Back in Dyingman 61 ("Roar"), I wrote:

But is it the speed that gives me the high I love?  Or is it the effort?  Is it pushing myself to the maximum that I enjoy?
If so, I might get the rush I need even if I'm not quite rushing.  While I may be sprinting no faster than a power walk, if my muscles are pushing as hard as they can, will I care?

Here's the plan.
I mean to find a softer surface: mattresses, rubber track, sand, shallow water...  What happens if I run full tilt on one of these?
If the lion is weak, but the roar is loud... is there still joy?

Stay tuned.

I had the chance to try running on sand this past weekend and I am pleased to report that running on sand is quite pleasant.  Pushing off from the sand disperses it behind you rather than pushing your body forward.  This slows the body down substantially.  When the foot lands ahead of you, it pushes sand aside, braking the foot before it comes to a stop.  You stop slower and don't hit the ground as fast.  Running in sand decreases damage two different ways.  I ran less than I should have for a proper workout but by the fifth sprint, I was going very nearly top speed.  I wanted to give it everything I could, but I felt it wise to see what damage resulted first and I restrained myself.  I never got out again to try it when I was perfectly okay the next day.  I was even compelled to do a little jogging over the next few days and I suspect that did worse things than sprinting on sand. 
As it turns out, it IS the effort that produces the joy.  The speed is not essential.  The push of the envelope is the source of the roar.

I got to thinking about the interim step.  The rumble.
The idea was that if my knees were bent during a full run, my femur was coming down on the cartilage at and angle and this was a more difficult motion to restrain for the ACL.  Well, maybe not so much.  Mirkin has this to say:

Runners with high arches are at increased risk for suffering stress fractures, small cracks in the bones of their feet and lower legs; and those with low arches are at increased risk for knee cap pain. When you run at six miles per hour, your foot hits the ground with a force greater than three times body weight. The faster you run, the harder your foot strikes the ground. This force can break bones, damage joints and tear muscles. The human body is designed so you never land flatfooted when you run. The majority of people land on the outside (lateral) bottom of the foot and roll inward toward the big toe. This helps to distribute the force of your foot strike throughout your foot and leg and protect you from injury. The further you roll inward, the greater the protection against this force. However, when you roll in too much, your lower leg twists inward excessively, causing your kneecap to rub against the long femur bone behind it and cause pain. This is called Runner's Knee.

If you have pain behind the knee cap during running or walking, ask your podiatrist to look at your feet. If your arches appear to be flat, you usually will have a normal arch, but you roll inward so far that your arch touches the ground. Your treatment is to place special inserts, called orthotics, in your running shoes and to do special exercise that strengthen your vastus medialis muscle that pulls your knee cap inward.

If you develop pain in the medial side of your lower leg or your feet, your podiatrist will probably order a bone scan to check for stress fractures, small cracks in the bones of your feet. If you have stress fractures and high arched feet, you will need specially padded running shoes and have to learn to try to hit the ground with less force when you run.

I appear to have one flat foot and one arched.  I'm starting to wonder whether my neuroma is actually a stress fracture.  It maybe time to visit a podiatrist.

In any case, the speed of the motion is what causes the strain, not the direction of the bone movement.  Rumbling works because it's not as fast, not because of some diminished force through angular adjustment.  I'm simply applying less of it.  It's just physics.  Energy has to go somewhere and moving it around might strain some other part of my knee, but the likeliest cause of my lack of knee pain lately is that I don't run anymore.  I will have to see what I might be able to do to find some sand to roar on.


*DM


Next:   The Week's Next Experiment



THE CHART:

Fitness Goals:
60 beats per minute resting pulse.
10 minutes hard cycling. (intensity 5 out of 10)
Weights: 3 days - 100 lbs. - 6 cycles of 5,5,5,10 repetitions (2 cycles/day)

Current Fitness Record: (since last entry)
4 x < 2 min cycling - average intensity 4 - 65 cycles  (Pulse = 126 at last check 2-2008)
0 day - 65 lbs. - 0 cycles

Miscellaneous Activity:
45 minutes walking


Pulse: 59
Blood Pressure:  111/72  8/7/08
BMI 25 (barely overweight)



Workout Partner's Progress:  Position Vacant

RECENT SYMPTOMS : None
ONGOING SYMPTOMS:  Clicking knees, Pain in right knee when kneeling and shifting knee to the right.  Hyperhidrosis.
DIAGNOSIS: Unknown injury to right knee, possible impact from small stumble (c. 2006) onto landing of concrete stairs. Injured knee joints from sprinting (c. 2007)

ONGOING TREATMENT: Tri-Annual dental visits.

DRUG REGIMEN:  Aspartame.  (3 diet sodas daily)  Caffeine (three cups of coffee daily.  two colas.)
PROGNOSIS:  Gradual decay of knee function.
POTENTIAL TREATMENTS:   Fish Oil supplements.  Axillary vacuum curettage.

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