I learned to hate the Slow trots..I couldn't wait til it was time to run moderately.
Felt great at the end, Felt great that I covered 14 K
Wished that it was warmer!!!!

Ready To Run

I have been cooped up inside all week. We had some crazy snow for this area and haven't been able to go anywhere or run at all. While reading reddit's running subreddit I found: Anatomy of a 6 Month IT Band Injury – Post-Injury Analysis and Lessons Learned. What I found was a ton of tips and an in depth explanation of healing the IT band. Now, is my IT band causing my knee pain? I don't know... but it couldn't hurt to work with it!

Today I stretched and did the workouts listed on that page. It feels good to activate the muscles in my legs. I have been running with a metronome for five minutes a day for the past two days at 210 steps per minute. My knee isn't bothering me. If I can take this form to the street I should be fine.

Well, that's my update. I ordered a sweet yoga mat. It should be coming in any time now...

CSN and Knee Healing

I was recently contacted by CSN to do a product review. See, CSN is comprised of over 200 websites, including everything from luggage stores to cookware and fitness. They offered me $15 credit toward any product that I want in their selection, which is clearly huge. I am going to pick out a new yoga mat, since foam rolling has taken a toll on my elbows(carpet burn).

I haven't ran in a while. I have been trying to be patient and let my knee heal. It is clear that it isn't going to heal while I continue to run. With that being said, I am going to try to do some activities  inspired by Jason Robillard, such as walking in place for 3 days a week until it is completely comfortable. After that, I will continue running. I am trying not to get frustrated with the knee problems. I just want to look at them as a learning experience and something that I can use to teach others about after I getting rid of it myself.

Whitney and I did a really awesome hike up Blood Mountain the other day. I will post some pictures soon.

Take care