faster with age

     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.