This morning I ran 8 miles in a light rain again and with some wind. I felt very sluggish about the first 3 miles[probably because I went pretty hard yesterday on the bike]. My back was also tight in the begining but loosened up later on. The second half of the run I ran some fartlek begining with 1/2 mile at 6:32 pace which felt way to hard. Then 1/4 at 5:48 pace then 1/8 at 5:20 pace each followed by recovery of equal distance. Then I did it again with 1/2 at 6:08 pace 1/4 at 5:50 and 1/8 at 5:25. The 6:08 pace felt like I couldn't have maintained it much longer. Last summer before my injury my 5k pace was faster than that. My first 3 miles were all over 8:40 pace. My pace for all 8 was 8:09
PM ran 2 miles very easy 9:15 pace.
I went to the orthopedic specialist today to have him look at the lump on the back of my knee. It is a Baker's Cyst which is like a hernia in the bursa sack that contains the synovial fuid that lubricates your knee joint. It bulges when the joint makes too much fluid and it forces itself out of the joint. It usually happens when there is torn cartilage or arthritis in the joint but can be caused from other trauma. I only noticed the lump 3 weeks ago but it probably got started after my hamstring injury when I was running with an altered gait. When I jumped my mileage up real quickly to get ready for the marathon I did a 12 mile run [that was a big jump in mileage from anything I had done] I got a real strange burning pain that went from the back of my knee down through my calf. This was probably the sack breaking and leaking synovial fluid down my calf. It can be very painful even down to your ankle. I had a lot of calf pain for the next couple weeks and I couldn't figure it out because of the low intensity of my running at the time but it makes sense now. I even remember the feeling starting at the back of my knee and working it's way down the calf even to my achilies. Amazing how one injury can start a chain reaction. He looked at x-rays of both of my knees and said they looked perfect [It was worth going in just to hear that]. It's not bothering me so he said it will probably go away on it's own. | 