That's what I think about my knee...turns out, I will NOT be running Walter's Run 5K tomorrow [good thing I was planning on signing up day-of, right?] because my knee decided to completely poop out on me after 3 awesome days of running. 8+ miles, 6 miles, 8+ miles, all pretty much pain-free...then after ~2 miles yesterday, I was left unable to go up & down stairs without pain.
I think this is the final straw and I finally have to swallow my pride and admit: I can't run through this injury. I have tried and tried to make it OK, and I've thought that just a little pain vs. a TON of pain meant it was getting better...but clearly, it's not. I'm really frustrated since I had zero problems when I was running crazy high mileage leading up to the marathon, and now I can't do anything - clearly, something happened during the marathon that...wasn't cool. I've been trying so hard to slowly get my mileage back up and see what I can do while still keeping the pain in check, but it just doesn't seem to be working. So...I'm forcing myself to take a week COMPLETELY off of running. You heard me right - zero running. I am planning on taking advantage of a "7-day trial" that a fitness center with a pool in my area has and rocking out the swimming/pool running/elipticalling [ugh, gag me] for the next week, and seeing if things improve. This is going to be SO HARD for me...but all I've wanted for the past 2 months was to be able to just go out and run and not worry about my damn knee falling apart on me...so maybe, if I give it a little time to rest and take the stress off, while continuing to stretch and roll it out...good things will happen [maybe a Christmas miracle?]
I'm sort of freaking out because my marathon training program for Boston is supposed to start in 2 WEEKS...and obviously, I am nowhere near ready for that kind of intensity at the moment. My cardio, and for the most part my muscles, feel relatively ready, but it terrifies me to have to go into this training program without a real, solid week of base where I've made it over 37 miles, and ONE damn 10 mile run which was pretty much a failure thanks to my stupid knee. I've been trying to run within the limits of my injury issue, but I'm starting to wish that I had taken the time off when the problem STARTED, not after it's continued and potentially gotten worse over the past 2 months. Unfortunately, I only just got a job a couple of weeks ago, so getting into the gym wasn't even a question when I didn't have any income...
One other thought: my self-diagnosis of my problem is IT band syndrome, something I've dealt with before pretty successfully by just taking a week or two off [I vividly remember being on a run with my friend Nicole and literally being in tears because I felt like my knee was being ripped apart from the inside, and ending up having to walk ~3 miles home, after going on a 6 day vacation to Mexico where I didn't run at all, and then another week of just cross training, all was fine]. I've heard some pretty amazing things about ART, and I know there are at least a few decent practices in the Boston area, so for anyone who has any experience with this: is it worth the money? I do have a job at this point, but I'm still trying to save for student loans and various other things, so $75 for a 30 minute session seems like a lot to me...however, if it would let me run pain-free again, and let me train fo a PR in Boston? I can't even put a price on that.
I am also wondering if my shoes are playing a role in this problem? I did train for the marathon in a pair of apparently higher stability shoes, Etonics Kendaris [won in a small road race, I didn't even know that Etonics made running shoes, but I was a poor college student and figured I should take what I could get!] I went back to my old standby, Mizuno Wave Inspires, after 550+ miles on the Kendaris, but I'm starting to feel like the 5th edition of this shoe has less of the stability of the 4s. I noticed that they came out with a 6th edition of the Inspires [already??] so I wonder if those would be better...if anyone has any experience with those, I'd love to hear about it!
Anyway, I'm pretty frustrated. I'm trying to look on the bright side and hopefully I'll be able to work these trial memberships for all they're worth and advance my fitness in other ways...but really, all I want to do is run, and not worry about my knee falling apart or ruining my day halfway through a long run. I wasn't worried about training for another marathon just because of the distance, but now with this issue hanging over my head....I'm really worried. :(
2 comments:
If you're doing anything at a gym, or whatever, you should start just with the water work. For cardio do some biking, unless that hurts your knee. You can (and should) do a lot of core/ weight training stuff that will keep your legs strong without putting stress on the IT.
have you gone to see anyone regarding your knee or possible itb? even just talking to the folks at the running store can help with injuries sometimes. (key word on the sometimes, of course).
hopefully a week off will help. a lot of people, even the pro's, take 2+ solid weeks off of ANY cardio/running. try not to dwell on boston so much yet. it's still a long ways off and you can always cut back to a 20, 18, 16-week plan... (and still rock it)
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