Training Update...I'm Running Again

 ...well...at least for now. During my last 2 every-other-day walking/running workouts, I was able to run for 20 minutes continuously. This achieves an intermediate goal. Hopefully this is a stepping stone to further achievement.

My pace has been pretty good for this stage. (Maybe too good?) I was able to average exactly 10 minutes/mile pace and cover 2 miles today. I have been having some right knee pain during these runs (although my knee felt better today than during the last run). Also there has been some pain and swelling after the runs...this started with the last interval workout I did (4 x 4:45/19 minutes of running total) before starting continuous running. 

Things had gone reasonably smoothly as I worked my way from 1 minute of running to 18 minutes of running over several months. I was recovering well and always ready for the next walk/run. With the increase in pain and swelling, it is clear I need to "plateau" here for a while. I need to make sure I can recover from these workouts and not go down the path of inflaming my knee.

I don't feel like I am "on solid ground" yet and recognize that I might have to back off if my knee inflammation flares up. I still need to balance the running with strength work and physical therapy exercises, since I am not yet as functional as I could be after the 2 knee surgeries. The "rehab" stage is far from over, but (hopefully) soon I'll be able to start working on improving my running.

So...what's next? As I've hinted before, I'd like to extend the length of  runs. I'd also like to work on rebuilding my stride. While living with the knee injury before the first surgery, I had lost my ability to run faster than about 7 minutes/mile pace. It seemed that the nerves/muscles would "misfire" and my stride would fall apart. My brain was instructing my right knee to rise to a certain level...but the knee wouldn't go there. (This wasn't painful...it seems that my brain was protecting the injured lateral trochlea area of my right knee.) Now after over a year of not running...I expect that I'll have to do much work to restore normal neuromuscular function.

I have a few strategies to try to restore normal neuromuscular function in my knee. I want my brain to send stronger signals to my muscles. One way to do this is to run uphill. A stronger signal needs to be sent to recruit extra muscle fibers to overcome the extra load to overcome gravity. I'll do this in a controlled way by increasing the incline on my treadmill for a handful of running intervals. Another way to do this is to introduce some shorter (like 30-second) faster intervals of running. I would start the intervals from where I am now speed wise...and gradually over the course of weeks to months, increase the speed--always taking care to not exceed what my knee can handle and making sure that I can maintain good form.

As soon as I feel adapted to running for 20 minutes, I'll probably try to increase the duration of my runs a bit. I think I'll introduce the neuromuscular training a little later and then try to work on endurance and neuromuscular efficiency/speed simultaneously. I'll see how that goes and then adapt from there.