Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Still There....

Sorry guys. Still on the boring topic, the knee issue vol. 2. After a full 5 days of rest after the NB Pacesetters and with my own unprofessional gut feeling based assessment that the knee is about 80% healed (might also be due to justify my carbo loading session of the nasi bryani gam which i had before friday prayer under the trees at Bukit Aman Carpark), i'd decided to have a test run in the weekend.
Tasik Seksyen 7 Shah Alam was the ideal place for this work-out due to its flat runing track. Managed to complete 7km of super slow run before calling it a day. Could still feel a bit of pain but over all, it was a trouble free run. Made a conclusion that the knee is capable of taking a couple of more easy run until full recovery. With the confidence gained plus the positive effect of taking Glucosamine the day before, i hit the track again the next morning. It was a hassle free run up to km8 but soon after the pain becoming more apparent at the injured knee. Continued another 1km before finishing the round and once I stopped, the stiffness and pain got a bit intense but not serious enough to bother me. A long warm down streching and icing my knee later at home had managed to relieve the soreness and pain. I decided that another brief run should be OK during the coming weekdays to be concluded with a back to back 10km-12km run in the weekend before I can make own self declaration that I am ready for more.
Although I was struggling with a heavy/hard breathing and heavy legs in the subsequent 6.5km run at the Lake Garden, i felt pretty confident that my knee should be ready to take the pounding of the mini LSD planned for the weekend. So i hit the road last saturday, starting from Tasik Shah Alam, with the intention of completing 12km distance and included in the menu were 2 climb runs; (i) the moderate slope run near UiTM main entrance; and (ii) more steep and longer ascending run from Seksyen 7 till Seksyen 8 (i.e. from Unisel until the junction leading to Bukit Cherakah Park). This time the pain appeared its ugly head at km 6, which was earlier than the previous 8km's point. Instead of improving, it was a U-turn in so far as my recovery process is concerned. Though i reduced my pace to minimise the pain, I need to take a short cut back to Tasik Shah Alam with a total distance of 8.4km recorded in my Endomondo running tracker. Feeling that the distance was far from satisfying, i attempted to do a full loop of Tasik Shah Alam (around 3.8km) but I royally flunk that attempt where i had to stop with less than 1km done since continuing a few minutes more would end up me limping all the way to finish the loop.
So the verdict was there glaring at my face. Padan muka aku. Wifey already reminded me to take sufficient rest until full recovery but sometimes u tend to over estimate your own body and possibly it was due to my own fear of losing whatever progress that I had gained all this while which entailed less patience in me to endure the waiting game. Now i understand why some runners succumbed to the temptation of running races when clearly they are yet to fully recover from their injuries.
So, it will be a FULL rest for the entire week for me from running and can anybody advise any bike for a beginner that i could check out? :)

10 comments:

  1. takpa - rest is also a part of training. get well soon, bro.

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  2. Thanks shah. May be swimming though in d kampung style would do while waiting for the knee to heal :)

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  3. bro, go to any bike shop la.. they only asked what is your budget :P of coz they will advise u on which bike u should choose for a beginner. as i said, some people have 'big budget' for a beginner bike but some with moderate budget for much less bike. Your pick. but go with the moderate budget if you are not that serious (beli basikal mahal2 tapi tak pakai selalu rugi la kan?)

    all and all, u did ok. Dont push too hard la.. :) for me rest is rest, when im good to go, im all out. and enjoy it. (injury free)

    see u @ energizer?

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  4. Che,

    thanks for the advise. My hardcore cyclist x school mate also advised the same, i.e. to start with the moderate price bike and see the progress in a few months. One thing is i will look for MTB. Boleh layan off road as well.

    Yes, already registered for Energizer. Insyaallah if tiada aral (physically and time), will run in 1/2 marathon.

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  5. Think you just need more rest to recover ziff, just not there yet lah. i dont think it will do you good running too hard too fast now.

    on the topic of cycling ziff/che, errm whats a moderate price for beginners?

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  6. Ziff, sorry for the late entry. Rest is also part of training. You won't lose your fitness in a week or two just by doing nothing.

    Entry level bikes (<RM2000) should be available from local bike shops. A friend of mine (staying in S.Alam also) just bought a GT Avalanche 3.0 at Fook Sang, Sg. Way for RM1650.

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  7. Diket, thanks for the hindsight. RM1650 sound reasonable. I will check the shop one of these days.

    Yim, there u go. The answer to your Q. If got extra budget u go for more pricey one lor :)

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  8. Errm ... reasonable is sometimes rather subjective lah. I guess around that 2k mark should be alright. And the next obvious question would be ... road ke MTB poning ...

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  9. Yim, I'll go for MTB. Few of my frens said MTB is more suitable for beginners due to its robustness and dual purpose.

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  10. sounds interesting, next project is to get a MTB and start cycling, cycling and more cycling. next year merempuh duathlon plak hehe

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