Knee Problemo

I woke up in Leadville the day after doing Mount Elbert and set off to the trail head for another 14'er. La Plata Peak. My knee was feeling a little funny on the drive but thought I would see how it was on the trail. I got 0.1 mile(a new record low on my watch) and had to stop and turn around. No running for me. My left knee had swollen up overnight. It was not painful but there was quite a lot of fluid around the kneecap and it just felt dead so mission aborted and I headed off to sit by Twin Lakes and panic that my summer of running may be over.

Run aborted

I hung around at Twin for a while before driving back to Denver where I rested for 4 full days. Not really leaving the sofa. I was icing my knee lots and taking anti-inflammatories. It did slowly start to reduce the swelling and by today(Sunday) it was feeling much better. Anna had mentioned she was going for a run up Mount Evans and I thought I would go along. Even if I couldn't run I could sit in the car at high altitude which is better than the sofa.

Worrying like crazy at Twin Lakes

We parked at 12'000ft. Crazy I know! And then began to run to the summit. There is a cracking ridge route to the top but it was so windy we stuck to the road. Yeah road! To my surprise I actually enjoyed it. The road runs all the way to the top of the peak at over 14'000ft. Most people drive to the top but we parked further down and ran 5.5 miles up and then 5.5 miles back down. It was horrendously windy even on the road and was hard work pushing into the near gale force gusts at times , plus to top it all off it was freezing cold. This all might sound horrible but I actually enjoyed all of it. My lungs felt great the whole way up and I never once had to stop.

A road to over 14'000ft!

I actually enjoyed it

So the Knee.....it is way way better and I never really felt anything wrong going up , on the way down it did start to flare up again but nothing bad and sitting at home now there is no swelling and again it is not sore. I think it still needs a little rest but I also think today kind of helped give it a stretch out and I am hoping I don't wake up tomorrow and find it swollen again. I reckon I could struggle through maybe 30 miles with it the way it was but I do not want to start a 100 mile race with it swollen. If I start and it flares up over halfway I reckon I can handle it but going out from mile 1 with it this way I wouldn't be too hopeful.

Me , Anna and Natalie on the windy summit with
me stupidly covering the summit marker post

Lauren arrives on Tuesday and we head off to explore Utah , Silverton and Leadville from Tuesday to Friday. We don't really have much time to explore before my race so I just picked my favourite places here. Leadville for obvious reasons and because it has loads of 14'ers around it and Silverton because it is basically the greatest place on earth to run. I got some awesome news today that one of Angie's friends is looking for pacers for the Uroc 100k Ultra in Copper Mountain on Saturday so I quickly informed her that I will do 15 miles and Woody will do 15 miles as well. I am really looking forward to running with a total stranger and hope he understands me plus I am super excited to see some of the Uroc course. A race I considered doing this year.  Angie is pacing another friend for the full 30 miles so it will be cool to just hang out with everyone again at this race. Then we rest a day or two in the Denver/Boulder area and then it is off to Steamboat to prep for the big one. Come on knee! just get better!!