Sore knee—weekend catchup

Last week, from Wednesday on, didn't go exactly according to plan. On Wednesday, I was supposed to get out and run an easy five miles. But all afternoon and early evening thunderstorms were moving through in a steady wave. And while I'll run in the rain, I don't do lightning. I finally headed down to the track at 7:45 p.m. hoping to take advantage of what looked like at least an hour between bands of heavier rain. When I got there, I found the track locked up tight; and I gave up in frustration.

I had better luck the next day, getting in a damp eight miles on the bike path around Lunken Airport. The run itself was OK, but it would have been even better if it hadn't been horribly muggy. The temperature was close to 70°F, with a dewpoint in the mid-60's. Once or twice, it misted lightly, but as soon as it started to feel refreshing, the sun would peak out and make it feel like I was running in a rainforest. In miles five and six of the run, I threw in four 20-second strides, starting at 5K pace for and finishing at roughly mile race pace for the last two. Everything felt good.

Thursday's run: 8.0 miles, 1:03:03, 7:53/mile, Avg HR 143 (68% HRR), 70°F, muggy

The problem came on gradually after Thursday's run. My left knee, or just below it, started feeling stiff and painful. Just as it did after my fall in the half marathon six weeks before, my patellar tendon became angry. It wasn't as angry as it was after that race, but it held the grudge a bit longer. As a result, I took Friday through Sunday off. It got a bit better each day, and I considered running Sunday. But I decided there was nothing to be gained and waited until yesterday.

Yesterday, the knee was still not 100%, but it was continuing to improve. So in the early afternoon, I hit the track for a test run. Running, there was no pain at all. Overall, I felt a bit stiff and awkward, but it was no more than I would expect after not running for three days and barely running for two weeks. Afterwards, the knee felt better than before the run.

Monday's test run: 5.0 miles, 38:46, 7:45/mile, Avg HR 141 (67% HRR), 66°F, sunny

My knee has continued to improve through last night and this morning. It still doesn't quite feel 100%, but I should be able to run easy this week without aggravating it further. I'm also working on stretching and strengthening the different muscles that affect the tracking of the knee cap. I've never had knee issues before, so something is probably still not 100% from six weeks ago. I need to make sure everything else around the tendon is strong enough to let it completely heal.