MRI results and cross training week #2

Tuesday morning I had an MRI of my right knee and spoke with my orthopedic surgeon about the results the following morning. I have an oblique tear in the non-vascular (white zone) section of my right meniscus. We decided that given the tear will not heal on its own and it causes so much pain that I will be best served by having a meniscectomy. The procedure is scheduled for July 30th. The care that I have received thus far has been phenomenal so I am confident that the procedure will be a success. If recovery goes well I will be running again by October.

Image downloaded from http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/knee-pain/meniscus-tears 

Meanwhile I have continued my cross training in the pool. I am still really enjoying the training plan, so not being able to run has been bearable. For the aquajogging sessions I clip my ipod to a baseball cap for some tunes (idea from running buddy Christa Iammarino) and I purchased a waterproof mp3 player for longer swims. The FINIS product must be one of the greatest items EVER! I have been using it for a week and love it. No earplugs people...this little gem transmits the sound through your cheekbone.

My training week looked like this:
Monday - 54 minutes aquajog with warm up, 3 sets of 5 x 1:30 hard, :30 easy, 2:00 easy between sets, cool down; 3,000 yd swim (300 warmup before aquajog,(Aquajog), 300 pull, 400 kick, 300 pull, 4x200 on 4:00 (3:30 down to 3:19), 100 back drill,100 back swim, 6x25 back hard on :45, 350 paddles/buoy, 200 cool down)

Tuesday - 60 minutes aquajog with warm up, 3 sets of 4 x 2:30 with :30 easy, 2:00 easy between sets, cool down; 2000 yds easy swim (500 easy warmup, 400 kick, 300 pull, 200 free build, 5 x 100 free, 100 back cooldown)

Wednesday - 50 minute continuous swim (2800 yds.)

Thursday - 45 minutes of strength and stretch

Friday - 64 minutes aquajog (3 sets of 1:00 hard, 1:00 easy, 2:00 hard, 1:00 easy, 3:00 hard, 1:00 easy, 2:00 hard, 1:00 easy, 1:00 hard, 2 minutes recovery between sets); 3100 yds swim (250 free, 5x100 on 2:00, 250 recovery, 50 kick, 200 free, 4x100 on 2:00, 200 free recovery, 50 kick, 150 free, 3x100 on 2:00, 150 free recovery, 50 kick, 100 free, 2x100 on 2:00, 100 free recovery, 50 kick, 100 back cool down)

Saturday - 56 minutes aquajog (warm up, 4 x 5:00 hard with 1:00 easy between, 6 x :45 sec very hard with 1:15 easy between, cool down); 2000 yds (400 bouy, 400 kick, 300 paddle/buoy, 300 kick, 200 paddle/buoy, 200 kick, 200 paddle/buoy)

Sunday - stretch focus

The days that I am in the pool, I am working out for 2+ hours so I have started bringing nutrition with me. The best stuff has been Hammer Gel and Heed during the workout and Recoverite afterwards.

Another week down!

What is your favorite pool workout?

A new challenge

Given that I am almost 40 years old and have been running competitively for over half of my life, I am, in part, lucky to never have suffered a running injury...until now. Genetics and my marathon shuffle (low impact) likely played a part in my great "run" of being injury-free, but the streak is OVER.

I started having tightness/soreness on the inside of my right knee-area and directly under the knee cap in April. I originally thought that it was some form of tendinitis as the discomfort would disappear after I warmed up. I did a workout on winding trails in June. During the workout I did not feel a thing, but later that day the discomfort was worse than normal. I picked up my icing sessions, but the discomfort continued to worsen. By late June I realized that I needed to take time off.

I took two weeks of no running. The knee felt much better so I tried a run. I made it less than a mile. Uh-oh.

This week I went to an orthopedist. He took some X-rays and ruled out bone and arthritis issues. The most likely candidates now include a meniscus tear, which I will need an MRI to determine. I am hoping to get in next week for the imaging and back to the doctor for an analysis of the results.

I was initially very upset about being "for real" hurt, imagined every worst case scenario possible, and was absurdly weepy. This response was of course ridiculous and inefficient. Reason #100021 to have a good coach. Coach Clifford challenged me to embrace the forced time off as a time to work on my form and take a mental break from running. Additionally he gave me an aquatic plan that should allow me to maintain my fitness. Challenge taken.

I am about to complete my first week of cross training and I have no doubt that I will be an aqua-beast by the time I return to running. I was in France for the first few days of the week (without a pool), so the week looked like this:

Monday: 30 minutes stationary bike, 30 minutes strength and balance training; plenty of walking around France (shopping!!)

Tuesday: 30 minutes stationary bike, 30 minutes strength and balance training; travel back to the US

Wednesday: 2400 yds. (500 free warm up, 400 kick, 300 pull, 200 build, 5 x 100, 500 free cool down); got some stroke tips from Coach Tom

Thursday: 20 minutes stationary bike, 50 minutes strength and balance training (pool closed due to thunder); aquajog in the ICW (10 min. warm up, 2 sets of 5 x 1:30 hard with :30 rest (2-3 minutes between sets), 10 min. cool down)

Friday:  300 free warm up, aquajog workout (5 minutes warm up, 2 sets of 14 minutes (1 hard, 1 easy, 2 hard, 1 easy, 3 hard, 1 easy, then back down), 10 minute cool down), 300 pull, 2x50 on 1:00, 2x100 on 2:00, 2x150 on 3:00, 1x200 on 4:00, then back down, 200 back alternating kick and pull, 100 cool down for a total swim of 2500 yds.

Saturday: 500 free warm up, 400 kick, 300 pull, aquajog workout (3 minutes easy, 4 x 5:00 hard with 1:00 easy between, 3:00 easy, 5 x :45 very hard on 2:00, 10:00 cool down), 300 pull, 5x100 with paddles and alternating with buoy, 200 back alternating kick and swim, 4 x 50 free hard on 1:00, 100 cool down for a swim total of 2500 yds.

Sunday: A scheduled day off from the pool with 45:00 of yoga/stretching/balance/strength

Total swimming: 7,400 yards
Total aquajogging: 2:21:00
Total strength/balance: 2:35:00
Total bike: 1:20:00

Whew. Bring it on! My hopes are still alive for running Cal International Marathon in December.

Until next week,