2026 Year in Review and Future Plans. How Long Will My Knee Hold Up?

 

What an incredible year of running it has been for me. Adjusting for some age-related decline, I'm back to running the way I did before my right knee surgeries of 2020 and 2021. I usually "asterisk" this by saying that I do most of the training I used to do, but I avoid big hills (especially downhills) and stay off uneven surfaces. After running a trail 100 miler and now returning to training on and around Sourland Mountain, I'm even back to doing those things (...although the 100 miler was on a non-technical trail and I'm taking it a bit easy on the downhills during my hill workouts, so I'm still making some concessions to maintain knee health).

2026 Review. I only ran two races in 2026...but they went really well. With one more week remaining in 2026 I currently hold the 3rd fastest 100K time in my age group (link), and the 8th fastest 100-mile time (link). I had intended to run the Frosty Looper 8-hour race as I did the last two years, but before signing up I saw the weather forecast, and I also saw my lengthy work and family to-do lists and decided not to sign up. Turned out to be a good call...the race was cancelled due to a snow storm. My total training mileage for the year will be over 2600 miles (assuming I manage not to get injured in the next few days). That is my all-time highest yearly total.

Training. A big change I've made in training this year is to specifically work on the "in between" paces I struggled with in my first year back from knee surgery. Before my return to "ultra" in Dec 2023, I could run speed work 7 min/mile pace or faster and medium and long runs at 10 min/mile pace or slower. When I tried to go 8 or 9 min/mile pace for extended periods, I experienced knee "flare ups" and had to take time off from running and start over again.

During 2024, I thought that I could work within that limitation on pacing. I thought 10+ min/mile pace was good enough. I would just get my mileage way up and I'd be able to hold that pace or a little slower for entire ultramarathons. It did not work. I had 2 very poor performances at 24-hour races despite some of my highest training mileage weeks ever (peaking at around 100 miles, with quite a few 80-90 mile weeks). Hypothesis: once I got really fit from the mileage and speedwork, the slow miles were no longer a strong enough training stimulus for improvement. My HR was well down into Zone 1 on these. My training stagnated. Towards the end of 2024, I started gradually and systematically reintroducing 9:00 to 9:59/mile pace.

I started reintroducing "the 9s" by embedding continuous miles at that pace during medium to medium-long workouts. To differentiate from my other 3 major workout intensities (VO2max, tempo, and steady state), I called these "unsteady state" workouts. (See what I did there.) This was a pace that would cause me trouble if I sustained it for too long. I gradually worked up to being able to do large chunks of medium and even 20+ mile long runs at this pace. Then I ran the (Dec) 2024 Frosty Looper 8-hour race and had a moving average of 9:04 for 52.5 miles. The faster training (HR mostly in Zone 2) definitely did the trick. I have been working on running more miles in the "8s" recently and I hope that will translate into more improvement in my next ultra.

Future Plans. Speaking of the next ultra...my preliminary plan for 2026 is to return to Lake Waramaug and run the 100K again as my spring "A" race. I know that sounds boring, but I like the race, it's relatively local (no plane ride), and fits into my work travel schedule. If I bounce back reasonably quickly, I have my eye on a local 24-hour race in June. This would be more of a "B" race for me. In the fall, I would like to run another 100 miler as my "A" race. Probably in November. I'm considering throwing in a few other races as part of the build up for the "A" races. I might even try something like a 6-hour timed race in place of a long run.

The Knee. I am pleasantly astonished that my right knee has held up through all this training. I'm running hard during my speed sessions and I piled up over 2600 miles in the past year. Who knew that mosaicplasty and OATS grafts could hold up under this kind of workload in a 60-year-old man? I'm very fortunate to have come all the way back, and fully cognizant of the fact that this could end tomorrow. Graft failure happens. New injuries can occur. I'm old. I'll be disappointed when this all does come to an end, but I'm going to keep pushing to see how far and fast I can go. As you can probably tell by reading this, I am doing exactly what was written on the side of HSS Sports Medicine Institute when I arrived for my knee repair surgeries (see below). Thanks, HSS!