Doing What I Can

Jacob:

You should not expect good performances for the next few months due to the knee problem and reduced mileage. The fact that you can run still under 18:00 consistently with this low of a mileage and hardly any speed is actually encouraging, though.

My thoughts on where to go next. How does your knee respond to 8:00 pace? Could you run 10 miles a day that slow without causing knee problems? If yes, do it for a few months. Aerobic development can happen almost as well at very slow paces, and is primarily a function of the distance you go. As long as the pace is faster than 10:00 it makes very little difference in terms of aerobic benefits per mile.

I had a good experience with this approach a long time ago. In the winter of 1986 I overworked my knee by doing too much very sharp speed work on a 200 meter track with steep banks. That put my knee in a situation where I could run slow forever without problems, but anything fast was painful. So I just ran slow and a lot. After about a month my knee healed, and I was able to add speed work. A month later I ran a PR in 3000 meters.

Hey thanks for the advice!! I usually work out at the lower end of 7 min pace, but I have been told often that 8-9 min miles, as you also suggested, would be beneficial, especially given my ITB problems this spring. I think it is just a matter of me actually being disciplined enough now to slow down on my daily mileage runs. I just get out and feel so good, that i wanna run faster (hence the low 7 min range). I think the day I am able to drop my daily mileage pace to that 8-9 min pace is the day that my running will have matured enough to allow me to build mileage to higher weekly peaks. Thanks again for your advice!! Best of luck in your coming races!

Jacob - I assume you are still single since your personal section does not mention your wife. In that case, there is a good way to kill two birds with one stone. Find a girl that trains at around 8:00 pace and run with her. Make sure she can talk while you run.

haha, very good point. I actually do have a fiance. She doesnt run, but maybe I should encourage her to run with me occasionally. She can be my 8-9 minute rabbit haha.