Thursday, February 18, 2010

Taking Control of the Knee Pain

I had a little twitch in my left knee during one of last week's treadmill runs. It came to a head yesterday morning during my 5 miler. My knee hurt all day yesterday and to a lesser extent today.

I will not let this stop my running. I wanted to run the same 5 miler again today, but I took a different approach. Starting very slowly, I didn't increase my speed for the entire first 2 miles. I probably jogged those around 12 minutes each. I took very short strides, controlled breathing, landing each step on the balls of my feet. No heals whatsoever and no overextending.

Felt good. Retied my shoes at 2 miles and off I went. I tried to keep the same pace the whole way through except for the final 1/4 mile. I gave it everything I had short of sprinting. I don't want to pop my hammies anymore. I think taking extra time and care during my warmup did the trick. I usually never warmup more than 1 mile.

No pain after my run either. I think I am ready for the Run Around the Pines 5k this Saturday morning. I will rest tomorrow and I am aiming for 24:40 on the 5k.

Run Data:
5.1 miles in 48 minutes
59 degrees at the start and 53 degrees by the end of the run

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