Exercise 9.4

Swimming went fairly well. I started with fair form but very stiff apparently; I was concentrating. As I relaxed bits of technique started to fade but eventually I managed a reasonable combination of being not too tight and fairly tidy. I'm still having to take short breaks. I must start a better training programme to banish that!

Exercise 9.3

This is my second week at 20km, just a little bit over actually, with a 'long' run of 9.7km. As I was completing today's run I became aware of the lateral part of my left patellar tendon, but no more than that. I also did my physio exercises without tweaking it at all prior to the usual rollering and stretching.

The run felt a little hard work, I think there were many reasons for this. Probably most significant is cadence, I'm sure that cadence of 180 steps per minute is harder work than going at a lower rate, even if the steps are small. This study was focussed on the POSE method  and showed a decrease in efficiency in contrast to the advertised outcomes. A rummage around PubMed hasn't revealed any other papers relating cadence to efficiency. However, I've been advised to adopt a higher cadence to avoid overstriding and facilitate healing so efficiency may be the cost I have to pay; it does seem that load is reduced with increased cadence (see here and here although the evidence quality is very low and this is probably where it all comes from!).

Second, I think I'm out of practice. Apart from a few walks I've not been doing aerobic exercise for longer than an hour - either running or swimming.

And third, I did some unaccustomed gardening yesterday.

Overall I'm starting to feel a little more positive and believe that some recovery is discernible.

Exercise 9.2

This morning's swim was much as before although I feel that a fair quality style is becoming more habitual now. Unfortunately I'm still taking 5s breathers between lengths. I really must make an effort to break that.

I walked home via a few camping shops to look into simple stoves. I've used a MSR Whisperlite for years, mostly because it makes sense to use a petrol stove when your camping with a motorbike, but my wife isn't keen on the lighting procedure. A high output gas burner looks like a good bet. It even seems that the ISO screw versus Camping Gaz clip-on issue is readily solved by a simple adapter. Anyway, the detour added some walking and standing around to my usual saturday routine and both left and right knees complained quietly at different times in the journey. As the irritation was transient from both I can't think it was much.

After some gardening this afternoon they are both feeling a little tired. Overall things are looking OK and a run still looks to be reasonable tomorrow.

Exercise 9.1

It was a busy day at work but I managed to leave promptly and arrived home without niggly knees. As soon as I got home I worked through my exercises and all was well.

Exercise 8.7

When I arrived at work I went upstairs doing single leg step-ups thus completing my basic strength routine from yesterday. I left work a little early and went for a swim. The pool was very quiet and so there was no excuse for my slow progress. I do believe that I kept my form reasonably tidy throughout the 1.2km and was aware of time when quality slipped.

Until leaving for home I'd had little awareness of knee pain but during the walk home the left knee especially felt tired and with a little soreness. This can't have been anything severe as it wasn't obvious during a short walk in the evening.

Exercise 8.6

I wondered how this evening's circuit class would go after yesterday's slightly longer run. Luckily the normal leader was working so the session wasn't too 'bouncy'. So I had a gentle run there and during the class I did my squats and lunges - both to quite small levels but done nonetheless. They were fine and no knee pain resulted. I got a lift home and so saved myself a walk.

Exercise 8.5

Walking around work I have been a little aware of tenderness in the left patellar tendon but at a very low effort. With lovely evening weather I decided to do a slightly longer run and to just leave the woods; that became a loop of 9.5km. I too kit slowly and walked the clear descents.

Descent at dusk

By the end of the hour the left knee was obvious to me but not painful. Once home I had my hemp protein (I'm endeavouring to have that soon after key activities) and did rollering and stretches. There were a few knots, the left calf is becoming a bit of a trouble spot.