15 March 2009

Err, well, it was a week

Not quite sure how I can follow "Challenging Week" and "Massive Week", so I'll just leave it at that.

Saw the orthopod on Tuesday and to my surprise he suggested we leave the MRI be and go in straightaway to fix it. Fine by me. Know what's wrong with it anyway.
Trouble is of course he is a busy boy, so to tie it in with my commitments, I am now booked for 27 April.

Even if I were to keep building up the ks now, I would not be ready for the Perth Marathon, so I'll leave that one out yet again.

But C2S is definitely on the cards as is Rotto.

The week was quite easy. As by Tuesday the left knee had blown up like a balloon I opted for rest during the remainder of the week and that was the right thing to do. It's now just marginally bigger than the right one.

In the weeks going up to the op I'll focus on just a bit of running, a fair amount of riding and will spend more time in the gym to build up the muscles supporting the knee. And yes, losing a bit of weight would be a great idea. Last time it worked wonders for my recovery, so I'll stick to that.

I had planned to watch the triathlon OD championship today but because it was my mum's last day here and I wanted to spend a bit more time with her (who knows whether the 80 year old girl will make the travel down here again), I only caught a few glimpses of the race.

Anyway, plans have to be made to improve in the swimming department and not being able to run in May will be just the ticket to get some proper coaching. Clown - are you in? Let me know.

08 March 2009

Plodding along

Yes, exactly that. Just keeping things ticking over to make sure I don't do too much damage for now.
Tuesday Run 11.27k @ 5:13 HR 144
Thursday Ride 17:08k @2:04 HR 120
Friday Run 15:34k @5:23 HR 142
Sunday Brick Ride 22:55 @2:05 HR 121, Run 6.6k @5:13 HR 134
On Thursday I also suffered my very first puncture, but I did not realise that until I pulled the bike out this morning at 5:30am. I suppose that's all part of the experience.
Knee is surprisingly good, if swollen, but of course I haven't really done anything serious.

More after Tuesday

02 March 2009

Oh, just bugger it! aka every problem is an opportunity

Eventually old age was going to catch up with me, again, or so I thought with my right knee going. But as it happens that one is fine but the left one now giving me grief.

After bumbling about for six weeks I dragged myself off on Tuesdday to the GP who just confirmed that the meniscus in that one looks pretty shot.

So off to the orthopod on 10/3 and presumably he'll want to see an MRI and will tell me that as long as I am not bothered, there is no need to go into it. Predictably, I will be bothered and will want to have it fixed.

That's the bad part, the good part is that having my fears confirmed, I thought to myself, well, bugger it, thinking that before the last surgery I did the Perth HM and the C2S on virtually no training and quite enjoyed it.

So I put a bit of mileage in this week:
Tuesday Run 13k @ 5:11 HR 144
Thursday Run 13k @ 5:18 HR 145
Friday Ride 22k @ 2:06 HR 125
Sunday Run 15.3k @ 5:25 HR 148
Today Ride 70k @ 2:17 HR 121

The heart rate for the runs is a bit high, more in endurance territory than base as it should be now, but I felt comfortable and just going out was more important than watching the heart rate all the time. As I ran in the evening, the humidity and heat did not really help either.

On Sunday I happened to run for a while with John Annear who is training for Ironman China and gave me a couple of useful tips re swimming traing (Clown, you will hear more about this). I have now been told he is a famous former West Coast Eagle and physio so I suspect he knows his stuff.

This morning's ride was a shocker - at least on the way down from Scarborough to South Fremantle - the wind was strong and blustery and a couple of times I feared I was going to be blown off the bike - that obviously did not help with the speed.

So, how's the knee: pretty good actually, well apart from being swollen and painful, but since it is a dull pain. As long as I don't extend or flex it and turn on it, it's quite bearable.

For now, I intend to keep up a decent run every second day with a ride thrown in here and there. Until I know exactly what is going to happen, I think I'll leave out anything heavy such as speed work and intervals.