Note to my Mom – don’t read this article…
I think my knee is okay. I am sore in lots of places, in part from the long hard run, and in part from eating the pavement. But nothing hurts too badly. I took today off.
The run I did yesterday was a 17 mile LRF = Long Run Fartlek. I ran 3 miles easy. Then I ran 6 miles alternating 1 minute at 10k pace, 1 minute easy. (fartlek is a swiss word that means speedplay).
By that point, I was tired and ready to quit. However, I still had 8 miles to go. I ran 3 miles back to my water stash and filled up my fuel belt. I was feeling pretty tired and thought about quitting, but decided to keep pushing. After all, the reason for a long run is to push past the point of fatigue, so that you build endurance. I’m good at that.
5 more miles. I went at a very slow pace, probably 13+. In the last mile, I decided to try and pick up my pace just a little. I was running down a hill. An oncoming car was heading my way, so I stepped over toward the curb in case the driver didn’t see me; I twisted my ankle and took a dive forward into the pavement. I landed on both hands and both knees. The left knee, as shown in the photo, took the brunt of it.
While still on the ground, I rolled over onto my back, and looked at my knees and bent them up and down to test them for injury. Looked bad but didn’t hurt. The guy in the car stopped and got out. He asked me if I was okay. I said I thought I was. He offered a hand to help me up. I said I wanted to sit there for a bit. Another guy pulled up and asked if I was okay. There sure are nice people in Chapel Hill.
I stood up and again tested my knees by bending them. I’m always afraid of injuring my knees! Everything seemed okay. Still, I was mad at myself for wiping out so close to my big race, and hoped there wasn’t any major damage.
The first guy drove away. The second guy pulled up to me and said it was too hot to be running and offered me a lift home. He said he was a runner and that he went running 2 hours earlier and it was too hot even then. I really didn’t feel hot. I just felt really tired. I said I really felt find, and was just upset because I was training for a race in two weeks! He offered me a ride home. I looked into his car and saw nice clean leather seats. I said I was not far from home, and I didn’t want to get his car all sweaty. He said he wasn’t worried about his car. My only thought was getting home ASAP to put ice on my knee to minimize the injury. So, I asked if he had a towel, and he did. So I got into his car.
On the 1 mile ride back home, we talked about running and racing. He said that when you get overheated your body takes oxygen away from your brain and sends it to the other parts. He must be correct…if I was in my right mind, I would never ever get into a car with a stranger! Luckily, he turned out to be really nice. I told him I was training for a 1/2 ironman race. He said he had thought about doing a triathlon in the past, but never had time for the training. He’s retired now (at just 55), so he said maybe he do it. I didn’t get his name. Maybe I’ll see him at a race someday.
Endurance is pushing that fine line of fatigue and pain just far enough to force your body to get stronger, without causing injury. I guess I pushed it too far to put myself at risk like that. I never before considered the impact of fatigue on my state of mind. Too bad I can’t afford a body guard – LOL!