Week #13

Distance Pace Weight
Last week 29.3 km 5:30 min/km 97.8 kg
This week 10.6 km 5:25 min/km 98.1 kg

Highlights of this week:

  • Got out for a Sunday run with Dave
  • Got back running at all!

Nothing much to say for this week as I actually only ran once. But at least this was an inspiration. Need to ramp up my volume this month so I am back on track in January.

Day #50

10.6 km early morning run

Wow, it took me more than 10 days to get from Day 49 to Day 50. Not sure why I fell off the wagon – it just happened. Yes, weather was crappy, but that is just unacceptable as an excuse. I am grateful that I ran into Dave the other day and just set up a run for this morning. Otherwise I don’t think I would have run today… The loss of fitness I encountered over the last 10 days is tremendous – absolutely shocking. I hope this is enough inspiration to get me back on track.

I really struggled keeping up with Dave down on Alderside. I am pretty sure that this would have been easy 2 weeks ago, but today I was just crushed. It was really good to get out this early in the morning. By 8:30 I had my run in already – it felt really good. I did notice my knee again…

Month #3

November 2017

  Distance
Pace
Weight
HR
VO2 Max
Lactate Threshold
September 72 6:15 102.7 150 45 5:19 / 163
October 172 5:43 101.0 149 50 5:06 / 160
November 216 5:31 98.9 147 51 4:44 / 161

Second full month of running! I missed my volume target by 10 km which is fine. Also, a little bit a damper is the issue with my left knee. The pain is not really going away. I may need to take it a little easier to get some relief. But on the plus side I lost more than 2 kg in weight and all fitness numbers are really good (pace, VO2 Max, LT). I cannot complain at all. I signed up for the Marathon clinic next year with the Den. We’ll see how that goes…

Goals for December:

  • improve my knee problem
  • average weight around 98 kg
  • run 280 kms
  • average pace < 5:30 min/km
  • have fun!

Day #48

2.3 km warm up to the Den and 11 km medium evening run with the Den

Easy warm up run to the Den, but somehow I finalized this run on the watch, so a separate run was created. We went down to Lafarge Lake to see the lights. It was really a social run with a few speed intervals, but overall I just put it into medium running. Anyway, this was the last clinic run of the year. The weather was very cooperative and ideal for running – nice and cool and dry. Noticed my knee at warm up and the pain was closer to a 2. It definitely felt duller than Sunday and it went away until about halfway through the run. It then came back with a 3 to 4 and took me a little by surprise. In any it was bearable and it went away fairly quickly. So, does running make the problem go away or worse? Not sure. I don’t think that running makes it worse, but there are likely some strengthening and/or stretching exercise to help improve the issue. I guess it just hasn’t gotten bad enough just yet…

Day #47

8 km evening easy run

Knee is still bothering me a fair amount. At the beginning I would rate the pain at a 4 out of 10. It started changing my stride momentarily. But after 10min it was much better with the pain subduing to a 2. The hard workout yesterday did not help, nor sitting at a desk all day – although I went out for a 20min walk today. The other not so good thing today was the fact that my crown felt out today and now I need to go to dentist. It was just a matter of time, but I am really dreading this visit…

Week #11

Distance Pace Weight
Last week 35 km 5:32 min/km 99.1 kg
This week 63 km 5:34 min/km 98.4 kg

Highlights of this week:

  • Longest weekly volume so far
  • Toughed out mile repeats with the Den in a storm
  • Combined hills with long run to the point of fatigue

Nice drop in weight this week. Seems like I moving away from my plateau. The Sunday long run was a killer this week. As I went in the evening I wanted to stay in a well lit area so I opted for David to Shaughnessy and back on David. What a way to end the week. I am starting to feel the volume, so it will be interesting to see how I do next week…

Day #46

20 km evening long run with hills

This long run really got to me. My legs felt like jello on the last 2 km rolling home. I am happy that I was able to run up Heritage Mountain without stopping once (vs 3 times the last time I tried). I did have to take a break on the way back up David again – between Johnson and Lansdowne. Overall my legs were just tired. I think the weekly volume really contributed to it, as looking at the heart rate I averaged 146 bpm which is much less that I thought it would be.

I also had some minor issues with my left knee again – but it doesn’t seem that it is getting worse. For a few moment I felt some weakness in knee, like it was going to give in. But I have felt that feeling in the past and nothing really came out of it. Overall I think these hills actually help build up muscles around the knee (that is my hope, at least). I was careful on the downhills not to put too much pressure, then again I felt so depleted that I couldn’t have taken the downhills much faster anyway. I will be interesting to see how my legs will feel tomorrow.

Day #45

10 km afternoon easy run

Easy run in the afternoon. Absolutely uneventful. The only thing to mention is that I did notice the discomfort in my left knee again. I think the kneecap is moving around and in some locations it creates a little bit of pain. It doesn’t prevent me from running, but it is starting to become a major annoyance… Pace was fine and within what I expected. Planning to do a 20km long run tomorrow. I am a little worried how my knee will hold up.