PATELLAR TENDONITIS...

That's what came out of the physiotherapist's mouth about my knee problem. This is also combined with a really tight IT band as Frankie mentionned to me in a previous post. I guess all these names seem way worse than it actually is! I took care of this on time as this is not hurting me constantly when I walk.

From the orthopedics about website:

"The patellar tendon connects the kneecap (the patella) to the shin bone. This is part of the 'extensor mechanism' of the knee, and together with the quadriceps muscle and the quadriceps tendon, these structures allow your knee to straighten out, and provide strength for this motion. The patellar tendon, like other tendons, is made of tough string-like bands. These bands are surrounded by a vascular tissue lining that provides nutrition to the tendon. "

She said that I can keep my training schedule like it is BUT when I do my long runs if I feel pain, I HAVE TO STOP, even though I'm not done with my milleage.... hard words to hear... she also said that if I don't listen to my body I will not make it to the marathon... which would be even worse that missing 1 or 2 miles in a run. She gave me some new stretching exercises to do (knee extension over roll and IT band stretch) and suggest putting some ice after the long runs. She stronly recommended cross-training if/when I see that I can't finish a run.... hopefully that won't have to happen.... THINK POSITIVE!! ;-) I'm going back on Thursday morning for a treatment and exercices. And we'll see then if I should buy a knee brace.

On a better note, I ran 8 miles this morning, taking it really slow and I didn't have any pain! Yay finished in 1h35 (11:54 min/mile). I'm thinking about switching my morning runs to afternoons. I don't truly enjoy running in the dark and now that the sun isn't up until 6:45 and I always go out for 6 AM... that means 45 long minutes of darkness! It's also less humid and hot outside in the afternoon....

I hope you all have a great running week -injury free!

16 MILES HURTS!

This was a long run... 3h11 (11:58 min/miles). I felt great until mile 12 when my right knee started to bother me... it was quite bad, I took several walk/stretch breaks but it was even harder to start again... I hope this is nothing serious, I'm getting all worried about it... The thing is that my knee doesn't bother me 2-3h after the run and in general. So, I'm hoping this is nothing serious.... This week, I will buy some kind of knee brace. Does anyone of you have one?? What kind should I buy? Should I see a doctor before purchasing that kind of stuff? When I was talking to my dad on the phone today he said to me: "Maybe you won't be able to complete the marathon..." (translated from French!).... BUT I WANT, I NEED TO COMPLETE THE MARATHON. This is something I've been working really hard at and I want to do it so badly!! I guess I'll see how this whole-knee situation goes this week. The long run next Saturday is only 12 miles and this little step back will certainly be great for my knee.

I hope everyone had a great long run =) Happy running!!!

26.2 WAYS TO KNOW YOU ARE A RUNNER

(I read that a long time ago when I was just training for fun and thought this is crazy!! But now some of these are becoming so real to me! Ran for 8 miles this morning in 1h27 (10:59 min/miles) and I feel Grrrrrrreat! Ok, it might be because of my Venti Starbucks Frappuccino Coffee but I won't mention that...). Happy running all!!

1. You know how many miles there are in a marathon.
2. Your weekly mileage is how much you run, not your commute to work.
3. You know how many miles you get out of a pair of running shoes.
4. You can convert Kilometers to Miles in your head.
5. You measure your running route in your car to get the exact mileage.
6. When someone tells you their age, you automatically know their Boston qualifying time.
7. You know Grandma's as the route from Two Harbors to Duluth, not the person.
8. You can drink, blow your nose and pee on the run.
9. The problem with the treadmill is there's no place to spit.
10. You have less than ten toenails and that's normal for you.
11. Body Glide is your friend.
12. Ibuprofen is affectionately known as "Vitamin I".
13. Navigating walkers, dogs and baby strollers annoys you because it interrupts your pace.
14. When you participate in an organized event, you know not to run in your race t-shirt. (UNLESS ITS A COOL MAX!!)
15. You have a favorite energy gel and flavor.
16. The "Picasso" above your fireplace is last year's TCM poster.
17. You have pre and post race rituals.
18. The journal you keep is in miles and pace not feelings or thoughts.
19. When you look at the weather conditions, you calculate how many layers to wear.
20. The pride you feel after a good run is worth the pain it took to get there.
21. You have more t-shirts than you could possibly wear.
22. When you hear the word "bib", you think of race numbers not babies and Gerber food.
23. The "no carbohydrate diet" does not apply to you.
24. You know that Fartlek is not vulgar terminology.
25. A hill is an opportunity just waiting to be challenged.
26. You know the phrase "you're almost there" only applies when the finish line is in sight.
.2 Your vacation destination is determined by your race schedule.

MONDAY IS A REST DAY?

Not this week! I did 80 mins of bicycling yesterday as cross-training and I believe it helped my legs and feet feel less sore. I felt so good that I decided to run my Tuesday's 4 miler this morning. I worked on my speed and finished it in 39:59 (10 min/miles). I am thinking of moving the Tues-Wed-Thur runs to Mon-Tue-Wed, I find I need more rest before the big runs than after.... Ok, that's it for me now, tomorrow is an 8 miles run and I'm all ready for it!

Happy running everyone! =)

15 MILES AND 3 HOURS LATER....

I AM SORE!!! Wow what a long run... The sun was not up when I left (6:10) so I went directly to my Riverfront trail to see the sunrise but it never happened. It was a really dark and humid morning. After 30 mins, a light rain was coming down and it felt great, the humidity dropped down and it was fresh. But after 1h it started pouring rain and it never stopped!! At the 7 miles mark, I saw Mr. Smily on his bike, we stopped for a brief chat and then continued our way, so good to see him though! The next 3 miles were spent day dreaming about our date tomorrow! Then, I stopped for some stretching and Tangerine Gel (yuck... those are really gross).... I was at the 13.1 miles mark 14 minutes later than last week (1:36)! I guess the rain didn't bring the "best" in me! The last 2 miles were really hard, my right knee starting to act funny, my capris were wet and heavy and I was really tired.

But I did it, 15 miles in 3:01 (12:05 min/mile). I meet up with Flashy and her BF for breakfast afterwards and I got the 3 eggs/bacon/sausage breakfast. I'm full and satisfied, and now, I'm going to go for a power nap!

Oh before I forget, I also want to deeply thanks ViaRail for having restrooms open to the public starting so early! The city of Windsor decided to not open public restrooms in the park this morning.... grr...

DILEMMA... HELP!

Goodmorning runners! I was full of guilt for missing my morning run yesterday that I went after work... 4 miles at 10:54 min/miles pace... I know why now I have to get out of bed in the morning! So much harder running after a day of work!

My dilemma is about participating in the Point-Pelee half marathon... It is only 3 weeks before the Toronto Marathon and it is the week-end I am scheduled to run 20 miles.... I was thinking of doing week 15 (with the 20 miler) before the race... is that a bad idea? And replacing the week of the half with Week 14 which schedule a 14 miler.... Is the race to close to my actual goal race? I read in last month's Runner's World that racing before your goal race is a great idea but they were suggestion 1-2 months prior to it not 3 weeks.... any opinions?? I still haven't paid for the half-marathon race so I could still forget it all together.... but I thought it was a fun way to get a 13.1 miler in me...

Thanks for any tips and runner's wisdom sharing!!

HARD TIMES!!

Tuesday's 3 miles run was a breeze (10:57 miles/min) but on Wednesday I had the most difficult 7 miles run ever (11:54 miles/min). My legs were not following me and were really tight, I had to stop several times to strech... even the super Orange Sports Beans didn't really helped... so I've decided to take a break today and slept in (until 7:30!!!). I think I will be in better form tomorrow to do the 4 miler on my schedule and then up to the 15 miler on Saturday....

Happy running all!! =)

BEACH, RUNNING AND FAMILY = GREAT VACATION!! =)

I am back from my way too short vacation… I guess working and going to school is what makes you appreciate vacation that much. I visited the outlets a lot, got some new running shoes. A pair of Asics’s Gel Solution and a pair of Saucony’s Grid Cohesion, the models are probably 2 years old but I paid 80$ US total for b oth pairs! I’m really happy with my purchase =)

I was a little mixed-up in my schedule as I forgot to bring it with me during our trip to the states but I was trying to follow Week 8 of Hal Higdon’s marathon training (did an extra mile on Wednesday). It would be really great to get the Garmin software to work on my computer but I tried several times and it doesn’t work! Damn technology!!

Monday 3 miles in 32:42 (10:55 min/miles)
Wednesday 7 miles in 1:20:36 (11:31 min/miles)
Friday 3 miles in 31:54 (10:39 min/miles)
Sunday 13.1 miles in 2:22:42 (10:54 min/miles)
Weekly total: 26.1 miles!!

I was in Montreal near the Parc de la Pointe aux Prairies for the first and last runs of the list. The two other runs were done in Portsmouth, New Hampshire near the Bellamy River. OH YEAH, and you read it right people, I did a half-marathon distance on Sunday in 2:22! I was so amazed at myself =) Like Jelly said the change in scenery really does motivate you! I’m now hoping to do my September half-marathon with an average pace of 9:50 which would bring me to a time under 2:10. My legs hurt a lot on Sunday after the run but I was doing fine today and I’m ready for 3 miler tomorrow morning!

However, looking back at my schedule, I realized that I am a week late on my training!!! How did I forget one week? I used a calendar that started with the Sunday and not the Monday and it threw me off…. Ok, I get easily confused! That means that I do not get my easy recovery week and will be doing Week 10 starting tomorrow…. I guess that’s dedication, I just hope I can cope with the 15 miler this Saturday…. time will tell!

Happy running week to you all =)

I'M ON VACATION!!!

I'm leaving by train for Montréal tomorrow a big a 12h trip. And then off to a little road trip (Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine) for a week. I am bringing my running gear and planning on sticking to scheduled (Tues- 3 miles, Wed- 7 miles, Thur- 3 miles and Sunday - 13 miles).

Have a good week runners and I'll catch up with you all next week =)

MY PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED!

The weather was cool at 6 AM! =) It was almost a little chilly for the first mile of my 12 miles journey. I wanted to go running on a trail to make it easier on my knee joints, so I headed for Malden Park (2 miles to go there). What I realized is that I run slow on trails! I'm always afraid I'm gonna trip on a rock and torn my ankle so I go slower... am I the only one who does that?? I tried pushing for speed but I seriously lack balance and didn't want to fall!! The sunrise was beautiful, bright red and orange between the green of the trees =) Trails were great on the joints though so I did about 4 miles there and headed to my usual RiverFront path. After 6 miles, I stopped 2 minutes to stretch and eat the Power Bar GEL flavor Double Latte.... wasn't the best but it did give me the boost I needed to keep going! I arrived at the RiverFront path and I only had 4 miles left, felt like this was going to be easy! I mean ONLY 4 miles ;-) The last mile was really the thoughest but I didn't gave up! 12 miles in 2:24 =)

Here I am 12 miles and a shower later waiting for my Friend Flashy to go for Breakfast! =)

Hope all the runners will get a great run in the somewhat cool weather!

MOTIVATION! =)

I was just browsing the web... procrastinating... and came across the medal I will receive for finishing the 2006 Toronto Marathon! This is socool, I've never received any medals at races even though I particpated in 4 races from the Running Factory, here, in Windsor. I feel like a kid, I got so excited when I saw this =)


Today's a rest day before my LSD of 12 miles on Saturday, I'm hoping for cool weather like what seemed to be a fresh morning today!

Happy Running everyone!

FAST LIKE THE WIND!!

I decide to sleep until 6 this morning, my little pooch has been sick for the past 2 days and my nights of sleep keep being interupted by his scratching.... like every hour!!! Anyhow, it was "fresher" this morning (before the thunderstorm) and I wanted to work on my speed so I did a 3 miles run at 10:08 min/miles. Pretty happy about that, I was aiming for a time less than 10 min/miles but I couldn't do it. This is pretty good for me anyway!!

Later!

RUNNING AT 5:45 AM... NOT MY IDEA OF FUN!!

But I'm a commited girl and I want to avoid the heat as much as possible. So I ran 6 miles at 11:35 min/miles in the hot morning (27 oC feeling like 39oC) . I read in last month Runner's World that in such heat you can add 1 whole minute to your usual average pace, which is what I'm doing.... since I missed my 3 miles run on Tuesday due to traveling. With a 3h sleep and 10h of driving in my system I was just too tired to even want to run... I will hopefully be in great form tomorrow morning to do another 6 miles instead of the scheduled 3 miles and make up for my lost run, we'll see. Getting up at 5:30 again.... I will stop complaining about the weather right now, we're just never happy!!!

Happy running everyone, stay cool! =)