This weekend

I ended up playing catch up again today.  I felt really sick all day yesterday and didn't make it out, so I ran today.  I had another fast run today for 3.5 miles.

Friday's run didn't go so great.  My knees were really bothering me the whole time.  I only went 2.8 miles.  

I've been running faster on my short runs, but still having issues with my knees on the longer ones.  All I can do is be patient and work myself into shape I guess.

Shorts!

I was home early today so there was still daylight when I went out for my run. Apparently this is our last day of warm weather before we get hammered by snow again. I decided to be one of the brave (read: foolish) people who wore shorts for running today. I was somewhat surprised by how many people did the same.

It was great to see so many people out and about in the sunshine. It made it feel almost like spring. Hopefully the snow we get tomorrow won't stick around too long.

I took off nice and fast and felt pretty good. Again my knee started to act up though. It's been worse the last few runs despite my best efforts to take care of it. I ran a total of 4.5 files again. My pace was great but it's a good thing I didn't go much further. I'm afraid that my knee will be pretty sore tomorrow as it is.

Two short runs

Next post I promise I'll actually try to write about something more than just the basics of my runs, but not tonight. It's late already.

Saturday I just ran around Lake Harriet. I felt very run down for some reason even though I didn't have much going on this weekend, so I didn't try to go too far.

Today I tried to go a little farther. I went about half a mile around Lake Calhoun before I decided to turn around. My knee was already starting to feel achy. My pace was good for the 4.5 miles that I ran, but I'm pretty disappointed in my knee acting up again.

Another good one

The warm weather recently had made it so the only real obstacles in running are the puddles. Now that we're back to some more seasonable weather those puddles are nice slick ice sheets. It could certainly be a lot worse, but it did slow me down a bit. Since I run after dark, it's hard to spot the ice so I have to be extra careful.

That said, I had a really good run tonight. I went around both Lakes Harriet and Calhoun and only had some minor knee pain. I was concerned here and there that it was going to get bad, but luckily that never happened. I told myself over and over to turn back if I started to feel knee pain so that it wouldn't be really bad by the finish. I definitely would've been more prudent to do so, but I ignored myself and got lucky.

My pace was much better than the last time I ran that far as well. My mile pace was down by 13 seconds. I don't feel like I'm forcing it as much lately, which is great. My form feels a lot more natural and I'm able to relax while running. If I can consistently go for these longer runs without too much knee trouble, I'll be well on my way back to shape.

Don't drink and run

I had a happy hour after work tonight and didn't get home until about 8:30. I wanted to get a run in so I'd be back on schedule. However, a big meal and a couple of beers is not really the best running preparation in the world. I did manage to run around Lake Harriet and go at a decent pace again though. It wasn't my most pleasant run, but I'm glad I made it out.

Weekend running

I had a couple of good runs the last few days. Friday I ran around Lake Harriet (2.8 miles) but managed to pick up my pace from an average of 10 minute miles to less than 9 minute miles. I felt really good the whole run. Sunday was a long day and I wasn't feeling well so I put off my run until today.

Today I ran 3.5 files with a pace just over 9 minute miles. Again I felt really good throughout the run. I'm sure a lot of the progress on these runs is because they are short runs and I don't have time to feel the strain on my knees. It has been nice to pick up the pace though.

So close

Tonight's run couldn't have been much different than Monday's. I started out fast with no knee pain at all. I decided to go for both lakes. At about the halfway point I started to notice some aching in my knee but nothing serious. I was able to keep it going pretty well until I only had about a half of a mile to go, at which point the knee pain really kicked in again. I fought through the last little bit and finished with an average pace of about 9:50 per mile. That's pretty good in my recent running history, so even with the bad ending I'm feeling pretty good about tonight's run. And yes, I did make sure to take some drugs to stop the knee from swelling this time.