Back to my, now long running knee saga. Last night there were two firsts for me; first visit to an orthapaedic doctor; and first doctor who didn't speak English! So a double challenge but at least an opportunity to practice my German (actually not that tough as the German word for knee is errr...knie - pronounced "knee" and all the bits inside are in Latin anyway).
Encouragingly the doc tells me he has has run marathons (plural) - which I find encouraging! So cue some fairly vigorous manipulation of my knee, which, if it doesn't result in identification of a problem will surely create one (mental note: must improve my stretching routine).
Conclusion is that my knee is basically in good condition (for a man of my advancing years) and no problem to keep running. Pain has been caused, in his view, by muscle imbalance and (probably) shortening of the ham strings. Solution? strengthen imbalanced muscles and stretch more! (how much is this going to cost me?) Recommendation: cycling to balance up muscles on inside of thighs (what are they called?).
I suspect the problem has initiated itself through the nature of the running I have been doing this year (lots of hills) and compounded by lots of downhill running (particularly in races) creating high amounts of shock.
So no need for a protracted rest - but I suspect in order to fit in the cycling (as I had already started last week) that running may be confined to four sessions a week - last weeks four sessions amounted to about 38 miles a bit light for a marathon but no choice really.
Longer term, I don't see marathons featuring much (I never like the long runs anyway) and after this October I suspect I will shift down to short races only - and if the cycling goes well then maybe I'll have a tilt at a duathlon (I might even learn to swim! and try a tri).
To be honest though more relieved than anything else.
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As for 38 miles a week being light for a marathon. 38 miles is 60km, the longest week I did for the London Marathon was 68km and I set a pb.
Which marathon is it that you doing by the way?
Duathlons are also a real laugh. Ever tried to run hard after jumping off a bike, instant rubberman impersonation virtually guaranteed the first few times you do it.
mm
The marathon is the 3-laender marathon which starts in Germany, goes through Austria, loops briefly through Switzerland and then returns to Austria to finish in Bregenz - mostly run along the shores of lake constance.
MM - we have a couple of people in the office who fancy themselves for triathlons but are coming off a swimming base. I beginning to quite fancy the idea!
Current running schedule (which I hope to maintain to the marathon) looks like:
Tuesday intervals (one hour) - c. 7 miles
Thursday steady - c. 7-8 miles
Saturday - Long c.14-18 miles
Sunday - tempo c. 7-8 miles
Total 35-41 (avg 38) I am currently flexing my long run and one week doing about 1.5 hours (or race) and the next 2.5.
I actually really like cycling but know very little about it - actually sounds like another thread!
Good news about the injury, I recall having my knee manipulated by a physio who asked whether it hurt. I think she was just checking that I recognised pain as it would have certainly hurt my good knee!
Good luck with the training.
BTW, I think the muscle on the inside of the thigh (if you mean the one that pulls the legs together) is the adductor.
I am sure that its possible to get round on less mileage but I'm hoping for a crack at sub 3:30 for which, psychologically at least, somewhere over 40 seems to be the standard wisdom.
DavidB - Partially I think you're right, in that the main reason for running long is the need to teach the body to store glycogen and use fat as fuel - so in theory a long bike ride might accomplish that. The main problem I think is that ultimately cycling is non-specific (in terms of muscle groups used) and includes periods of rest.
Distance vary quite a lot - I've been looking at what they call "sprint" triathlons which is broadly 0,75 k swim, 20k bike, 5k run.
olympic distance: 1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run.
half ironman: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run.
ironman: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mie run.
ultraman: 6.2 mile (10 K) open ocean swim, 261.4 mile (421 K) cross-country bike ride, 52.4 mile (84K) ultra-marathon run (at least they give you 3 days for this last one!!!!!!!! Check it out at:
http://www.ultramanworlds.com/
DavidB, I have to say that although I'm not convinced of the need to do high (running) mileage for marathon success I do think that the long run is one of the cornerstones for doing well over 26.2 miles. IMHO I think you can get away with dropping easier runs in favour of cycling (or some other aerobic/strenghtening exercise) but I think that speedwork, tempo runs and the long run are crucial. Of course all this is entirely subjective and may be entirely psychological!!!
All the best
mm
Also - if the knee doesn't extend properly this muscle also gets wasted as it's only triggered in the very last bit of the range of motion of the leg - which never happens if the knee doesn't have full extension (ie with the legs straight in front of you and someone pressing down firmly above the knee - can they lift your toes up so that the heel comes off the ground?
Quite apart from the quad problems this can cause acute shin splints..make cycling extra hard.. and an inability to perform well when running up hills ( I knew there had to be an excuse!)
I could go on forever but if you think this is you, then e-mail me and I'll give you chapter and verse on the 1000001 remedial exercises which work really well.
Unfortunately swimming isn't an option for me..I sink with style!