Knee screwed, plug pulled......

One of the problems of only sporadically updating this blog is that lots can happen between posts and news is fed to you in chunks rather than through a more ‘organic’ process. So having said all I said in my last post about rediscovering some mojo and setting out on a new training plan for the Thunder Road Half I can abruptly announce in this post that I am now no longer doing the Half and am indeed starting to take some long needed down time!

My knee pain that I alluded to in my last post was not going away and despite completing a great 2 hour run with Jay in New York on Saturday (great for the company and location (running around the reservoir in Central Park really is a Runners’ World ‘Rave Run’ moment!) not for the state of the knee) it was clear that I wasn’t going to be able to carry on training at the intensity required to take a good stab at the Half in November so I discussed it with Tim and we decided it would be in my best interest to call it quits for this cycle (and year, essentially) and take my down time now instead of after the Half as originally planned.

So basically I will be doing nothing now until the knee feels better and I have had plenty of rest and recuperation. I haven’t gotten my knee checked out yet (no rush!) but if it continues to feel as sore as it currently does for much longer I will have to get it looked at get a scan if necessary. My immediate non-professional diagnosis was tendinitis but what do I know, if there is some sort of tear or other issue going on then my time off may end up being longer than currently planned!

That being said, such are the vagaries of the Grand Prix scoring system that in spite of completing all ten races to date and only losing to one of my overall rivals in one of those 10 races (Richard got me at Greek Fest by 3 seconds) I still have to complete the final race on Saturday in order to win overall. So in one shape or another I will be dragging myself around a hilly 15k course on Saturday just so I can record a finish and get the 250 points bonus you receive for competing in all 11 races. Without the 250 bonus I will likely drop some places in the standings and forego a not insignificant monetary prize for coming first overall, not to mention the chance to be crowned Grand Prix champion at last after several years of podium finishes! So call me stupid but I will be there on Saturday!

After Saturday I will just have to live my running life vicariously through the legs, workouts and races of others as in no particular order races in Chicago, Washington, Toronto, Morganton, Richmond, Savannah, New York and of course Charlotte are tackled by my close friends and training partners. Good luck all!

I can certainly look back on 2011 with a great amount of satisfaction. Not counting Blue Ridge or the Summer Track Series, I toed the line in 20 races, with 8 wins, 6 2nds, a 3rd, 2 4ths, a 5th, a 7th and a 20th (out of 40,000+ At Ukrops), the highlights being the US Masters track 10k championship victory, my 15:31 at the 49er track meet, three Grand Prix race victories, (hopefully) overall Grand Prix victory and being part of the valiant but ultimately beaten CRC team at Blue Ridge. There have also been disappointments including the Ukrops race and this knee injury that I have picked up but all in all I reckon I’ve just about earned a bit of a rest…..

In other news, our weekend in New York was fantastic! It was Lisa’s birthday present and she loved New York, never having been there before, so I am in the good books for a while!

Also farewell and good luck to running buddies and fellow bloggers Meagan and Jordan as they leave Charlotte for pastures new.

That's it for a while folks. I'm off to put my feet up and get fat.....