Coach P October Training Update...
After a few weeks of consistency, I had built my bike and run fitness up to a pretty stable level. I was running approximately 12 to 15 miles a week and then cycling somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.5 to 5 hours a week. Overall very pleased with the results and excited to head into the fall/winter for the OutSeason®. But first, we had to head to the Big Island to support Endurance Nation!
Normally I'm going to race, but this year it was to work. I have to say, it's much easier to race there than it is to work for 10 straight days. We did get that one day of relaxation on the beach though. :-)
From a training perspective I decided not to bring my bike so I wouldn't be tempted to disappear for hours every day. So instead I focused on running and swimming. The run felt okay, not great. The rolling terrain really made a challenging to run as smoothly as I wanted… Not to mention the heat!
I was able to swim several times which was incredible, but I did feel a bit in my hip flexors / psoas area which still clearly needs some love.
All in all I felt pretty good about staying consistent while I was there despite not having a sometimes extreme.
When I came back, it was right back to work. 15 miles a week on the run, and back to my cycling routine while the weather lasted.
I think I might've been a bit too aggressive in coming back, because after a week or so I started to notice my left knee had some tightness behind it.
I normally have a click in the patella with no pain but all of a sudden there was some discomfort in keeping my knee bent. I first noticed this on the plane flying back from Hawaii. It was really hard to keep my legs just in a bent position without stretching them several times underneath the chair in front of me.
After doing some self-care and research I decided to visit my good friend Mike Silva at Foundation Performance in Pawtucket Rhode Island. He definitely found some swelling under the kneecap. He advised me to shut it down for a while as we began a protocol of soft tissue work.
Given that a week is such a small window of time in my overall career as an athlete, I have no problem shutting it down. I will complain about it though!!!!
Today is my first training session "back," and I'm headed off to the pool to try and get some aerobic exercise as we continue Project Put Coach Patrick Back Together Again.
On a macro level I guess I shouldn't be surprised that given how much time I took off – approximately five months – that it should take a long time to get back to healthy training. I am pleased that my cycling efforts and my run speed were almost equal to what I had had before I stop training…I was running sub-7s and pushing good watts on my road bike.
A good reminder that my fitness is there when my body is ready to handle the work.
Thanks for reading! I hope your training is going well and I hope you have a better update for you come December.
Comments
Thanks for sharing. Following your story from 5 months ago, it is great to hear about your progress, despite the small knee set back. I am happy for you and wishing you continued improvement!
Coach P, so happy to see you are still making progress and thanks for keeping us up to date. I'm not an orthopedist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night. I suspect the pain behind your knee cap is the beginning of chondromalacia, a roughness of the cartilage surfaces. I remember my former doctor telling me to keep the quads strong because this helps "lift" the knee cap. Kicking freestyle or leg extensions could help.
5 months off and you jump back in to sub 7's and ~300 watt NP rides...?! Ohh genetics, how I wish I had some. I remember taking 3 months off after IMTX and I lost 2 solid minutes on my run zones - that was a big wtf moment.
Lots of motivational stories out there about injuries making athletes stronger than they ever were before. I like cyclist Taylor Phinney's and how he snapped his tibia and patella tendon after crashing into a guardrail at a US national road race in 2014. He recovered and won the US national TT championship this year. Good stuff!