My knee hurts today. I should blame it on the weather; amazingly we’ve had seven consecutive days of rain. That’s near an all time record for September. While the Monsoon officially ends when the dew point drops below 54 for three consecutive days (apparently an updated definition) it generally loses its active pattern by the end of August. For an area receiving fewer than 13 inches of rain annually to have this many consecutive days of precip is quite a big deal. Some of the storms have been pretty amazing as well. Flooded front and back yards (ok, rock-yard) and lots of city plows out scraping gravel out of the washes. While I’d like to blame the sore knee on the weather it’d be more accurate to blame myself for a bit of overwork.
Following my reasonably hard effort on Labor Day I’ve only taken a day off running and still managed to fit in 20 miles on the bike that day. Today was an easy, solo-trail effort. We’re hosting out of town dinner guests tonight so needed to flex my schedule a bit which was good with me; I’ve missed the trails. Also it was my first solo run in 2-3 weeks which has been nice. With multiple groups covering 4-5 days every week plus a dedicated day with Ames and 1-2 bike days I’ve managed to fill in the weeks quite nicely. The tug of the team keeps me heading that way despite the (probable) need to take a couple days off. Perhaps this weekend.
Tuesday’s workout was familiar…..ladder up to a mile followed by a couple miles of cool-down. I used to scoff at actually paying someone to be my coach but the reality is I always had; it simply came out in a different way. With SAR it’s a one-time flat fee which then gets you shirts, food, drink, a lighted course, some car-pools as well as some professional speakers/advice. Last weekend was a normal Saturday long-run followed by a full breakfast (fruit, drinks, bagels) then an hour long seminar. This seminar was narrowly focused on injury prevention to hips and the lower back. How bones and muscles develop in those areas, what types of injuries are typical and ways to mitigate. Attended by nearly 40 of us the sponsor as well as the SAR Board was pleased with the turn out. No, not free—but part of that flat fee we pay at the beginning of the semester. This week I think we pick up our jerseys/shirts.
Coach’s wife is looking to qualify for the 2012 marathon Olympic Trials; she’s using Twin Cities as her target event so that’s been the target of conversation the last couple of weeks. She’s shown up to our workouts a couple of times; mostly to goad on Coach; not so much to get a workout in with us. Her Tuesday workout is something like 7*1 progressively faster with the last one at 5:15 or something. Far cry from our 1/4s, 1/2s, mile ladder!
About the facility…..we have a crushed limestone 1/2 mile track that circles a couple baseball fields. We share the space with the baseball teams; they’re normally warming up as we’re pushing through and their opening pitch coincides with our cool down. Coach has been doing this for several years so has the system worked down pretty well. On the downside it’s the same track~~ on the upside it’s the same track. Warm-ups utilize parts of a four mile paved path around Reid Park
plus some cleverly hidden dirt trails that weave next to a small neighborhood adjacent to the park. All in all it makes for a nice respite in the middle of the city~~ what’s lost in some of the variety is more than gained in the structure and support of a sometimes 40+ strong group. Example—on a couple miles of cooldown with a small group I was feeling pretty good about my night and gave a full answer to the question of what pace group I accompanied…I suddenly felt not so tough when Jamie, a gal I’d not met before, expressed disappointment that her mile time (high-rung of the ladder) was only 6:45 when Coach said it should have been closer to 6:30. Puffy chest: deflated. I later learned she hurt a knee a couple years earlier in a coast-to-coast touring bicycle ride; one of those 3000 mile+ deals. Also met a new guy; Greg I believe, who was called to the center of the warm-up circle by Coach. It was pointed out he had taken a few weeks off this summer and was just jumping back in after competing (well) in Ironman Brazil late May/early June. Yeah, there’s some talent in our group.
I’ll pay attention to the knee; my time on the podium, in any age category, I’ve learned has come to an end in this city of endless talent. I had a good run (figuratively, literally) so perhaps the timing of the injury/rehab/new phase is well timed. Time now to simply make some new friends and work toward the long-term sustainability of a healthy lifestyle. I’m good with that.