9-month report card, post meniscus tear

Like students wrapping up their scool year after about 9 months, I'm also 9 months into rebuilding after this painful knee injury which forced me get off running for 7 months last year. After this endoscopy on July 1st, the surgeon recommended 2 months of recovery. Here is a recap of my new come back to running.

Month 1

While I was able to walk for miles across Paris during the Olympics in August, and I couldn't wait to get back to running in September, I still remember how depressing and painful the first weeks were, so much that there have been many days when I had to turn back after jogging only one third of a mile, because of the pain. Yet, by the end of September, I had been to the track to jog a marathon in 3:42: slowly and painfully but just to prove I was still able to cover the distance.

218 km. Slow miles. Still a lot of pain during and after the runs. C- but "Great job for getting back on the saddle!"

Month 2

6 weeks in, I did my first race, a half marathon in France and, while I won my age group, I was barely pleased with my time of 1:33:45. Incidentally, I felt less limited by knee pain than my breathing so that was progress, mechanically speaking. 2 weeks later, I had a decent experience at my club's hilly half marathon, finishing 3rd overall and 1st in my age group, albeit not in a competitive field.

271 km in 18 runs. 1 3:31 marathon at the track. C+ "You aren't back to your previous self yet but we notice your good will."

Month 3

In November, I dare to fly to the 24-hour Nationals. Again, while I won my age group, being the only M60-65 to show up, I painfully covered 100K in 12 hours, with a lot of walking, proving that there was much more work to rebuild muscle endurance. 5 days later, a decent 39:26 at the Turkey Trot, enough for taking 3rd in my age group.

327 km, mostly thanks to the 101 km at Fat Ox. 3 marathons at the track in 3:24, 3:17 and 3:09. B- "Great job on holding on for 100K, and impressive improvement on your training marathons!"

Month 4

The highlight of December was the win of the age-graded category of the DoDouble Palo Alto with a 40:36 10K followed less than an hour later by a 20:08 5K. First experience of this race format. After not racing for 9 months, it felt good to get a few results, enough to apply for a Silver Phidippides award. 

136 km, both due to doubts because of persisting knee pain, plus a family trip to Panama where it was challenging to run. C+ "Too much vacationing, stay focused!"

Month 5

With the new year came new hopes and expectations, more than resolutions which I'm never short of, running wise. First race of our Grand Prix, the No Hands Half. Challenging without any hill training for a year, yikes! 3rd place in my age group, I'm going to really have to work on these glutes... 

211 km. 12 runs including 1 race and 2 track workouts with Bob. B- "All this speed work will pay off!"

Month 6

On the first day, I ran the traditional Jed Smith 50K. Holding a great pace for 35K, under 7:15, passing the marathon mark in 3:11, then struggling afterwards, not able to break 4 (4:04). Yet, felt good to run this classic again, in challenging weather conditions, no less. Great family vacation in Saint Lucia, although poor place to log miles (see blog).

196 km in 11 runs. Not much progress. C+ "We already said what we thought about vacationing..."

Month 7

With a longer month, and more focus, I logged 309 km and 2 races: Big Bunny 5K in my backyard, and Knickerbocker 35K which provided some hill training as well as a good preview of sections we'll run at Cool Moon 100 in June. Even my fist ultra trail run since 2023.

309 km. Solid work. B "Good to see you back to serious work!"

Month 8

April saw two more races. First, an improved 50K at the Nationals in Wisconsin (3:51), good enough for a 22nd title/patch. Then Horseshoe Lake 35K where I was able to hold quite well agains a more competitive field. Longer work outs throughout the month. 

308 km. Faster miles. B+ "Noticeable improvements, good job!"

Month 9

May has always been a big ramp-up month in our Grand Prix, when we used to have 3 tough ultras on the schedule over 3 consecutive weekends: Miwok 100K, Quicksilver 50-mile, Ohlone 50K and Silver State 50-mile! While we eased up a little, although Quicksilver is now 100K in order to remain a Western States qualifier, Silver State moved to June because of a permitting issue this year. Bottom line, I could just focus on Quicksilver where I was happy to finish just under 12 hours. More importantly, I ran 7 ultras in May, including a local 100-mile Memorial Training weekend. And even more importantly, with little remaining knee pain, yet just enough not to get too excited and keep a discipline to include rest days and stretching time.

610 km over 18 runs (13 rest days). A- "Super effort, great come back, and we feel you can do even better!"

Overall

I'll admit I'm still not very familiar and confortable with the A-F grading scale. I've grown up under such a strict and demanding 0-20 scoring system, or rule or regimen, in which teachers felt they might be too generous if distributing grades over 10, which was meant to be the average...

My second bias is that I still have trouble taking age as an excuse to slow down. So I still get in the game of competing and trying to keep up with the youngsters. Dangerous quest although that's what kept me so much on my toes in my 40s and 50s.

With that I'm not sure I could ever be coaching others, beyond myself. And while others might give me an A+ for May, I'm going to keep chasing bigger and higher goals, while also listening carefully to my body. I will just say that I likely know better than anyone else what additional work I can do to continue rebuilding muscle and endurance. Or maybe my knee knows better, which is still whispering after hard workouts... Murmuring like a monkey on my shoulder... While the ultra experiment of n=1 continues...