Early morning run

Decided that it was time to get back into the old habits and start my early morning training sessions again. 6:00 am start and out of the house in the dark to go for the 13km usual run through Maisons Laffitte before breakfast.

Felt great from the beginning, probably due to the easier runs I've been doing lately. Without pushing it too hard, my legs decided that they wanted to have a real workout and the first kilometre was completed in 4:17. The second and third were even faster and then disaster struck. My right knee jarred and it was as if an electric shock had been applied just below and underneath the kneecap. I hobbled for a few steps and then had to reduce the pace drastically to avoid the pain.

This had been threatening to happen for a while now. The build-up in mileage and effort has caused the knee to stiffen and sometimes it feels as though there is a lack of cartilege and a grinding between the different bones, causing me to ease off the pace or stumble downstairs. It seems to occur mostly when I'm overstriding or going up or downstairs. Anyway, I was most disappointed to have to ease off the pace now when I'd been feeling so good from the start of the run.

I took it easy for the next 3 kilometres and the pain gradually eased. I was able to accelerate back to 4:15 pace and finish the run at this speed, having had to ease off to 4:40 pace after the jolt. 12.8 km all up in 54:23 or an average pace of 4:15/ km. Concerned that this knee problem will be with me for a while now.