faster with age

     Went 20 miles on the mountain bike this morning. Felt very fresh and rode fairly hard.

     PM    Ran 6 miles after dark. I didn't feel any muscle soreness at all from Saturdays race but didn't have a lot of energy. Hammering on this mornings ride may have had something to do with that. So I just ran an easy 9:11 ave pace and that felt pretty good.

     Ran 9 miles this morning up around the reservoir. Not a lot of snap in the legs so I just kept it easy. Overall pace was 8:27

     Same 9 mile run as yesterday. I had a lot better energy this morning. Kept most of the run fairly easy paced. On the was back I did some fartlek  with 3x1/4 then 1x1/2 at around 6:45 to 6:50 pace with 1/4 recoveries. 

          Ran 7 miles this morning. I've kept all my miles this week easy to make sure I recover good from the half last Saturday. I plan to run a 20 miler tomorrow and then hope to get in a couple of good mileage weeks before starting to taper for St George.

     I ran 22 miles this morning with all but 4 miles of it on dirt. It was a nice morning starting at 50 deg when I left the house and overcast and 67 deg when I finished. I started a little slower and averaged 8:11 pace through the first four miles then averaged 7:39 for 18 miles. It really went pretty well but the by the last mile I was really ready to be done. Overall pace was 7:45.

     9 miles at a relaxed easy pace. I was hoping to get in a few more pm miles but never got the time.

     Same run as yesterday morning. It felt like fall in the air with the temp at 38 this morning. 8:27 pace.

     Went over to Weston canyon to get in some hill running. I ran the 3 mile stretch down the canyon 3 times to get in some more downhill miles. After a 1 mile warm up in 8:07, I ran the first 3 mile interval at 6:55 ave pace. This stretch of road drops 400 feet in 3 miles and I had quite a bit of headwind blowing up the canyon. I drove back to the top in about 5 minutes then ran the next 3 miles at 6:46 ave pace. This time I rode my mt bike [that I had hidden] back to the top in 13 minutes then ran the 3rd  3 mile interval at 6:42 ave pace. I did a .35 cool down and my wife [who had walked up the canyon while I was running] picked me up. Overall pace for 9 miles was 6:47. 

     PM     Went out after dark to run 4 miles. Had to quit with less than 1.5 because of knee pain that suddenly came on.

     I went for 24 miles on my mt bike this morning. Afterward I tried running again. Everything felt fine for 2 miles then that pain came in my left knee again. Yesterday in the last 1/2 mile of my MP run this pain suddenly came on but after about 100 yards it went away and felt fine the rest of the day until last nights run. I'm not sure what is going on with it. It will feel 100 % normal then after running a couple of miles it will suddenly start to hurt and hurts even after I stop running and start walking. But if I squat down in a deep knee bend it completely goes back to normal. Then if I start running again it is fine until I get about 1/4 mile and the pain comes back. The pain is on the front and to the inside of my knee. I'm wondering if there is some fluid that is getting in the wrong place and when I squat it forces back out. Not sure? 

     I'm not sure what to do about my knee? I'll probably skip running today and then not sure what I'll do about my planned 20+ miler tomorrow. It feels fine until I have run a few miles so it's hard to know until I get into the run.

     Now this is starting to scare me. I had hoped that after a 3 mile day Thursday and yesterday completely off that this little knee thing would go away. I had already scrapped my long run for this morning but I thought maybe I could get in 8 or 10. After 2 days off I had loads of energy and was really ready to go but after 2 1/2 miles I started feeling this slight discomfort in the same part of my knee. I stopped and did a couple of squats and it went away like it does and I went just over a mile further but it came back and it was getting worse so I quit my run and walked 2 miles home. It is just like IT band syndrome how it comes out of nowhere after a few miles and quickly gets bad enough that you can't run on it at all. The difference is this is to the inside of my knee and it doesn't go away as soon as I slow to a walk like ITBS does. But it does instantly go away when I squat to the ground with a deep knee bend but returns quickly after running a little ways. Any ideas with this welcomed. 

      After my run I had to go help with a service project moving rocks [large and small] from an elderly womans yard. Just what I need for my ailing back. After that I left at noon for a 30+ mile mountain bike ride so I could get some kind of a workout. My knee was actually slightly sore riding the last couple of miles but feels good as new as soon as I quit. I had an orthopedic doctor look at my knees a few months back when I had a lump that turned out to be a bakers cyst. At that time he was looking at my x-rays and said my knees looked perfect so I would doubt it is a cartilage problem. I only got in 37 running miles this week [not counting bike miles] which is about 33 less than I was planning.

     Tried running again with the same result this morning. It felt fine for 2 miles then  slight discomfort started which quickly started to get worse. This time I quit running right away rather than trying to milk another mile or so out of it to see if it would go away like I did on the last 2 runs.  This time I stayed a little closer to home and only had 3/4 of a mile to walk home. It seems to hit so consistently just beyond 2 miles which seems to be just the point where I'm warmed up. It's so frustrating to be in by far the best marathon shape I've ever been in and have to just sit back and watch that fitness go away day by day with no end in sight. It's been 5 days and hasn't improved at all. Even if I do make it to the marathon, this is the type of thing that if it starts to come on during the race I'm finished right there.

     Rode 20 miles on the mt bike after I got home.

     I went in to see an orthopedic doctor today about my knee. I decided just before I went that I would run a couple of miles on it so he could see any swelling that might be there. I started with an out and back to the house warm up mile in 7:35. Second mile I figured I'd pick up the pace and make the most of it since I only seem to be able to run 2 miles. I ran that in 6:29 and my knee hadn't started hurting yet so I did a 3rd mile in 6:15 and it was still okay. Maybe I just need to run faster. The doctor said I have plica syndrome. After checking out the x-rays he said my cartilage and ligaments looked good and told me to take ibuprofen and go ahead and run. I hadn't been taking Ibuprofen for this yet because I didn't want to risk more damage. He seemed to figure ibuprofen would get me back running all the miles I want without doing any damage.

     PM I was able to run 6 miles.

     I took ibuprofen this morning before my run and took off planning to run 8 or 10 depending on how I felt. After 4 miles at about an 8:20 ave I picked up the pace and It felt pretty good and my knee wasn't bothering me so I decided I would turn it into a long MP run. 7:31, 6:56, 6:55, 6:48, 6:48, 6:50, 6:56, 7:00, 7:04, 7:00, 6:53, 7:08, 7:00. My knee held up real well except on a couple of steep downhills it quickly got sore to the point I had to walk down the rest of the way and stretch it out and then it was fine. The first half I felt real good but with 6 miles to go I started feeling low on energy. I was going to do 18 miles but my hip started getting sore so I quit after 17 miles and walked the last mile to be safe. I did stop a few times during the run to stretch or drink and walked down those 2 short hills that I didn't time.I was pretty worn out at the end. Average pace for the last 12 miles was 6:56. For 13 was 6:59. Overall pace for 17 miles was 7:18.

     My knee held up great after yesterdays run. My diagnosis was plica syndrome which is basically some nonfunctional tissue in the knee that gets irritated when it rubs against the knee. The ortho told me to just take ibuprofen and go for it and it should eventually take care of itself with no risk of damaging anything other than the tissue that's already irritated. After missing last weeks long run [I was hoping to get in 2 more before SGM] I figured getting one in yesterday would give me a good chance to get in another early next week if I decided to. Unfortunetly at the end of my run my hip started getting sore and I walked the last mile. After the run everything felt good most of the day but that evening my hip flexor area started getting sore and is quite sore today. I have never had this problem before, it just came out of the blue. It is feeling better this afternoon but I'm skipping today's run [I don't think I could if I wanted anyway]. I haven't had any experience with this so I have no idea how long this might take. If it's not one thing it's another.

     The front of my hip felt much better today. At least I can walk without pain. Pretty sure I wouldn't get far running though so I didn't try. Certain moves still hurt. I went for a 20 mile bike ride on dirt road through the elk refuge at Jackson Wyo. 

     Still in Jackson my hip was feeling a lot better so I tried some easy running. I got about a mile and a half without any pain at all but Started to feel it a bit after that so I quit right away. I was hoping to get in another bike ride but couldn't find the time. That makes 2 very poor weeks in a row right when I was planning 2 of my most intense weeks.

     After 2 more days with Sunday off completely, I had high hopes for today's run. Everything has been feeling great while not running. I got a mile and a half into my run and the hip pain came back. I kept running a little ways but it quickly got a lot worse and I could tell there was no way I was going to get very far so I quit right then. I was really hoping for at least 5 or 6 miles. I had even taken 800 mg of ibuprofen 1/2 hour before the run for my knee. Maybe that's not enough time to kick in? So I walked back to the house and went for a 30 mile mt bike ride with a strong north wind blowing. The pain is right at the front of my left hip, right where the hip flexor is shown in the diagrams I have looked at. It is also near where the top of your quad muscles attach to the hip. 

    PM  Hip felt so good I tried running again but only made it 1.3 miles.

     Tried running again this morning. Once again everything felt great and ready to go for about a mile and a half. Then the pain comes on and quickly gets bad enough that I have to quit. Frustrating. It's been 6 days now and I haven't made much headway. With only 11 days to go something is going to have to happen fast. I may just have to skip running altogether for a couple of days.  Rode 20 miles on the mountain bike. 

     Went bowhunting elk this morning. I wore my garmin just for fun and ended up hiking about 4 1/2 miles on steep terrain. While climbing my heart rate gets to the upper 130s, about where it would be running around 8 min pace. I found a nice bull. I couldn't ever get close enough for a shot but it was fun watching him trying to keep the smaller bulls away from his cows.I'm going to go back tonight and see if I can find them again. No running today but maybe the hiking is good cross training. My hip or knee never bothered me and I didn't take any meds.  

      PM  Took my son  with me and went back where I left the elk this morning. We got right in close on the big bull. We had him within 40 yards for probably 20 min. on the other side of some trees and brush screaming and bugling at us but wouldn't quite step out for a shot until it was just a bit too dark to shoot. Then he stepped out right above us.

     After last nights excitement with the elk my son didn't want me to go back after them without him so I took him with me this morning and went back after them into the same area. We got out of there last night without spooking them so figured we'd be able to find them again. Sure enough we found them and had a good idea where they were headed. We were able to get ahead of them and hide up. It looked like a perfect setup as the first cow elk came around the hill 30 yards above us. Then five other cows all following the same path in good range as we could hear the bull bugling right behind them. We were just sure he would follow right behind them and I was about to get a great shot. When he finally came around the hill, he had climbed about 20 yards higher up the hill and came around just out of my range. I hunt with a recurve bow which is much more primitive than todays bows and my effective range is only about 35-40 yards so I passed on the shot but it sure was exciting. We hustled out of there and I was able to get my son back to school before 1st period was over. 

     I'm going to take another day off from running and hopfully my hip will be better tomorrow.  I've only run twice [more than 1 or 2 miles] in the past 2 weeks and as of Mon morning I had gained 5 pounds. The 3 day vacation eating restraunt food last weekend didn't help. I've been carfull with my eating this week and with a couple of good bike rides and all the hiking the last 2 days I've been able to drop 3 lbs back off.

     PM   Hunting again. More hiking.

     Elk hunting this morning and did quite a bit of  hiking over steep terrain. After getting home I tried running again after skipping the last 2 days. I made it past the 1.5 mile mark for the first time without having to quite but decided to quite at 2 miles to play it safe.

     It was time to test the hip again this morning after 2 days of no running and 2 miles yesterday without a flareup. I was really hoping to get about 4 miles and I felt so good for 2 and just ready to run, but at 2.4 the pain started to come back and I quit right away. Bummer. I took off on my mt. bike and went 30.3 miles. The route I took climbs almost 1000 feet over just under 15 miles [11 miles on dirt] from my house to the summit on the highway above Treasureton.  I've never made it from my house to this point in under an hour and as I was on the last 2 miles of the last climb I realized it was possible and really started to hammer. I was out of the saddle almost the entire climb and hit the top  in 59:57. I got off my bike and nearly puked. I was surprised that I had good energy for the next half of the ride. I expected to really bonk after going so far into the red at the end of that climb.

     Not much is new. I went out hunting again morning and evening and got in a couple of hours of hiking each time with no pain. I tried a run with no meds after returning from the morning hunt and went 2 miles. My hip didn't flare up but felt like it could soon so I quit before it had a chance.

     Went bow hunting morning and evening again and ran my 2 miles again. The orthopedic doc comes to town every Tuesday so I went to see him again. After looking at x-rays and checking out my hip, he determined it was an inflamed hip flexor and felt that with a large steady dose of ibuprofen along with some prescription strength anti-inflammatory cream between now and then that I should be able to give it a shot without doing any permanent damage.

     Today was the last day of the hunt and when my alarm woke me up early the wind was whipping and rain was pelting the windows hard so I didn't go out. Before seeing the doc yesterday I had pretty well decided the marathon wasn't going to happen but we decided since we had rooms and time off we would go down anyway for a short vacation. We had been wanting to do the Zion Narrows and this is supposed to be a good time of year for that as well as some other hikes in the park. After talking to the ortho I have a little hope of still attempting the marathon. I started on the meds yesterday afternoon and ran 3 miles this morning and felt pretty good. I'll have to see what the next couple of days bring.

     PM   Went for 15 miles on the mountain bike just before dark. Felt good to just get out and go for an hour instead of my runs latley that only last about 16 minutes. I think the next 2 days I'm not going to do any more running biking or hiking just popping lots of meds and hoping to get my hip flexor as rested as possible.