50K training week 11 - almost but not quite

So after shutting the running down during a miserable and painful 3 miles the Wednesday before, I laid low with no running, replaced by a bit of misery eating, till Monday this week - in the hopes that several days of complete rest would heal the knee nemesis.  It wasn't until Sunday that the discomfort that I had felt was mostly gone.

So on Monday, with a late Spring snow blanket on the ground of 4 to 6" - I did an easy lap of the Falcon Trail.  I took it slowly and enjoyed the soft footing in the snow.  My knee was talking to me with some protest for the first 4 miles or so.  But eventually it got better and I was able to move without too much discomfort.  Was a fairly slow lap - just under 2 hrs, 7 minutes.  After I finished the knee felt good for a few hours, I iced it and put a wrap on it.  Seemed to respond well, was a little sore into the evening, but nowhere near as bad as it was last week at this time. 

Tuesday: with still some snow on Santa Fe Trail I slogged out 4 miles, knee was actually quite sore for the first 3 miles, the last mile was better.  Later in the day, caught a flight to Nashville, TN to surprise my sister for her birthday.

Wednesday: Warm and humid in TN.  Got 15 miles in on some roads and along a scenic paved trail.  Was raining off and on, which really added to the humidity.  The running on the concrete and blacktop was not something I went into with great joy and anticipation - expecting my knee to protest a great deal.  But I survived it (running an easy 8:30 pace throughout) and the knee came through okay.  No really noticeable discomfort after - although I did wrap it for a while.

Thursday: back to CO, no running.

Friday: 8 miles on Mt Herman.  Still a fair amount of snow on the trails here after the snow from earlier in the week.  So it was a little slippery in spots, but no ice, so it was manageable.  Ended up with a time of 1:44:20, my 3rd fastest lap.  Knee was about 90% during the run and after it was fine with no issues.  The lap time was reassuring to me that I haven't seemed to lose too much fitness.  The lack of pain in my knee after was much more emotionally satisfying.

So, 40 miles on the week.  Knee is almost right - not 100% yet but a whole lot better than a week ago.  Taking today off and then will up the workload again next week.  6 weeks to go till race day.  Will attempt to play it smart on the knee - but still need to get some concentrated training in during the next few weeks.  So I need to walk / run a bit of a fine line between training hard but not overcooking the tender knee.