I have not been posting because I got fed up with working out on the elliptical trainer and writing about how I can not run. I got the results of my MRI - not good. I have a tear in the medial meniscus on my right leg. I am not that impressed with the orthopaedist so I will not be letting him cut me open. I am trying to decide if I should get the knee scoped or not. I can run without pain (when my shin does not hurt) and I have heard so many horror stories about butcher doctors ending people's running careers. I would rather put up with a little tenderness and be able to run rather than get it fixed and never be able to run again.

I did run 3 miles today and did about 50 minutes on the elliptical trainer. Let's see how long this lasts...

AM: 5 eq (35+) I did 4 miles on the elliptical and then ran 1 mile on the treadmill. Again, I could feel my shin but there was no pain.

PM: 4 eq (28:00) On the elliptical trainer. I did not have much time so I had to cut it short.

I had my MRI today, although I will not get the results for another week when I meet with the orthopaedist again. I did not realize that it took so long - almost 25 minutes in that tube. The worst part is that you have to stay completely still. I think that that magnetic fields were causing my muscles to contract or twitch because I had the weirdest feeling in my legs and stomach and my leg kept twitching. The technician had to redo at least 1 of the scans which made it take longer.

AM: 5 eq (35:00) On the elliptical. Still no dice on running.

PM: 4.5 eq (33ish) I did 4 equivalent on the elliptical and ran 1/2 mile on the treadmill. There was no pain, but I could feel my shin so I backed off.

I lifted with both upper and lower body today.

PM: 9 eq (63:00) On the elliptical

A new week and I started it off on the elliptical trainer. I just wanted to be cautious after feeling a bit of tenderness in my shin at the end of my long run yesterday. I also lifted with both upper and lower body tonight.

Miles For Week = 55.5

It is sad that I was running more than twice this just a month ago, but not bad for the first week back and just 6 days of running.

AM: 12.25 (?) I forgot the watch today so I have no idea about time, but I know it was 12.25mi since I ran at Mine Falls Park again. This was my first run over 6 miles in over a month, since my injury, and I felt really good for the first 10 miles. I felt a slight discomfort in my shin at that point so I shut it down to 7:30 pace and just cruised back to the car. It is not a real pain and does not hurt enough to make me stop running (like when it first happened), but it is slightly tender and I feel the "creeking" as I dorsiflex my foot. I will do tomorrow on the elliptical to let it calm down and I iced and took advil 3 times this afternoon.

I spent about 30-40 minutes working on my right leg with the foam roller and Stick. It made a huge difference because almost all of the tightness in my knee and IT band was gone and my range of motion in my knee increased by probably 5 degrees. I still have my MRI on Wednesday so I will know shortly after that if the knee pain is due to a meniscus tear or if it is just scar tissue. I am hoping that it is just scar tissue because I can work that out with friction massage and PT. We'll see.

PM: 6.25 (41:19) One run today and headed over to Mine Falls to squeeze it in. I did not intend for it to be too quick but I was under a time constraint. The early part and end were a tad under 7 min/mi pace but I was probably going close to 6 min/mi in the middle. I felt good but my right IT band is a bit tight - no pain, just needs to be stretched out. Long and easy tomorrow.

AM: 4 (28:17) Easy run before work. I did not think it was 7 min pace, but whatever.

PM: 6 (42:52) At the gym on the treadmill. Did most of it at 2% incline and miles 3-6 alternated between an incline of 1% @ 6:40 pace and 3-5% incline @ 7-7:20 pace.

AM: 6 (41:06) Easy run at work during lunch.

PM: 3 (21:57) Lifted with my legs and then easy on the treadmill. (2% incline again). Nothing special.

AM: 6 (43:22) Easy run in Mine Falls. Felt good to run outside on the trails and breathe in the fall air.

PM: 3 (22:06) Another slow run on the treadmill with the incline set to 2%. Started out the run at 8:00 min/mi pace and finished up the last mile at 6:40 min/mi pace.

Was able to run twice today with no pain, although I did not get to the gym to lift. I was able to get in some lunges and leg curls. I will try to do some core work while I watch the election coverage.

AM: 5 (38:00) Pretty slow but the treadmill was at 2% grade and it was pretty early.

PM: 4 (30:30) Again, this run was pretty slow, but the treadmill grade was at 2% again. It felt easy and I just want to ease into the mileage this week. If I play it safe I should be between 50 and 60 miles this week and close to 90 the first week of December.

I met with the orthopaedist on Wednesday and have an MRI of my knee scheduled for 11/12. The shin injury is pretty much cleared up and I am actually running again, if you call 2 or 3 miles a day running. I have some residual pain on the medial side of my right knee from an injury that I had last April and I just want to make sure that it is not a meniscus tear. I have been doing a lot of strength training (squats, leg extensions, hamstring curls, abductor/adductor work as well as lunges and some upper body work) and spending 45-60 minutes per day on the elliptical trainer. One thing that seems to help my knee a lot is spinning backwards on the elliptical trainer for about 10 minutes. I finish up each workout with some running. On Friday I ran 1 mile, yesterday 2 miles and today a whopping 3 miles. All the running is on the treadmill and I set the incline to 1.5-2.5 percent grade and plod along at about 7:30 min/mile pace.

Today: 45 minutes on elliptical + 3 miles running (22:09)