Since the debacle of Boilermaker, I was able to bounce back and resume training, and found myself getting into decent shape. At the Oak Tree 5K in August, I ran 18:02 with a 5:38 last mile. Being my second-fastest 5K since 2018, I was buoyed by this progress and thought I should springboard my fitness into a decent marathon. I’ve only run two marathons since 2019, and neither were what I would call resounding successes: the first was a disaster where I hit the wall and walked the last few miles to an almost personal worst, and the second was more enjoyable, but I could still only muster a 3:07. I wanted to see if I could go under three hours again.
However, as seems to be the case lately, as soon as I started getting some fitness, my body had other plans. My left knee began to feel loose and clunky, with lots of popping and clicking every time I moved it. I took some time off, started doing more strength exercises, and even saw a sports ortho, but now, two months later, it’s still doing the same thing.
Strangely enough, it feels best when I’m running. Mind you, it still doesn’t feel great, but at least it’s not aching and clicking when I run. But pretty every other moment, it feels uncomfortable and sore. So I’ve resumed some light training, but don’t want to jump too quickly back into mileage and workouts, in case that exacerbates it. But even though I can run a little, the time off and lack of real training means a marathon is off the schedule for this fall.
Running as masters athlete is an exercise in frustration and cross training!
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