Today is my weekly speed training day. I used to do it by running before my meniscus tear injury. But now I do it by cycling to avoid the risk of re-injuring it.
When I did it by running, I would run 1 K in 4:30 and repeat it 7 times with a short rest of one minute between sets. It helped me develop my ability to sustain a high level of performance under an oxygen debt. It in turn enabled me to increase my capacity to quickly recover from hard efforts.
After the injury, I completely stopped doing that type of speed training for almost a year. My cardio dropped to a below-average citizen runners' level. I found it demotivating.
Unable to run regularly, I found it challenging to stay fit. I did upper-body training because I could do it without overtasking the injured knee. But it never felt like a good substitute for running.
Then one day, a friend of mine who is an orthopedic surgeon recommended I do core training. I searched YouTube for a tutorial. I found a good one and did what the instructor demonstrated. It was hard at first. But as I continued to do it every other day, I grew strong enough to complete the entire set without taking a longer rest than designated. It was a confidence booster.
Meanwhile, while I continued the core training, I realized that the pain in the knee became more and more negligible.
One day, I mustered up my courage and hit a nearby park to run on the grass in bare feet. At first, I constantly feared that pain might return. But as my body warmed up, that anxiety turned out to be needless. I decided to restart my running training.
Though barefoot running on the grass does not cause any pain now, I think it owes much to the easy pace at which I train. A sudden increase in pace might be a trigger for reinjury. So I should be careful. If I should increase the pace, it should be gradual. I will make a tentative attempt with a short distance, like increasing the pace only in the last one kilometer of a 14 K session, and so on, instead of having a 10 K tempo run at a pace much faster than my jogging pace, for example.
Now I have grown strong enough to have two 14 K jogging sessions a week at a little under 6 minutes per K. I feel more and more capable of running longer distances. But what about my cardio. Running at an easy pace has its limitations no matter how far I go. You cannot improve your VO2max solely by long slow cardio. You need anaerobic training. That's where interval training comes in. But there is too big a risk with doing it by running. So, the training tonight is my solution: doing it by cycling.
I've only done it three times, so it's too early to make any sensible judgment whatsoever about this training. I think that if it is effective, I will feel it when I jog. My breathing will be easier. I also think that the effect will be felt in recovery time. In other words, I will feel less exhausted the morning after the running training. I am very hopeful that both will actually happen. And I just cannot wait for the day when I feel the difference.
