When I woke up this morning, I was excited to get back to working out.  This week’s training plan, that my coach had given me, was quite light after my big training block.  Nonetheless, I was anxious to get back at it.

I got out of bed, took a step or two, and wham … pain in my knee.   The same knee that had been uncomfortable during my run on Sunday, was now still sore, two days later.  My mind immediately went into the mode of, how does this affect my workout?

Maybe I could just ‘muscle through’ the pain and do the planned easy run/easy bike session?  

That didn’t sound like a good idea, so how about switching up days and doing a swim this evening?  That could work, as I would be able to easily swim without stressing my knee any further.  I quickly checked the weather.  Thunderstorm activity was forecasted for this evening, so that killed that idea.

I finally settled on the idea of going for a walk to warm up, and then doing a very easy spin on the bike.  I would do it after work.  I then texted my coach to let him know what was going on.   

Two minutes later, I got a text back with a message saying “Made Some Adjustments”.   I checked Training Peaks and saw the above schedule for today … “Rest Day”.

I immediately knew that my coach was right.  I had nothing to gain by pushing through, and taking another day to recover, will likely prevent a bigger problem.  This is the value of a great coach… they can save you from yourself.

So now I am writing this with my feet up, and resting my knee.  I have been using ice on it all day and have also done some foam rolling of the muscles around the knee.  Fingers crossed, I will feel much better tomorrow morning, but if not I’ll be working with my coach to figure out what to do.