Sore knee

Since I started running three years ago I've been lucky enough to be largely injury free - I only had to pull out of a race once due to a sore calf. But my right knee has been sore since the New Year and as a result I've had to take it easy with running this week. After my 11 mile run last Monday it was very sore, particularly when walking up and downstairs, so I've restricted my running this week to a gentle 3 lap jog around Dulwich on Friday, and then a 12 mile run at Greenwich yesterday where I avoided the hills by sticking to the top level of the park, and ran on the grass as much as possible to minimise the impact on my knee.



I think I may have overdone the running over the Christmas holidays, and maybe ramped up my mileage too quickly when I started the marathon training. Also I did a lot of sitting still over the holidays, either in an armchair or in the car driving to Scotland and back. And I was running on hard surfaces a bit more than usual. Anyway, whatever the reason, I'm going to take things easy for a week or two, avoid hill running, and run on grass or gravel wherever possible.



Aside from the knee pain yesterday's run at Greenwich was good - I found a lap on the top level of the park which was around 1.5 miles and did 8 laps in just over 2 hours. Quite a good pace, although I was starting to flag a bit towards the end - this is really on the limit of the distance I can run without taking on food, so when I do my next long run in a couple of weeks time I think I'll be taking my fuel belt with me and starting to use energy drinks and some food (jelly babies and jaffa cakes is the current plan) so I can get used to eating / drinking on the move and make sure the belt is comfortable.



So this week I've missed out on a 3 mile and 6 mile run, and I'm planning not to run again until next Friday when hopefully my knee will be much better. And next week is a "step down" week in my plan, so the "long slow run" next Saturday is only 9 miles.



This morning I did a bit of "cross-training" - a swimming lesson. And I have another on Thursday, which helps to compensate a little for the lack of running.



Finally, my CLIC Sargent T-shirts have arrived - I'm planning to wear one for the BUPA London 10000 in May. Thanks to Ceris @ CLIC Sargent for sending them through so quickly !