Back to Basics

I think I have allowed my running form to get sloppy over the past few months and that may be partly to blame for the knee pain I have been suffering from for the past week.

The knee is improving. I ran in a 3 mile “fun run” sponsored by Front Running Sports to celebrate their anniversary on Saturday. Most of the run was pain free and when the pain did start to emerge I was able to control it by focusing on my form, particularly shortening my stride and increasing the turnover. That worked well and I was able to keep the pain in check.

I employed the same strategy this morning for a 4 mile run and didn’t experience any pain during the run, although I could tell that my knee still did not feel “right.” Unfortunately, after the run I had some fairly intense sharp pain when I attempted a quads stretch that severely bends the knee.

I’ve got the photographic evidence of my sloppy form right here from a 5k earlier this month.

You can see the obvious over striding and heel striking. I made excuses for this picture because it was right at the finish line and I was in the midst of my finishing kick.


However in this picture from the fun run on Saturday, you can see the same over striding and heel striking, although not quite as pronounced. There were no excuses this time, this photo was taken at the very beginning of the run.

Just for kicks, here’s my finishing photo from Saturday.  It’s too bad this was just a fun run with no official time. The field was so small I might have had a shot at an age group medal.

My plan over the next few weeks is to focus on the Chi Running basics and see if I can get back to pain free running. I’m even considering some barefoot running to jump start the correction.

I’ll keep you posted.

Runners are Masochists

I have been alternating two pairs of running shoes over the past few months and managed to hit 300 miles in both of them at about the same time. Coincidentally, I also suddenly started to have pain in my right knee. Hmm, what could the problem be?

Could it be weak quads affecting the movement of my kneecap or is it maybe just worn out shoes?

I prefer to look at this as an opportunity to buy new shoes.

I delayed the decision to get new shoes for a couple of weeks, but did I stop running? Of course not. Did I at least cut back? Well now, I guess that depends on how you define “cut back.” I was about 5 miles short of my usual mileage last week, but I substituted the lower mileage with my first ever hill workout on Saturday and followed that up with a hard tempo run on Monday. Unfortunately, the pain in my knee has steadily increased with each run.

Instead of stopping, I responded with RICE and Motrin (minus the Rest part of the equation).

Undeterred, I hit the pavement again this morning determined to get in 8 miles but I made it only a few strides before I figured out it would be a really bad idea to continue. My knee would not be ignored today.

It’s going to be a few more days before I have time to get over to my local running store but those few days of rest are going to kill me. Intellectually, I know that the rest will be good for me. I have been training pretty hard for the past few months and even an entire week off will not significantly affect my fitness. But the mere thought of it has me bouncing off the walls already and it’s only been one day since my last run.

I vow to do the right thing. I will rest my knee and not run again in worn out shoes while I'm still having pain.

In the meanwhile, I think I’ll add some lunges and squats to my workouts to strengthen my quads. Just in case.