Before today, I'd never felt non-arthritic soreness in my knees. Somewhere around mile ten of my 11.4-mile run this morning, I began feeling slight soreness in both my knees. The front feels fine. The rear of each knee, between the calf and the hamstring, is sore. The soreness is the kind I'd usually consider good, the kind I have the day I change exercises for a body part or increase weight.
I don't know why I'm sore. I ran today, but on a TM. I've run longer distances on pavement without this feeling. I haven't changed my weight-training routine in any way.
Because the TM I used today died at 11.4 of 19.0 miles, I was considering going to the gym tomorrow and trying for 19.0 again. With this odd feeling, I wonder if I should.
Thoughts?
Have you ever done 10 and a LR the day after? If not, I would wait a couple of days to try the 19 miler again. The soreness could've been the TM and that you probably change your gait running on it.
Damaris
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If it's a good soreness like you describe, then I don't see any harm in it as long as you can recover from back-to-back longish runs reasonably quickly. You don't want to pile on all this mileage in 2 days and then have it screw up the following few days of training. Have you done 10/20 combos in the past? If so, how well did you recover? If you think it will fatigue you too much, then I think it would be reasonable to do another 10 or so tomorrow. I would seriously just jump on the treadmill with no set mileage plan and just run as long as you feel like. Actually, that's a lie ... I wouldn't run on the treadmill.
I've done 10.0 and more, then done 10.0 the following day.
I wish that I were able to take it outside Right now, all of my routes have icy patches. I have neither appropriate shoes nor Yak Trax.
19 would have been my longest distance since I took up running for good in April. (April 1 is when I began running for thirty minutes without stopping. I'd followed an accelerated walk/run program the previous two weeks.)
Then I would suggest not to do the 19 tomorrow but try it Tuesday or Wednesday. If not, continue on with your training as if you had done it today.
Chairman
You know what they say. When in doubt, don't.
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Thanks, everyone. I used my smaller grey Thera-Roll (I have the 3x8 and the 7x18) behind my knees. That helped quite a bit! I also took two Tylenol and massaged Bengay into the area; there was quite a knot behind my right knee! I've decided to be more prudent than inclined and do 19.0 Tuesday morning, instead of tomorrow. I'll do forty-five minutes on the ArcTrainer, which I would have done on Tuesday, tomorrow, instead.
It could be from tight muscles... Warm up and stretch well: calves, hamstrings and quads... Gently but repeatedly.
I thought you were doing 19 to make the year end total mileage to, say 2000, or something like that. In that case, I'd say yes, go do it. But if it's just some LR you cut short then it doesn't really matter you make it up tomorrow or the day after, or next weekend, or in some cases, skip it. The above suggestions are good. You've been running less than a year. There's no hurry to do a 19 miler tomorrow. Unless, you really want it to happen in 2012. But can't you do it on the next day (the new yaer)?
That's kind of how I feel, Basya. I wouldn't.
I talked with an MD. He said that my knees are most likely fine, that my upper calves and/or lower hamstrings are just very tight. He advised me stretch and roll my calves and hamstrings. That helped. I feel completely OK now. But I'm still postponing the 19. My marathon in only sixty days away now.