Sore knee

Today I woke up and my left knee was a little sore.  So whilst Wednesday would have normally been the day when I do a lunchtime run, I decided to take a rest day and to let my knee rest.  I also had to forgo the daily row.  I wouldn't describe it as painful yet, but it is something I need to respect and pay close attention to.

Tonight after work I have been icing it with a pack of frozen vegetables, and as soon as I have eaten dinner I will sit in a bath of freezing cold water.  If it is still bothering me tomorrow I will also take an additional rest day.  Better I take a couple of days off than risk a more serious injury that could put me out of action for weeks.

First hill training session

Today started off with a nice gentle 5k row.  Then at lunchtime I did an hour of yoga which felt pretty good, as I managed to hold all the poses for the amount of time that the teacher wanted for the very first time.  After that I had my weekly massage.  This time we focussed more on my legs than on my back and did a lot of stretching on my left leg as some of the muscles in that leg are extremely tight.

After I got back from work and had some food I was feeling a little tired, but then Negrita seemed like she wanted to go outside for a walk.  So I decided to put on my running kit and use the hands free running lead.

All my runs till now have been steady runs, so I decided to do my first hill training session to increase my speed and endurance.  I tend to be pretty spontaneous in terms of my routes and decided once out of the house that I would run down to the lake and then do some interval training up the hill that goes to the Dolder.  On the way down to the lake Negrita decided to go the opposite way to me when passing a young lady and we ended up almost taking her out with the lead.   I don't know why but quite a few people tend to smile when they see Negrita running happily alongside me.  I think it is because she is so small but let me tell you she can run fast and keep going for quite a long time.  I am not sure she would last 2.5 hours but she managed the 1 hour today without at any moment pausing to rest.

We did some intervals as we climbed up the hill and although my back was aching slightly I felt pretty strong.  After reaching the Dolder ice rink we turned round and came straight back down the hill to the lake.  I was very conscious whilst running downhill to take shorter steps to lessen the impact on my joints.  It was during a fast downhill in the Frauenfelder half that I injured my knee last time.  This time though I found that by bending my knees the impact seemed to be absorbed much more in the quadriceps than the knees.

We then made our way along the lake and back towards home, with a short off-lead time for Negrita in the park near our house.  

Now it is time for sleeeeeeeep.

Row, row, row your boat gently down the apartment

  

Today I tried doing my first 10k row on my Concept 2.  I have rowed lots of 5ks in the past but I have always been more of a sprinter than a steady paced rower.  For the 10k I knew I would have to pace myself and start off at a reasonable pace but not overdo it.

I wasn't really racing to beat the clock but I did expect to do it in under 45 minutes.  43 minutes and 14.3 seconds was my final time.  I felt hard pushed in the last 2k as the lactic acid was really starting to build up and I was blowing fairly hard.  But I was able to hold a conversation with Anny throughout most of the distance, so I can't have been that tired.

I have to keep the amount of training I am doing in check as it is starting to become quite intense what with the running, rowing and cross country skiing, but so far my body is reacting well and I don't really feel any aches and pains.

My plan for tomorrow is to row another 5k before work at a very gentle pace and then at lunchtime to do the yoga class and then finally after work to do some brief hill training.  There are plenty of short steep hills in the area, and my plan is to run up and down a fairly short steep hill between 5 and 10 times depending on how I feel.  This will be the first hill training session I have done, as so far I just been focussing on steady runs and building up the mileage without getting any injuries.

I am really expecting the weight to start falling off over the coming weeks if I keep up this level of activity.  This weekend is a whole weekend of cross country ski in the Goms valley and that will help to burn plenty of calories I hope.

Regarding the sponsorship there could be some very good news coming soon...

Cross country in Einsideln

End of another day on the loipen

Another day of cross country skating style in the lovely little town of Einsideln.  The temperatures at the moment are pretty high and there is hardly any snow left in Einsideln.  The only reason the snow is staying on the cross country tracks is because is so heavily compacted.  The tracks are very icy and it was quite tricky on some of the downhill sections.

Three of us took the lesson today.  The range of abilities is somewhat mixed so I spent most of the lesson practising by myself.  Everyone was improving though, and I no longer feel I am overusing my upper body to propel myself along.  I can quite happily put down the poles and continue at a reasonable pace.

The last few days of rowing, running and cross country skiing has token its toll though and I feel shattered this evening.  I will sleep sound like a baby.