Training Log Archive: Traut

stretching and active warm-up before run.

As my right knee felt a little bit more irritated on the run, it felt a little bit more irritated the rest of the day (as was my left knee). This did not stop me, however, from having a pretty good evening PT session. I was able to do the mini one-leg squats with the other foot going out in different directions that I was not able to do in PT on Thursday.

Right calf and hamstrings very tight as well.

Ran the north shore trail again, for the same reasons as yesterday- but we went further down today so we could see the big 'Rubber Ducky': http://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/Pittsburgh-Magaz... or http://trustarts.culturaldistrict.org/exhibit/6165...

Yes, a giant 40 ft high Rubber Ducky designed to get us better in touch with out inner child was coming to town, so why not run past it? I hadn't thought about the fact that Point State Park would not only have people getting touch with their inner child, but was also the finish line for the Great Race this morning. Mile 2 and mile 3 were a mob scene of people. Mile 2 was worst on the pedestrian walkway on the Fort Duquesne Bridge. Mile 3 was even worse as I just had to stop in the mobs right by the rubber ducky.

Pace-wise I was even better then yesterday, but the 4th mile came at a metabolic cost. I wasn't consciously pushing, but trying to hit my cadence 1-2-3 count was raising my heart-rate beyond yesterday. The 5th mile I consciously relaxed... and hit the same pace at less cost. All in all, my left knee still felt frail and with some irritation. It was the worse knee. My right did not feel as good as yesterday and did get some bother. It came and went as I focused on my cadence and form. I felt good about my form, but my right knee was taking more abuse then yesterday. Fatigue? The tape on my knee gave way completely during the run, so it couldn't have been that tense to start with. Let's see how I recover.

All in all, good run with a decent pace, but knee data is mixed.

strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/85848362

C • rubber ducky 2

Event: Ellicottville Adventure Run and Hike
 

Full stretching and active warmup in morning. Full PT in evening. Left knee is definitely having more issues then right when it comes to balance and rotation.

So today I wanted to get on a flat surface to work on cadence again. We hit the north shore trail. I also broke out my new PureCadence shoes. I loved the old ones last year- so natural on my feet, but I have stayed away from minimal shoes due to my knee problems, but wanted to shake things up.

I have been feeling better on weekends- is that because I stretch and do PT before hand or because I am not sitting at work all day. Does warmup have to do with it? How can I override the effects of work?

Well... today I felt fine. My cadence fit my count and I could find some natural stride. After being so slow on the treadmill, my pace was fine today. I got down to 6:34 pace for the last mile. Left knee got touch and go at times, but held together in the end. Right knee stayed strong throughout.

I did stretch and do active warmup this morning- and, of course, I wasn't at work all day...

More data...

stretching in morning and that's it. Had a bonfire over at Alex and Mimi's and didn't get back till 1am. All the better. After feeling so bad on the run I know I would have had difficulty with rotation and balance.

With no races or orienteering meets this weekend to put me in the woods, it was time to get on a treadmill and try to work on increasing my cadence as a way of taking stress of my knee. We have been doing a little work with this in PT and I am willing to give it a try. I know I have a tendency to run with a "lazy" stride and a tendency to over-stride. 180 spm. 1,2,3 per second. I feel OK when we do it for a few minutes in PT, but the treadmill is set at 6.7 mph- so so slow... and I have no idea how quickly I will fatigue.

I did get my knee taped yesterday at PT, so I can see if that helps me start recovering.

Planned about 5 miles. I started at 6.7 mph as that really felt comfortable in PT, but not that easy. I worked up to 7.5mph and was just struggling to keep my stride against the 'speed'?! I never felt natural and my left knee was taking a beating. My right knee was not feeling good and the tug on my right T.A. just kept getting worse and worse. It got bad enough at 20:00 that I just stepped off the treadmill... I knew I was causing damage. Why couldn't I do even a decent speed... why couldn't I feel as good as I did in PT yesterday?! I went for a short walk at North Park and my right knee did not feel good at all. This was feeling very similar to my bike ride yesterday.

why did I feel so bad on the bike and so much better in PT an hour later yesterday? It may be worth it to start looking at being warmed up for even the most simple of activities. That just may be where my body is at.

Tape didn't help me feel any better during activity the yesterday, but will it help me not cause damage I need to recover from.

stretching in morning and at work as well as stretching and foam rolling TFL after PT.

PT was a mixed bag. I felt better then I should have on the treadmill, but it was only a few minutes and slow. Next time we will have me go longer after the exercises so I ca fatigue and she can look for any rotation in my stride. Today, my knee held up and I was able to math the 178 tempo. The focus on keeping my knees and hips aligned is coming more clear. Most exercises went OK, but I could still not get my right knee down to a lunge position again- that did not change. I also struggled with a new single leg quarter-squat exercise- so my right leg was not immune to the squat position. My left leg was worse though.

felt awful.. really awful... The first interval I got out of the saddle I my right calf was really misfiring. It just kept going downhill from there. I was rotating my feel and knee. I couldn't find a stride at all. My feet as tight in the foot-strike as the rest of me was. My right knee started to feel really irritated as I walked back to the locker room.

Did go for a short walk at Fifer's field before PT just to do something nd to get outside. Knee was a little better walking there.

In a way it was good, because I head into a session of PT while I am down. This will be good data.

Took my road bike out of the car and hung it up for the season. This just hasn't been a year for biking. Today I even had the nerve pinching going on in my glute. Between my back and my glutes and just so much time without being able to get a natural form in either knee, I just haven't gotten out on the bike much. This year, the bike has been worse on my body then running in many ways. In previous years I have gotten strong on the bike and it has helped my strength and fitness. This year I am lacking the running and the cross-training... My right calf is something that changed from those previous years and also seems to be pertinent to the bike, especially getting out of the saddle.

Was able to go into work late this morning, so had time to do a full stretch and active warm-up (minus world's greatest stretch- still couldn't get into lunge position). In evening did full PT. Foam roller felt good on TFL and my balance was a little bit improved from yesterday- that is a good sign. No matter how bad my run is, I am on an improving course. An interesting thing is that my right leg felt great in almost everything. the single leg raised quarter squats went well, as did glute resistance band work. What I couldn't do was consistent- I could not lower that knee into the squat position.

My left knee was different. My left knee really struggled with the squats and balance work (although the balance work also had me struggling to pull my right leg back into position. Weakness in my right leg could make it harder on the stabilizers in my left), but could slide down into a squat position easily.

I felt bad in both knees. I would keep trying to find my form and if I felt it coming, it did not last long at all. I tried increasing my turnover and the result was the same, but quicker fatigue. I felt rotation on impact for a lot of the run, but had moments where I could relax my foot-strike. It was not a good run and when I got on the more technical white trail section, I very quickly went downhill. I stopped to take a short break to try to recover. At that point /I proceeded to tighten up that I couldn't call what I did after that running. I stopped at that point and walked it in. Only about 3.5 miles.

Due to having to attend a back to school picnic after school today (didn't get home until after 10:00pm) I did not do any cardio again. I am still ridiculously tight, so that may not be a bad thing. The car ride up to Edinborough and back had my back extremely tight when I got out of the car. I am just sort of in that state again. When I got home I wanted to at least stretch and do active warm-up exercises. I was rotated and really struggled to balance of teh balance/glute exercise and then couldn't get down into a squat on world's greatest stretch. Knew to just bag it at that point.

Aside from a 30-minute walk with Claire in the backpack at North Park, I took today off from cardio exercise due to spending my time after work, and before picking up Claire, pulling up carpet in the basement after the hot water heater died in spectacular fashion. The musty smell is upon us and I need to get the padding out of there.

It was also a good day to rest as I am very tight in and around knee as well as hamstrings and hip flexors. The good news is that the swelling does not seem any worse then before the weekend. I do feel quite a bit of restriction though- which could be just tight quads or swelling I am just not seeing. There is so much more tightness following orienteering on Sunday then after racing the 6k on Saturday. The problem is there are a few variables present. It could be that I was taped on Saturday and the tape gave way before Sunday's meet. The tape may have kept things in line enough to keep the damage down and therefor, the recovery up. Sunday was also a very different terrain then Saturday though. Saturday was a flat rail trail. I may have been faster and worked consistently harder on Saturday, but I could be in control the entire time. Running over uneven steep terrain up and down on Sunday has always been tougher on my muscles and knees then running flat. I was not in control of my form well and there was a lot of downhill. Another factor is that it was the second day of hard work running. Maybe Saturday weakened me so that I couldn't hold my form on Sunday. It is hard to say how big, if any, a factor teh tape was. I 'feel' like it was a factor, but that isn't good data.

As far as the PT. I stretched in am and pm. Did active warm-up and glute stuff as well as single leg raised quarter squats in evening. Had a lot more balance and rotation issues due to being so tight. Hip flexors seemed to betaking too large a roll in the single leg squats and I couldn't get down to lunge position.