Last week the knee revolted.
Pain. Medicines. Rest. Physiotherapy. A couple of walks.
So Week 13 wasn’t about recovering lost kilometres or restarting the training plan.
It was simply about staying positive and getting back in the game.
Most of the week was deliberately boring: Zone 1, Zone 2, run-walk, repeat.
Tuesday and Wednesday were particularly gentle, with average HR around 59%. Thursday moved slightly higher into Zone 2.
No threshold. No heroics.
Then came Saturday.
A Small Test
The semi-long run was 11.5 km, but the average pace of 5:41/km doesn’t really tell the story.
I started conservatively, mostly around 6:00/km, before testing the second segment around my target marathon pace.
For a few kilometres I was back around 5:00/km.
The engine remembered.
Then came the important part.
Instead of thinking “Knee seems okay, chalo workout complete karte hain,” I did the opposite.
I reduced both the distance and pace of the third segment.
That may actually have been the best part of the workout.
The cardiovascular system probably had more to give. Whether the knee did was a question I didn’t need answered on Saturday morning.
From Training Fitness to Training Patience
A week ago I was wondering when I would run again.
This week I ran easy, reached Zone 2 comfortably and briefly touched marathon pace again.
That’s enough.
The February marathon and November races are still somewhere on the horizon, but right now the real progression looks more like this:
Pain → Walking → Z1 → Z2 → A little target pace → STOP.
For someone who has spent years believing every training plan needs progression, I’m discovering another useful training principle:
Sometimes progression means knowing when not to progress.
Week 12: Chassis in the workshop.
Week 13: Test drive successful. Speed restrictions remain in force. 😄
