Whew! A Week at Home!

I have been so busy this week!  I don't know if it will be like this every time we come home, but this week has flown.  I crossed the final thing off my to do list late yesterday and we're getting ready to fly back to Hawaii on Tuesday morning!

I had plans for a big week while I was home.  It started off with a bang and ended with a whimper.  I don't know how or when, but I have done something to my right knee.  I have pain on the inside, just below my kneecap (a tendon or ligament, maybe?)  If I've learned anything in 16 years of running, it's that small injuries can turn into big ones.  I have not learned this from personal experience, but I've read of many runners who refuse to take a day or two off, then end up injured and unable to run for months.  I don't think I've ever taken more than a week off due to injury and that is because I've always erred on the side of caution.  So here's how this week played out:

Sunday - Rested

Monday - Ran 7.02 miles in 1:17:28, 11:02 pace
I was feeling great.  It was cold again (32 degrees), but there was no wind, so I was feeling fine after a few minutes of warm up.

Tuesday - Rode 9.34 miles in 1:05:32, 8.6 mph
This was the first time I had been on my bike in over a month and I could tell!!  Slow!  This was also when I first notice my knee pain.  I don't think the injury occurred while riding because I noticed it as we were pedaling out of the driveway.  The pain wasn't really noticeable once I got warmed up.

Wednesday - Ran/Walked/Plodded 4.85 miles in 1:08:55, 14:13 pace
I just had no energy this day.  I did a lot of walking, so the knee pain wasn't very noticeable.  I started noticing it more later in the day.

Thursday and Friday - Rested
I woke up with knee pain both mornings and decided to take a little extra rest.

Saturday - Ran 5.78 miles in 1:15:46, 13:07 pace
The first 2.5 miles were great, my pace was in the 10s.  Then boom! Knee pain.  I took a few walk breaks, then ran quite of bit of mile 4.  I started up a hill and the pain came back.  From then on, the pain didn't go away.  Grrr...

I really wanted to run a half marathon this weekend, either today or Monday.  It certainly didn't happen today and I don't know about Monday.  Long term running is more important than a single long run, so I'm just going to take it one day at a time.  Maybe I just need to run in the sand!