I'm not really a fan of cheese, I really do not like tomato's - however I do like ketchup. I eat chocolate and candy way too much, although not as much as I used to. I have always been a good eater of vegetables - aside from pumpkin: yuck. And I like fruit. I like many different types of fruit and actually enjoy a good fruit salad. A fruit salad with pineapple, grapes, apple, strawberries, melon, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries - that to me is a good one. Lots of variety, really colorful, different textures, and not only those - good for me too.
Sometimes I'll get a bunch of fruit and blend them into a smoothie, but I don't enjoy that as much as just picking my way through a bowl of different fruit. Admittedly I'll add some ice cream in there at times - but let's just move on from that shall we.....
The last few weeks have a fruit salad of types for me. Meaning - a whole bunch of stuff mixed together and most of it good for me. Unfortunately - my running has taken a back seat - some of it by choice - other times due to other commitments and an injury.
2 weeks after the North Fork 50K I was easing back into running having recovered well and quickly - I was playing Basketball with my son and we smacked knees - hard. Instant pain, swelling and I knew it was not good. After much resting, icing etc it was feeling a bit better - so a week later, after having not run for a week I ran the Classic 10K - having a free entry got me there. After a few short warm up strides my knee felt way off and I should not have run the race. But I did and the adrenaline seemed to kick in. I toed the starting line thinking of race strategy I have never employed in who knows how long. Normally I start out slow and try to either stay steady or pick up the pace. This time I was going to go opposite that.
Due to my knee not feeling like it would hold together I thought I may as well go as hard and as fast as I could for as long as I could. After a couple of miles at near redline effort for me my knee was doing okay, relatively speaking, so I thought I could make it through the race. I passed the 5K mark and was only 15 seconds off a 5K PR - well on track to break my 10K PR. I slowed a bit over the remaining 5 K but still ended up coming in 30 seconds faster than ever before. A pleasant and unexpected surprise.
Instead of waiting 45 minutes for the shuttle to take me back to the start - I decided that I would run back. Dumb decision as it was a miserable run back, my knee really started to ache and by the time I was done I was in great discomfort.
No running for 2+ weeks. I couldn't. I had trouble walking, especially negotiating stairs.
I saw a doctor and fortunately nothing seemed broken or torn. Just a very deep bone bruise and inflamed area behind the knee cap. Lots of Icing, resting, wrapping, elevating.
Finally 2 weeks ago and having now gained 8 pounds since the 50K I was done with the dumb knee. I had enough and started to lightly jog. Adding a few miles each day. Having a lot of walking times during the run. Icing after each time and trying to rest up. I got in 14 miles for the week. By the end of the week my knee was about 80%.
This past week it was feeling better and I added a bunch more miles on and seemed to have come out of it with the knee intact. I did do a lap Falcon Trail from the B52 connector yesterday - 14.2 miles and my knee did okay. Possibly a little too much mileage too soon - but the day after the run - in which I did take the day off - the knee is okay and I will hit a trail somewhere tomorrow morning. I'm putting my knee at about 90% right now. As for my fitness - well that has issues. The slowest lap of Falcon in months and months.
I have the Stump Jump 50K coming up in less than 7 weeks. I have no chance of being in my best shape before then. That's disappointing but I will give it and training for it my best effort. Going in with low expectations will possibly help. Going in under trained will not. Going in injured will not be a good choice so I will try to train smart, lose some of the gained weight and be as best prepared as I can.
In the past few weeks I have had opportunity to get a good amount of swimming in which has helped with my fitness, helped also with the knee coming around. I should have been doing more swimming earlier in the year as I really like the benefits of how it helps fitness, strength and not such a pounding on the legs and feet. I will look to keep on doing that as much as possible.
Other fruit salad or miscellaneous items that have happened in the past few weeks - sold my house, helped get my family moved into their new place - a few long days involved with those items. Work at The Broadmoor has been going well. My kids are back into soccer and doing well. My son is starting goal keeper for the Varsity Soccer team - as a sophomore. My oldest daughter's team went undefeated in a soccer tournament this weekend. Pikes Peak Marathon and Ascent was this weekend and even though I said I was done doing either after last year when I came 5th in my age group - I paid attention enough to the results today to think I might have done okay in this years marathon. So I am thinking about next year for that - but I am also thinking about maybe trying a 50 miler out which could lead to a 100K and possibly a 100 miler. Not sure about any of that yet.
So, back to checking in with a training log for the next few weeks leading up to the 50K.....
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