Wednesday, February 04, 2009

A Run Up Mt. Hope

I decided to give myself a pretty big test today by running up Mt. Hope. It officially stands at 692', so it's really more of a glorified hill than a mountain. However, it's still a full-on buttkicker to run up.

Conditioning wise, I did better than expected. The pace wasn't bad for this route, and I was pleased to see the heart rate where it was. Neither indicated tip-top shape, but did demonstrate progress. On a more qualitative front, I simply felt good also. The last climb up to the top of Mt. Hope had me huffing and puffing at a snail's pace, but that's been the case every time I've done this route in the past. Fun stuff!

As for the PF, it went okay. I did feel a few flare-ups during the run, but I guess the good news is they went away after a few tenths of a mile. Still, I was a bit disappointed. While the flare ups weren't all that bad, I was still hoping for better. But hills can aggravate PF, or so they say. So, I guess I shouldn't complain too much. Not every run is going to be perfect and go the way I want it to. As long as I'm making progress overall, I'll be happy, and I think that's still the case for now.

Ran 11.0 miles @ 8:34/mile pace.
AHR/MHR - 152/176
Paved roads, some patches of snow/slush.
Extremely hilly.
Mid-lower 20s, sunny.
Long pants, fleece jacket, long sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves.


6 comments:

Unknown said...

Jamie,

I've been a runner for awhile and have run many long distance relays and a few marathons. After my last marathon in Oct (Hartford), I noticed a servere pain in my right knee. I tried waiting a few days and then running on it, but would still get an aching pain after 1 mile or so that would get worse. I decided to take a few weeks off and let the knee do it's healing. I played this game of on/off for about a month and then late in december had enough and decided that I would take the entire month of January off and come back Feb. 1st better than ever. Well... I was faithful and did not run in Jan (lots and lots of cross training in the pool) and tried to run a couple days ago for the first time. After 1/2 mile or so, I started to get that nagging pain again. It sounds alot like the torn meniscus that you went through. Does this make sense? Does this sound anything like you had??? I have an appt scheduled w/ an orthopedic surgeon next week b/c I just want to start running in the worst way. I'm really hopping that it is a torn meniscus and that arthroscopy surgery will "make it all better".

Thanks for your ear.
Z

Andrew said...

Glad to hear of the progress.

Jamie Anderson said...

Zman - it could be just a torn meniscus. Where is the pain? If it's off to the side of the knee, there's a good chance that's it, but of course only a doctor can properly tell. If it is a torn meniscus, it seems kind of scary because you need surgery to fix it, but the surgery is about as minor as it gets and the prognosis is usually very good. I was running a few weeks later with no problem, and that was pretty typical. Good luck!

Garry said...

That is a nice little climb for sure. Hopefully the PF will flare up less and less and you will be back to normal soon. And I use normal generously as anyone who runs 100 miles for fun might not be all that normal! : )

Love2Run said...

Your definition of extremely hilly seems to need bigger superlatives with the sorts of runs you do. How about sick, ridiculous, insane and death defying? Good work holding the PF at bay.

pathfinder said...

I agree with the previous post....kind of hilly seems a little light on the description when looking at the elevation chart.

Sounds like things are starting to go well for you....great to hear!