I Guess I'll Just Go Slower

I coached our TNT marathoners this morning. I got in a great 6 miles with one of our amazing alumni. I was super excited that I got through all 6 miles without any knee pain! Not even a twinge. It's been pretty discouraging that it's taken so long to get back to "normal" after the Goofy Challenge. I hope this means that I'm on the right track and can start working out more during the week (I've still be modifying my training schedule).

After the marathon training in the morning, I took a few minutes to relax, throw in some laundry and eat lunch before it was off to the next workout. The triathlon team is still meeting on Sundays for spinning class since the weather is still too unpredictable to plan to ride outside. Probably only another 2 weeks before we are outdoors for the season! I made it through about 30 minutes of the spinning class without any knee pain. It was tough and we were doing single leg drills (pedaling with only one foot clipped intp the pedal) and these hill ladders that make me want to puke. We spin at a medium resistance and then increase the resistance and stand. We did this 4 times, each time standing for even longer and then you repeat, but you decrease the amount of time standing. It's so hard and it feels like my heart is going to jump out of my chest.

The funny thing is that even though I feel like I'm dying during those hill ladders, my knee doesn't hurt. In the last 30 minutes of class, we did a few sprints (low resistance, spinning really fast) and instantly, my knee started to hurt. I added resistance and slowed down a little and it felt better. We had one last looooong "hill" (continually adding resistance until you have to stand) at the end of class and while it was tough, I got through it and the pain in my knee wasn't there.

My take-away from that....I guess I'll just go slower!

OK, so maybe that's not the best answer but I'm going to go with it for right now. I think I'll wait until we get outside and I'm back on my own bike to see how the knee feels. If it's still giving me hell, I think a trip back to the doctor might be in order.

But I'm going to end on a positive note. I am SO excited about daylight savings. Yes, it was a bummer to lose an hour of sleep last night and I'm exhausted but it's worth it. I can finally start working out outside after work! My paranoia won't let me train outdoors in the dark so I haven't done any weekday training outside since October! I can't wait to get some fresh air during the week!