7 months & 28 days

7 months and 28 days since my last run.

But today, I'm feeling very upbeat. After almost 8 months, my knee is finally starting to feel normal and for the last couple of weeks I have been going for easy-paced 45 minute walks every other day. This morning, as I was winding up my 45 minute session, I decided to break in to a jog during the last 1 minute. It was a super-short & sweet 150 meters but I can't begin to describe how good it felt! I'm positive that I will be running more by the end of this month. :) (fingers crossed). 

The last I checked, (early May) the cyst was gone but it had left behind some mild sprain to the ligament and tissues in its wake. All my research indicated that a grade I injury to the ACL (which does not involve a tear), like in my case, is only a minor stretching of the ligament and would typically get back to normal with adequate rest and wouldn't require surgery. But more information with regards to healing time & exercises or treatments to aid in healing was almost impossible to find. I'm guessing thats how "minor" an injury this is considered to be. 

But I persisted, and came across a couple of videos and articles for returning to running of which, I found one video to be the most helpful and I'm linking it up here. The video talks about rehab exercises for a torn acl but works just as well for a less severe sprain like mine. This particular article too I found useful because it explained specifically about sprains as opposed to tears which is what majority of acl injury related articles is all about.

The return to running plan, in brief, talks about walking for 45 minutes at a stretch at a reasonable pace. If you can do this without feeling a strain, you can then slowly progress to running by incorporating small stretches of it at a time. This was my 10 week plan:

Week 1: 45 min walk at easy, comfortable pace x 3 

Week 2: 45 min walk at medium / brisk pace x 3

Week 3: 450m walk + 50 m run x 8 x 3

Week 4: 400m walk + 100 m run x 8 x 3

Week 5: 350m walk + 150 m run x 8 x 3

Week 6: 2 min walk + 1 min run x for 45 min x 3

Week 7: 1.5 min walk + 1.5 min run x for 45 min x 3

Week 8: 1 min walk + 2 min run x for 45 min x 3

Week 9: 1 min walk + 3 min run for 45 min x 3

Week 10: 1 min walk + 4 min run for 45 min x 3

Week 1 I was walking at a comfortable pace which for me was a speed of 4.7 - 4.8 kmph which meant I was doing about 3.5 - 3.6 km in the 45 minutes. 

Week 2 I upped the speed to about 5.1 - 5.3 kmph which meant I was doing about 4 km in the 45 minutes. 

From Thursday, I will be beginning Week 3 and I've got my hopes up high for it. And once I'm in the thick of the program, I will know how soon I can transition to non-stop running or if I need to extend the 10 week plan.

Well, here goes...

5 months and 6 days.

5 months and 6 days since my last run.

This has been my longest time off from running since I started in 2014 and the ultimate test of my patience. I've had other injuries before this but the longest I've taken to heal was just 5 weeks. (5 weeks! Thats nothing compared to this session!) But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and know that I will be back on the road running again soon! Phew! 

Two weeks ago I took a second MRI to check the status of the injury and to my total relief the cyst is completely gone just leaving behind some minor "Grade I" strain to the ligament & tissues. I can finally resume some of my workouts and hopefully get back  to running at the soonest.

I've kept the Month of May for some rehab strength workouts, running drills and form training and some stationary cycling workouts. To be honest, I've become very wary of my right knee and possibly overly conscious of every move I make. So I need this "honeymoon" month of May to familiarize my legs with the running movement and all the other movements that I used to take for granted before (like just squatting down on the floor or sitting cross-legged or even lunges)

I'm feeling upbeat just at the thought of being able to get back to an active lifestyle. So grateful!

Will update the blog as I progress.

When you have an Owie.. :)

It's been a little more than a week since the discovery of the cyst in my knee and just about a week since I started cycling. The doctor I consulted had recommended that I start cycling, continue light-paced walking and commence strengthening exercises for my quads and hams for speedy healing of the cyst along with tips on how not to aggravate it further.

The cycling has been great. Since, at best, I'm an absolute beginner at cycling, we decided to set up an indoor training system where I could reap the benefits of cycling without the fear of bad roads, crazy traffic and hyper stray dogs having a go at my ankles. I started with 10 minutes and now I have slowly worked my way up to 15 minutes everyday. I have new found respect for those people who sweat their asses off (literally) in those fancy spin classes.

And it seems to have helped! It does feel like the discomfort in the knee is slowly easing off. It will probably take another 2-3 weeks of this for my knee to start feeling normal again and a couple of more weeks after that before I can even think of getting back to running. I'm looking at mid-Feb at the earliest if all goes well. 

As a note-to-self and for any others who maybe having a tough time with dealing with injuries, here are some thoughts...

Injuries are an inevitable side-effect of an active lifestyle. Everyone deals with it at some point - even elite athletes. So you don't have to feel bad about having gotten injured. It happens. It is also not a comment on your abilities. Even the most skilled sportspeople get injured. Manage the injury, heal, learn from the experience and get back stronger.

Patience. You gotta have patience. Healing takes time. And it takes longer as you grow older. It is very tempting to get back into training the second you're feeling okay-ish. Over the past 6 weeks, I've had several moments when I've thought, "Hey its not aching like yesterday, so lets try running again" and I'm super glad that I didn't act on that impulse for most-definitely, I would have worsened the situation and probably would have set back the healing process by a few extra weeks. 

Don't slack off. Just because you're healing does not mean that you have to veg-out and let your fitness go. Keep active. Most likely, the injury is isolated so there will be other exercises or activities that you can do without worsening the hurt. In my case, it is walking, cycling, swimming, strength-training... (basically anything that does not involve bending the knees beyond 90 degrees, locking them out, pivoting movements or high-impact movements like plyometrics or running) That way, when you get back off your injury, you're not starting off again at 0 fitness level. 

Find another love.  True, the injury might be keeping you from doing that one thing that you love but you could look at this as an opportunity to discover & pursue something else that you enjoy equally. Or you could take this time to work on something important that you may have neglected or overlooked in the past. For me, it is upper body strength. So weak, and an area that I've actively kept away from! Now would be a perfectly good time for me to work on this. Finding this other thing will help keep you going and bridge that gap between injured & recovered.

Be mindful of what you eat. Weight gain is all too common when you're injured. Mostly because you're not moving as much as before and you're probably eating the same amount as you would  have when you were in training. Learn to cut back on the calories and eat only as much as your body's activity levels demand.

And lastly....

It's not the end of the world! Though it might seem like it. If you're anything like me, you may tend to get depressed because you're not able to continue doing this thing that brings you so much joy and satisfaction. I have to keeping reminding myself that "Its Okay". I will eventually get to run again and a few weeks of not running really doesn't matter in the larger scheme of things.

Heal, Learn. Get back Stronger.

Of Knee Cysts and other sad stories...

In a parallel world I might have been writing about how I ran my longest and my first 20 miler but sadly in this world, I just had to pipe down and sit out the Chennai Marathon because of my sad, injured knees. :(

Yes there will be more such events and yes, I could be running them stronger and faster... yet, there is a mopey voice in my head that says "but you weren't running today". (Trying very hard to ignore that voice)

I gave my running 5 weeks of a time-out to see if the discomfort in my knees would ease out. But it just seemed to linger on. Of course, in that time I did read up a lot and all the running related knee injuries that I came across just didn't seem to apply to the discomfort that I was feeling in my knees. And I say discomfort and not pain because there was no major pain at all. Just that in certain positions (like a wide-legged stance or a lunge) I could feel something moving inside (like as though something was readjusting itself) and felt a sense of instability in the joint. From time to time, I would even feel a dull ache on the inside and back of the knee (quite randomly) Regular movement & functioning seemed unaffected. I could walk, climb stairs, squat, sit cross legged and even do yoga with no pain. I even tried my magic Muruvenna (an Avurvedic oil from Kerala that has literally worked magic before on previous injuries) but of no great consequence. And finally on the last day of 2018, I decided to take an MRI scan just to figure out what was going on. (Oh! Happy New Year btw).

Of all the random injuries, it turned out to be a synovial cyst (a smallish one) on the back of the knee  towards the left which had caused a grade 1 strain on my posterior cruciate ligament. Consultation with the doc revealed that this was minor and that it would go away on its own provided I didn't aggravate it any further (turns out that sitting cross legged, squatting and any position where the knees were bent at less than a 90 degree angle would put unnecessary stress on it and prevent it from healing). He did confirm that it was usually overuse / over strain that causes these sort of injuries from happening. I've also been recommended cycling and strengthening for my quads and hams. 

So thats where I am at now. This will probably take another 3-4 weeks to set right. Meanwhile, I'm still working out. We've set up an indoor cycle trainer in our gym room and I have been doing about 10-12 minutes of stationary cycling every day over the past few days. Making a conscious effort to avoid sitting cross legged or bending my knees too much. Overall staying pretty positive and hoping that I'll come out the other end a stronger & better runner. (Definitely wiser runner ;))

Run Update

Remember how in a bout of over-enthusiasm, I signed up for a 20-mile race? Well... here's how that went down.

Post my super awesome Bangalore Marathon, I had 10 weeks left to train for the Chennai Marathon 20 miler. I was super excited (but also dreading it at the same time) to start the training for my longest run to date. I downloaded the novice plan from the race organizers. The plan was for 16 weeks and I was going to jump in at week 6. I had been training for my half so that made up for the 1-5 weeks of foundation training that I skipped. Or so I thought. 

The plan, in a snapshot, had four days of running in a week and 2 days of cross training. Of the 4 runs, one was a tempo run, 2 were easy short runs and 1 was a easy long run. At week 6, the training mileage was 36K, and it peaked at 56K four weeks before the actual race. The longest run was 26K and it appeared twice in the plan.

I started the training in full earnestness. Checking off each run as it happened. First week the long run was 16K (no problems there) and I also managed to rack up the 36K for the week. Second week had my longest run to date. 22K. And that closed my week at 40K. While training for the HM, I was only running 2-3 times a week and averaging around 25K per week. So it's quite safe to say that this was quite the bump up in terms of weekly mileage and time spent on my feet. I took 2 hours and 43 minutes to complete that 22K. Sure its just 900 meters longer than the longest I have done but it also took 27 minutes longer. Throughout my HM training, the most I was running was 2 hours. This is what my body was used to. I think the sudden increase in mileage and duration of my runs was a shocker for my system.

After that 22K, my knees felt it the most. It felt completely knocked up. I should have rested it but I didn't (of course!). I continued optimistically with my training plan. I ran an 8K and then an easy 6K. I was on the road attempting a 24K when everything came to a screeching halt. 13 kilometers into the run my left knee started hurting. At that point I couldn't even walk. The pain disappeared almost as quickly as it came. A day or two later my right knee started feeling uncomfortable. The pain was not in the least unmanageable so I assumed with rest it would be fine. Three days later it felt fine. I attempted an easy 8K. Couldn't go beyond 5K. 

All running has been put on hold for now. And in all probability I will have to forego the race. I am focusing on some rehabilitating exercises now and hopefully will be able to resume running in about 6-8 weeks. 

The increased running volume was one thing but there were other factors that probably didn't help my case either. Work-wise I have been quite busy which means sitting at my desk for hours and hours on end. This is something I'm so not used to (I've always been a standing desk / workstation person) and probably the way I sit also put unnecessary strain on my knees. Moreover, I hadn't been doing any strength training for about 3 - 4 weeks (for no good reason) and had I been consistently training, my knees would have probably been able to take the increased running volume.

For now, these few weeks of rehabilation is crucial. Better to correct the imbalances now and come out the other end a stronger runner than push through this, run the event anyway and come off the worse for it.

SPBM2018 - Race Update

And I've set a new PB!!! :) :)

Here's how it went down: Race expo day went fine. No trouble finding the venue. No rush at the counters, picked my bib and race kit well in time and had a pretty much relaxed pre-race afternoon. Towards evening, I started feeling a migraine set in. (Uggh! for me these are the worst. When I get a full blown one, all I can think of is carving out the top right corner of my head and tossing it out! Too graphic huh?) I took a random headache pill, had my basic comfort meal of  curds and rice and hit the bed at 8:00 p.m.

Maybe it was the Universe's way of telling me not to push it, but come race morning, I forgot my Garmin! I had left it charging in the corner and forgot all about it as I left in the morning for the race venue. I was half-way to the venue by the time I realized that my watch was missing, and it was too late to go back for it. For non-runners this may not seem like a big deal, but it is. It is a BIG deal!! All my pace plans had to be thrown out the window because without my little watch telling me how fast I was going, I had no way to knowing if I was  going at 6'00", 6'30" or 7'00"... Aaargh!! Anyways, I decided not to let it ruin my race and figured I'd just run it. Enjoy the race and just run. 

And indeed, it was the strangest (but extremely freeing) experience to run without the watch. All throughout the race I had no notion of my pace, or the time that had elapsed. There were around 4 mile markers on the route but other than that I only had a vague estimate of the distance I had covered. There was no way of knowing if I should speed it up or rein it in. I just had to keep running. The weather was definitely much better than what I was used to in training. But given the late start of the run (6:45 am) it became too sunny too quickly and the bright sunshine was a little uncomfortable. The route was pretty (especially the parts that snaked through Cubbon Park) but there were lots of gradual inclines and lots of U-turns which tended to slow you down. And there were lots of runners!!! It was by far the most crowded half marathon that I have done. I couldn't find my rhythm till about half way in and the crowd had thinned a bit. At the start, had I heard them announce that it was a crowd of 7000+ runners. But I believe there were only 3669 finishers (and of them just 584 were women)

It was a good, strong run. I didn't feel fatigued and I didn't feel myself fading (even towards the end) and just as I was getting to the point where I was wishing it was over, I had reached the 20.5K timing mat. I had noted the time on that giant LED timer as I crossed the start line. It was around 00:01:30... And as I turned into the stadium for that last 100 meters to the finish line, I saw it was at 02:17:something. PB!! :) :) By some miracle, PB. I don't know how, but PB. :) The official timing was 2:16:38. (PB by 3 minutes and 10 seconds)

Maybe if I had had my Garmin I might have pushed a little harder for that 2:15 goal. I'll never know. But here's to going for it another day.

2 Days to Race Day

Those last three weeks sure went by super quick! 8 weeks of training (including 2 weeks taper) and I feel about 85% ready! Still not a 100% sure if I can sustain a 6'23" pace for the distance. Running any long distance event is as much a mental skill as it is a physical one. I must get into a head space where I believe I can and then I will. :) I think!

I'm all packed and set to leave for Bangalore tomorrow. Looking forward to the expo and then the actual run on Sunday. The route looks great. A fair bit of it is through Cubbon Park and thats really nice! The weather forecast says its going to be a very pleasant 18-22 degrees C and given that I've been training in a 27 - 30 degree ambiance, that sounds spectacular!! I'm going to have to rethink my shorts though!

I'm going to run with the same strategy as last time : 45 minutes for each 7K segment. Maybe tweak it slightly to 46 min, 45 min & 44 min each so I'm running positive splits. That means maintaining a pace of 6'34" for the first 7K, 6'25" for the middle 7K and 6'17" for the last 7K. Lets see how that pans out. I have never been able to follow through with a pace plan on race day before. Maybe this one will be the one!! 

Btw, I just realized recently, that SPBM'18 will be the 25th race of mine. #cheapthrills... :)