2. Back to Zero

The next run

The last post ended with a line pointing right here about the next 5k run on 5 September which was organized by Wizzair. I went to the race that day expecting a breakthrough after finishing phase 5 of rehab, I thought I will have a finish time something like 22:30 this time or maybe even sub-22. What I got was 24:59 on the race bib’s GPS and 24:17 on my Garmin even though I’d started the Garmin early and stopped it late, which should have made its time longer, not shorter. Whatever the real number is, fore sure it isn’t the one I expected. Rehab didn’t translate into the timing gain I was hoping for and now looking in hindsight maybe I was being too optimistic about what can happen within a month. That’s acceptable as now I realized one month time was not enough to cut my time short for 5k, most likely a training plan for 12 weeks would improve my timing.

Some of the gap has an obvious explanation after I took a look at my strava stats. I ran in the last wave of the field, and the crowd slowed my first kilometer enough that I couldn’t make it up later, even finishing hard through the last kilometer. If I want an honest 5K number, I probably need to time a PB on a track by myself, without wave starts or crowds in the way.

The prep

Going into the 5K, I actually had a solid routine.

• Early afternoon: couscous with chicken.
• Three hours before the race: a carb-loading meal with two buns, strawberry jam, honey, a ripe banana, and 200ml of water with 15 grams of isotonic powder.
• Ninety minutes before: an americano with 5 grams of sugar.

I arrived at the venue 15 minutes ahead of the 19:30 start; my wave went off at around 19:40.

One thing I didn’t prepare for was the elevation on the bridge section of the course. It caught me off guard mid-race. The lesson is simple, a practice run on the actual course, even just for mental prep, would have taken that surprise elevantion off the table and also to memorise how long is each kilometer. I realised getting used to the course before a race can really help mentally to keep my pace consistent.

Full effort 1k test

The next day, 6 September after talking to vijay I thought maybe I can finish 1k atleast within 3 minutes 30 seconds, I tested a 1K PB on a 200-meter track: 4:00 flat, all-out effort.

Pacing is what got away from me, after the third lap I slowed down because I couldn’t judge how much stamina I had left for the final two laps, then picked it back up for a hard last lap. Given I’d raced a 5K flat out less than 24 hours earlier, I don’t think it was a bad result. It’s a real lesson either way that running well is a strategy problem as much as an effort problem.

The real target

I’ll probably get faster at 5K with a dedicated program. But that’s not actually the goal. I need to always keep my aim is overall athletic ability across sports and events, not an ideal 5K time. So I’m not chasing the best 5K time possible, I’m chasing the best 5K time that doesn’t come at the cost of my sprint numbers over 10, 20, 60, and 100 meters. If I had to name the physique I’m actually aiming for, it’s closer to an 800-meter Olympic runner than a 5K specialist. Also I think targets tend to change from time to time, who knows what I will aim for later as I keep progresing on this fitness journey.

Short Break, Travel and Training

The following week I went to Kraków for four days, Wednesday to Sunday morning, to see Yash. On the Friday morning, between dinners and a walk through Kazimierz, I tried 10K on a treadmill it was less hard than I expected, though I noticed some ankle instability, possibly from my shoes (Adizero Evo SL).

Back in Warsaw, I resumed phase 6 of rehab on Tuesday evening, 15 September. The next day I ran an easy 5K nearby, just to find the pace that keeps my heart rate in zone 2 and see how long that pace takes over 5K. That Saturday I went out for another easy 5K with Kunal, followed by breakfast and coffee.

Course recon

With a 10K event coming up on 27 September, I used the 23rd September Wednesday to run the actual course at an easy pace the lesson from the bridge elevation on the last course finally applied. I finished inside an hour, accounting for traffic stops and crowding on the bridge crossings. The same ankle instability showed up again between 7 and 9 kilometers, then eased off. Heart rate for the run was split roughly 50/50 between zone 2 and zone 3.

I rested properly in the days before the race on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, eating well, recovering well, stretching. Going into Sunday, I felt confident about finishing well under 50 minutes, or close to it.

Race day

Pre race prep

Sunday morning on 27th september I woke two hours before the start, got ready, took electrolytes, and ate a banana before heading to Centrum. With 40 minutes left, I took a caffeine gel and a carb gel. I met Kunal there, dropped my things off at the bag check, and with 20 minutes left, started warming up.

Warm up & Injury

The first exercise was a simple leg swing, forward and back. A couple of reps in, bringing my leg forward, my knee got locked and the pain was immediate. I couldn’t move, couldn’t straighten the leg, and had to lie down. I tried releasing it myself a few times but nothing helped. With the clock running out and my muscles already in shock, I knew that even if I managed to release the knee, I wasn’t going to run. I dropped out. Jagiya went to get help, and an ambulance from Luxmed took me to the ER once they confirmed the knee was locked.

I waited 30 minutes at Szpital Lindleya for an orthopedist. An X-ray came next, and then the two options: an arthroscopy right there, or an MRI first and a return to the ER if the knee was still locked by then. I chose the MRI because without it, the orthopedist couldn’t rule out anything beyond the meniscus, and I wanted to know what I was actually dealing with before deciding on surgery. Also the orthopedic said without MRI they wouldn’t really know if surgery was actually needed or not in my case.

Time-off from fitness for sometime now

I went home with the knee still locked and spent the night trying, without much luck, to relax it. The next day was icing, bed rest, and short trips to the dining table on crutches as I could extend the knee to about 45 degrees, enough to sit and move around a little but any sudden movement caused immense pain in my knee which often made me reluctant to move around even in bed. After 36 hours of knee staying locked the second day after injury during the night, before sleep, I tried again: 15 to 20 minutes lying on my side, easing the knee into a specific angle, and it finally popped back into place after my muscles relaxed. No pain on release, though once I could fully straighten it there was real swelling which was probably from being locked for so long.

I got MRI happened the next day on 29th September, and I’m still waiting on the results.