Runner's Knee

Unfortunately, I find myself facing another injury this year and the biggest challenge since I starting running just over 2 years ago. If my self diagnosis is correct, which from looking at the symptoms I can’t think it could be anything else then it seems that I am suffering from runner’s knee. It started to play up 2 weekends prior and progressively got worse last week. I haven’t run again and I wasn't exactly running a lot before, averaging around 10 miles a week so I’m not quite sure what caused it. However, from examining the causes that can lead to the issue, I need to consider whether my running shoes were a factor in that they may have gone beyond their mileage resulting in a reduced cushioning performance which may have translated into higher impact on my knees.  In fact they can't be as I've only done about 330 miles in them since Mar 13.  The following sites provide some further information on the problem if interested.

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/beating-injury/bodyworks-runners-knee/229.html

http://www.marathon-training-guides.com/runners-knee.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/199726-exercises-to-help-runners-knee/

It’s extremely frustrating and depressing, as the weather has improved and it hasn’t been raining but, now it looks like I’m going to have to avoid running on it for a while to give it the best chance of recovery. That means all my fitness is going to disappear and when I do start running again, my asthma is going to make it unpleasant for a while until my body gets back in the swing of things. Until then I need to do something that at least gives me a fighting chance of maintaining some of my fitness and to ensure that I don’t start piling on the pounds, especially with Christmas just around the corner and another week away at Lancaster University early in December scoffing hotel food and drink.

So I need to get a new routine up and running (no pun intended) if I am to stick at it. Thankfully, I have access to a cheap gym therefore I think swimming is my only option and leg/core strengthening exercises at the moment. So, I’m going to leave it a whole week of rest, then aim to start on Monday.

Monday Update: Started today on my new regime; jogged slowly to the pool (about 1 mile), swam for about 20 minutes continuously, got bored, ran back to work, some chest tightness as expected but, no adverse knee pain to speak of yet but only time will tell. If all goes swimmingly (no pun intended), will continue with this routine tomorrow and then Thursday. If all goes ok, I might alternate with cycling and other low impact activities before I gradually start to build up my running fitness again. The short runs to and from the gym will also help with this.

Nights drawing in

With the arrival of darker nights following the clock change and winter temperatures, one of the negatives of running in a running club at 6.30 pm has come to light (or not as the case may be). To that end I will decide each week throughout the winter as to whether I prefer to see where I’m going albeit on my own at run lunchtimes or whether I run with others in the club, but in complete darkness with poor street lighting and glare from car lights and reflections. 

I won't be able to completely avoid running in darkness this winter though as when I am working on my post graduate study at Lancaster University, the only time I can fit a run in is after 6 pm as I don't do early morning runs especially in the winter when there is a high chance of ice or slippery conditions.

Other than that, my running has been pretty steady since my last blog update, averaging between 8 and 12 miles a week depending on whether I manage 2 or 3 runs in a week.  

Because of my study I have introduced some new routes into my routine when away studying.  One particular route, involved a long climb to a wind turbine but was rewarded with views to Blackpool Tower and illuminations in the distance on the way back down, even the path of the M6 carving through the Lancashire countryside below looked serene in failing light.  

Unfortunately I didn't stop to take a photo but will endeavour to include more in the future.

What a week!

I did mean to publish this blog when I hit the 200 workout mark on Endomondo however, that number has somehow surged to 239 workouts in a blink of an eye or in my case month since March 2011 (1097 miles in total, 0.0044 times around the world - nearly there :lol:)!  Commuting to work once a week by Bike has helped the workout numbers surge as that counts as two workouts; one there and one back :)

Anyway, moving on...this week has been great in terms of exercise despite losing my 2 year old running partner to another country at the start of the week (...and what's wrong with the weather in this country!?...oh, oh right!) who usually made at least one of my runs each week more bearable.  Running Club thankfully does now help fill that gap.

Moving on again, this week I wanted to get my running mileage back up to around the 15 mile  mark but, have actually achieved 16.96 miles with a long run of 7+ miles today, my longest non stop run in nearly 12 months!  In addition to the runs, I also completed two cycling workouts (1 commute) totalling 13.91 miles.  If the calculations are correct (it's good to hope), then the Endomondo website reports that I have burned near on 4000 calories this week alone...34" waist here I come......that was until I scoffed some of my favourite chocolate...Lindt Lindor that my wife bought me today as its our Anniversary and the excess food that I'm about to consume out celebrating....

Also this week, I have finally made the step back to an Apple iPhone (albeit an older 3GS model as it was what I wanted and could reasonably afford).  It also fits in my running armband to so bonus, no new accessories required!  Although I think the Android Operating system has come on leaps and bounds in the last couple of years; music management or lack of is where it lets the side down.  Most of all with Apple, I like being able to rate songs (on a 5* scale) when I'm listening to them (apart from when I'm running to them that is :lol:) and then syncing back to iTunes to help me form smarter playlists that may help improve my running playlists; something that in my opinion works best on Apple's software at the moment. 

Considering my 2nd hand iPhone 3GS doesn't have as good specifications and is a year older in terms of when it was released than my Android albeit budget handset, its amazing how much more slicker, smoother and faster the whole Apple experience is.  I just need a faster computer now to be able to cope better with iTunes because it does run slowly on my 6+ year old computer....

Things may change with what Android and Windows will offer in the future and I will revisit the competition if they introduce similar music management systems that can rival iTunes and Apple's software, but at the moment I'm glad to be back with an iPod/IPhone.  Only downside I can see at the moment, is that you can't get Andoku Sudoku for iOS but, I'm hoping I can find something in the app store which is close enough :).

From my statistics, by the time I post my next blog, I would have run over 200 times since Mar 11 and covered a distance of around 825 miles.