Catch up. Weeks 12 and 13

When we left off, our hero (ahem, me) had developed an ITB/Knee pain problem and was hoping that a combination of Physical Therapy, strength training and adapting workout schedules would help solve the problem. The past two weeks have seen improvement and regression. Sigh.

As you can see, I went ahead on week 12 and took my time to rest the knee more, switching a run for a  45 minute trainer ride on the Monday. Tuesday, I played it smart and  ran a super easy 5k on the treadmill during my lunch hour. The knee felt stiff, but not bad, actually. Still being smart, I did a pre-PT ride on Wednesday and was happy with the way things felt.

Upon hitting PT, my therapist attacked my problem leg and I seriously almost had to ask her to give me a moment the (good) pain was so intense. I joked that I never knew she could hurt me so good. HAHA. I took Thursday off to allow my legs to recover, meanwhile I had been adding in clamshells, leg lifts, butt bridges etc all week to increase strength. By Friday, I decided that I needed to run to at least test my knee before a planned long and hilly run the next day. The run was okay, but that day I headed to the pharmacy to grab a knee brace (ended up being too small) and adhesive spray for my KT tape. I taped up my knee and met up with Jamie Saturday for a challenging, but lovely 27k run around Milton.

Jamie has this way of getting people to agree to climb all of the biggest hills around. I do admit that the view from the top of the escarpment was worth it though! A combo of KT tape, Aleve and a slower pace made the run bearable and I knew I'd be okay to run Around The Bay on April 3rd, but racing it was still in the air. That good feeling was tempted right away when I heard from Sam that she had sprained her ankle on her long run. Man! What is with us training for marathons together!?!?!

Week 13 started well.

It is a privilege to grow older. So many don't get the chance.

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Mar 21, 2016 at 3:42am PDT

I turned 39 on Monday and so I took off at 4:36am and run the year. My knee held up really well (with tape, but no Aleve) until about 12k and then it "seized" a bit. I was able to run through and finish. The pain is so weird. It comes and its horrible, but then it just ... goes  away as I run. I have no idea how to temper it.

Tuesday I rested in order to ... rest my knee. I also went back to PT and she used shockwave on me this time. CRAZY! But oh so good! She was telling me that I'd be better pretty much right away and she wasn't wrong! I ran on Wednesday (a treadmill 8k, with 4 at 5:11/km) and had ZERO pain! Again, playing things smart, I decided to hit the bike for a short, if intense ride on  Thursday.

One way to wait for the Swiss Chalet to arrive. #trainerroad

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Mar 24, 2016 at 4:14pm PDT

It was all systems go for the now traditional Good Friday Road Races. Per usual, Alasdair was running the 1k but this year Fergus joined in the fun. I like that they stagger the kids races by age, so Alasdair took off with his hockey friend and a few minutes later, Fergus and I were off as well. Both kids put in great efforts with Alasdair coming in 7th (his friend came in 3rd!). Alasdair and I will be running his first 5k race sometime this summer for sure.

Top is Fergus, Bottom is Alasdair. I may not keep up on our 5k!

My friend Kelly came to run the 5k and blasted to a 4th overall victory and 1st in our age group (30-39) with a blistering time of 21:03, netting her a personal best for the distance and a massive truffle filled, chocolate egg as a prize. I forgot to change my 910xt from the display above and ended up running by feel for an average pace of 4:55/km. I'm very happy with the effort, especially considering I managed to call Swiss Chalet with my new blue tooth headphones in the 2nd KM and ended up walking to hang up my phone. I bettered my placement from last year and was 6th overall for F30-39. Net time for 5.11km was 25:07. My knee didn't bother me at all.

On Saturday Ivanka, Sam and I met up to run a double out and back to ensure that neither Sam's ankle, nor my knee would cause us further problems. We ran a very easy flat route in Burlington and kept the pace reasonable. I didn't tape but I did take an Aleve pre run. Not taping was a mistake. My knee was bothersome pretty much throughout the run, even if the weather and company was spectacular. I struggled through the last 8k especially. Sigh. I've got to figure out how to get back into PT this week and I must ensure my knee is taped VERY well for the race on Sunday. But you know what? You can't beat these  morning views.

My knee was horribly painful for the rest of the day and night. Waking up on Sunday didn't offer any relief either. Still, I jumped on my bike for a 45 minute recovery spin. When I got off, the knee pain was gone and hasn't yet returned. Hmm, who knew? This week will likely spell more rides of similar effort and intensity before heading into my fifth consecutive 30k race at Around the Bay. If nothing else, I'm looking forward to crossing  my favourite finish line on Sunday.  I'll be back to set up the goals once they are solidified. Until then, please do some anti-wind dances for us for Sunday, okay? The weather is looking BRUTAL.

Road To BQ: Week 11

Suffice to say, with week 10 ending on the high of the Chilly Half Marathon, I was eager and excited to tackle week 11 with renewed vigour.

The week started with Sam and I discussing if we should look at changing the harder workouts in the Pfitz-Douglas plan I had adapted from their Advanced Marathoning book. Suffice to say, after more than a bit of discussion, we agreed that we'd both do what works best for us, but that a few ending KM at race pace wouldn't go astray and decided to test the theory on Saturday's long run.

The rest of the week went really well in terms of workouts and pace. I nailed my 6x100s workout and ran my final split at 3:33/km pace - or 100m in 20 seconds. I know that my form was awesome and I could feel the difference ensuring perfect form made in the pick ups.

Wednesday was supposed to be 18k with 11k at half marathon pace, but as Sam and I had agreed to run at least 3k at marathon pace in the Saturday long run AND due to the fact that my legs were absolutely SHOT from the previous efforts, I ended up just running an easy 13k before work. The weather was amazing for March 9th and I was over dressed.

Wednesday was my work "Christmas" party and I decided to stay down town in order to ensure I got a really good nights rest. I left the party around 10pm, hopped into a cab and immediately sent him in search of McDonalds. I hadn't had much to eat at the party and sometimes you just need a Big Mac.

Big Mac attack.

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Mar 9, 2016 at 7:21pm PST

After an awesome 8 hours of sleep at the Strathcona Hotel, I woke up and decided to finish off my 18k run, with the final 5k on the Martin Goodman Trail. I had mapped out a route in Strava but basically just ran out until my watch said 2.5k and turned around and ran back. What a lovely way to run on a dedicated path in the city. It was nice to wave to the other runners who were out and also to see the city slowly come to life. Too bad it was a foggy (but warm!) day; I didn't get to enjoy all of my normal Toronto views

This run felt fine. I had felt a twinge in my right glute on the Wednesday morning run, but it was totally gone by this time, so I was happy to write it off as a one time random thing.

Saturday was long run day. Sam, Ivanka and I met near the lift bridge in Burlington to run the Around the Bay route, plus 2k for a total of 20 miles. We started at the 14k point of the Bay Race course which is awesome because it front loads the run with all of the hills which hit normally from about 19-24k. Right away, the run was a gong show. I forgot one of my gels on my front hall table. Luckily, Sam had a French candy thing from Zindine which was absolutely fine at 24k, but not something I'd go back too (just a taste thing). Ivanka and I were both running with the new Spi Belt Bottles and we kept losing them. Turns out, we were both weighted down too much to keep them still. Then, my ass was frozen. Like bad. Turns out one of the bottles had broken and spilled water all the way down my ass. Awesome. Finally, my left knee basically gave out around 12k or so. I had to stop every so often to stretch it out a bit and take Ivanka's emergency Advil to get through the run.

With about 4k left to go, I noticed a good spot for Sam's regularly scheduled Insta post and we laughed our way through yet another fun video capture

Just hanging out on the @atb2016 route with @macnic05 & @vankieyeo as one does

A photo posted by Sam J (@sammykaye71) on Mar 12, 2016 at 9:01am PST

As soon as I straighten up, I knew I was in trouble. Right away, I told the girls that I'd start to walk a bit before running to give my knee some time to get used to the movement again. I started a light jog and fell into a good running pace again by the time they caught me, but soon after my knee buckled. IT Band Pain is real, yo! Sam yelled at me to walk the rest of the way, but I didn't listen. I did end my run right at 31k though when I made it back to the parking lot. I came home and took an Aleve, had a shower, rolled and taped up the knee as best as I could.

Yesterday I was still in some pain, but doing little jogs or lateral movement while playing catch with my son, didn't hurt, so I think (I hope) rest, a massage and more rolling TLC will do the trick. Oh and focused strength training as well. I guess. 7 days away from birthday 39 and my body is telling me that I need to focus on the TLC part of running too.

Needless to day, there was none of the planned 60 minute recovery bike yesterday, but I hope this is a mere bump in the road and recovery will come quickly.

Totals on the week:

I'll take it. Wish me well for week 12!