Last week the chassis went to the workshop.
The engine was fine. It wanted to run. Unfortunately, the right knee had other ideas.
So Week 7 became physiotherapy, exercises and run-walks. I stopped asking, “What pace should I run?” and started asking, “Knee kaisa hai?”
Week 8 was about getting the chassis back from the workshop.
Not racing it. Just driving around the colony to see whether any warning lights came on.
Monday to Thursday: Time on Feet
The instruction was deliberately boring:
Run easy. Spend time on the feet. Protect the knee.
Monday: 5.5K at 8:18/km.
Tuesday: 9K at 6:55.
Wednesday: 9K at 7:32.
Thursday: 7.3K at 7:46.
Plus warm-ups, cooldowns and three strength/rehab sessions.
No threshold. No marathon pace. And definitely no hill repeats.
A few weeks ago I was analysing whether 4:30-something was my correct threshold pace. Now I was perfectly happy seeing 7:30 on the Garmin.
Marathon training teaches humility in very specific units.
Usually minutes per kilometre.
The engine and chassis
Cardiovascularly, I didn’t feel particularly unfit.
My heart and lungs kept saying:
We can go faster.
The knee said:
That’s very interesting.
The objective wasn’t to discover what the knee could survive today. It was whether I could run today and still have a happy knee tomorrow.
Saturday: The test drive
Saturday was the first proper test.
11.9 km — 6:14/km. Average HR 136 (73%). Cadence 168. Stride length 0.96 m.
And the most important statistic:
Knee complaints: zero.
A week earlier, my comeback 12K had been around 6:49/km at roughly 80% HR. Now I was running about 35 seconds/km faster at a substantially lower heart rate.
The mechanics looked normal too. Cadence was back around 168 and I wasn’t obviously changing my stride to protect the knee.
For the first time in two weeks, this felt less like rehabilitation running and more like running.
It’s tempting to look at the calendar and see everything I’ve missed — threshold, long runs, marathon-pace kilometres.
But there is no EMI on missed mileage.
I don’t have to repay it next week.
Trying to squeeze two lost weeks into one healthy week would probably send the chassis straight back to the workshop.
So Week 9 isn’t about catching up.
It’s about moving forward.
Saturday gave me something more valuable than a hard workout:
11.9 kilometres without thinking about my knee.
The engine is running.
The chassis is back from the workshop.
Now please don’t drive it into a pothole.
