Pace Yourself

I'm determined to get myself back into shape in the new year. Call it a resolution if you must, but I'm tired of being tired, and I want my clothes to fit better. To that end, I've recommitted myself to running on a regular basis. I joined the New York Road Runners and signed up for my first race: the NYRR Gridiron Classic, a four-mile run on Superbowl Sunday.

The distance had me a bit concerned at first. After completing the Couch-to-5K program, I had settled in to a comfortable routine, a routine that included no more than three miles. My times steadily improved, but at the end of each run, I was spent. How the hell was I going to squeeze out an extra mile?

Turns out, adjusting your pace a little can go a long way. A week ago Sunday, setting out to run four miles for the very first time, I slowed down a bit from my 5K pace and, to my surprise, I finished with energy to spare. Tuesday, I ran six miles. Thursday, six and a half. After each workout, I still had energy left over.

Thursday's run had me both excited and curious to see how much distance I actually had in me. I decided to pick a number that, until a week ago, seemed absurd: ten miles. Sunday, I will run ten miles.

And I did it. Yesterday, I ventured out into the twenty degree morning and ran ten miles.

As soon as I got home, I asked Google for a bit of information about the pain I was experiencing in my right knee. Turns out, increasing the mileage one runs by, say, 233% in the course of a week, is an extraordinarily Bad Idea. Based on my years of medical training--and a paragraph I found on the internet--I believe that I have Chondromalacia of the patella, also known as Runner's Knee.

Thankfully, it seems this is a fairly common, and easily treatable injury: a bit of time off, an ice pack and ibuprofen after running, and not pushing myself so damned hard.