Progress...then a setback

On Sunday Oct 23, I had my longest run post surgery. 11.5 miles. I averaged 9:37/mile and by the end was running around 9:20/mile. Definitely the best long run post surgeries. After taking the next day off, I decided to do my "tread striders" workout on Tuesday Oct 25. Though my knee felt a little sore and stiff, I did 18 30-second striders with the last six at 9.9 mph (6:03/mile). That is the fastest I've been able to do this workout. However, this was clearly a bit too much. In the days that followed I had a major flair up of pain and stiffness in the right knee. I think there was a bit of swelling as well. 

After the knee pain flare up I took 3 days off of running and then tried to resume. That didn't go so well. Running has been painful. I missed some weight lifting workouts as well. My knee has felt a little better the last 3 days and I've been able to do two short and easy runs and a weight lifting session. Hopefully I'm on my way back from this setback.

So...what went wrong and what can I learn from this setback. Well...starting with the obvious: I got a little too excited about my progress, did too much, and ignored the signs that I might be doing too much. I think the long run was fine. I didn't push it. I ran relaxed and let the pace come to me. The big problem here is that 11.5 miles is a huge workout for me (especially at my age and in my current state of fitness). Following that with just one day off and then doing my most aggressive speed workout of the year was not smart. When I started that workout, I had some discomfort, but I ignored it and did the workout anyway.

I think the key lesson here is that a long run and 2 speed workouts per week is way too much for me right now. (Heck, that is a lot for anyone...stuffing 3 big workouts into each training week makes keeping up with recovery difficult.) I wanted to make quicker progress on rebuilding my stride and sprint speed...but to do this while increasing my long runs and overall weekly mileage is too much. I think I need to choose one of two paths here: focus on rebuilding my stride/speed and deemphasize mileage, or continue to build mileage, but go much slower on the rebuilding of speed. I think I'll choose the latter. If I'm able to bounce back soon from this setback, I'll do one long run and one quality day per week and keep them separated by more than one rest day.

Many posts ago, I mentioned the 80+ year old runner Roger Robinson who has had success after 2 knee replacement surgeries. He has written that he found it necessary to sometimes take 4 recovery days after each hard effort. He has said (and I'm paraphrasing here) that you can do a young person's workout if you do an old person's recovery. I'm not in my 80s, but at 57 coming off of 2 knee surgeries, I would be wise to head Roger's words and make sure I take as much rest as needed between big efforts.

Hopefully this mistake is not fatal (to my running comeback) and I will be able to apply the right adjustments to my schedule and my attitude. I still don't think it is out of the question that I might race before the end of the year. That is a decision that only my knee can make. Small (non-fatal) mistakes are okay...that is how I will learn the boundaries of what I can do and make adjustments to my schedule.