Teggs Nose (...and my knee)

I took Monday off training as usual. On Tuesday I did an hour at the gym; a mixture of resistance weights, cross trainer and the Stairmaster. However, I had to use the 'cheap' Stairmaster that is chain driven, and not the deluxe model that has the never-ending fold away stairs. The cheap version really is rubbish. What wound me up more was that the 'deluxe' models were being used by two women who leaned so heavily on their arms on the grip bars that they may as well have not bothered getting on at all. I always thought the idea was to workout your legs. If you can't manage that, then either a) go slower b) get off when you feel tired c) not get on at all!

On Wednesday I did an hour off-road with my pack, about 2 kilos weight. My schedule was down for a little more than that, but my knee was feeling sore. I just put it down to the long walk at the weekend. So, I decided to play safe and just do an hour. I ran up to the Wedgwood monument in Red Street, near to me, before heading across the fields and into Apedale Country Park and then going home. I felt comfortable throughout, and was tempted to stay out longer, but good sense brought me home early. I didn't want to tempt injury. For that very reason I decided not to do Thursday intervals session and rest instead. I did my usually Gym session on Friday, although had to cut it a little short because I had some work to take care of.

I was working all day on Saturday, in Stockport, so no training. When I got home I planned my Sunday run/walk. I planned a 12.5 mile route that would have been 2700ft of climbing. I have a 25 mile route marked for next weekend, so I thought 12 miles this weekend would be sufficient. On Sunday morning I was working again, but finished at 2pm, and went straight out with my pre-prepared pack. My pack was 4 kilos, and I was in wet weather gear as you will see from the photo's it was a cloudy, rainy day.



I set off running, but knew within a few hundred metres that my knee didn't feel right. I ran the first mile to the foot of 'Teggs Nose', a 1200ft hill and former quarry. I decided to get some use out of my Leki poles and used them to the top of the hill. The photos below are first looking up to Teggs nose, next the Reservoir at it's foot (you can se the low cloud in the hills above), and finally the view form the top. The first picture was actually taken from in front of the row of little white houses you can see in the centre of the third picture.








As I began to run along the top of Teggs Nose, my knee started to hurt again. The ache is a familiar one. The same as I got 6 weeks before the New York Marathon last year. Just like last time, for the last few weeks I have suffered from hip pain after a run, and now the knee pain has developed. I was forced to walk with my poles from there onwards, not wanting to destroy my knee for weeks like last time where I ran for 15 miles in pain (back in September). I was glad to have my poles to take some of the strain. However, usually when I walked last time, I got no pain; this time it still hurt a little, although not as acute as when running. A couple of miles later I had already made the decision that I was going to cut the route short and choose a shorter way back to the car. I made a few calculations and cut across to join what would have been my return route anyway, but I was knocking off 4.5 miles, so I ended up totalling just less than 8 miles; for 1500ft of ascent.

Just testing, a tried to run a little, and was hit with more serious pain straight away. Running was definitely out of the question. Even walking eventually aggravated the pain, especially on downhill sections where more force is applied. It was a little more acute as I finished. I certainly made the right decision not to soldier on for the full 12.5 miles though.

Now, this pain first happened last week on the 21 mile run. This must be down to the change in my orthotics. There is more raise on my left foot, and some taken off my right. I am guessing that this extra pressure on my right hip could be to blame. Then again, I have had the hip pain (but no knee pain) for some weeks, so it could just be a coincidence. Either way, I think I need a medical diagnosis, possibly a hip specialist. Even if I have to fork out for an MRI to identify what is going on, I think I am at the point where I will have to. I have had hip pain since at least August last year, and it's never really gone away totally. Nothing I have tried has worked. Every time I run, I suffer with a sore hip for a couple of days. I don't really think my knee has a problem, I think it is hip pain manifesting itself at the next weakest joint in the chain. That said, I'm no doctor! This is very frustrating. Every time I write in my blog I am complaining about one niggle / injury or another. I just want to experience pain (injury) free training for once.

One only plus-point from today is that my pole technique felt better again. It may have even been the speed at which I was walking that contributed to my knee pain. Perhaps a slower walk would have been fine? Also, I am totally comfortable with 4 kilos. One minor issue is that I need to address where I put my drinks bottle on my shoulder. It is fine when I walk, but when I run it moves about too much. I did complain about this last year, but I didn't look into a solution. This time I will.

If I have any news later this week I will post it. I will also post up 2007 Month 3 training plan on Tuesday or Wednesday too.