Last week, Tuesday, I went on a wee 6 mile run. My left knee felt a little funny after the first mile, but that happens sometimes and isn’t ever a big deal (it usually just means I wasn’t wholly warmed up or that I slept funny or something). By the end of the run, though, it was definitely feeling unhappy. Within minutes of having stopped, the surrounding musculature was seizing up in a way that indicated some pretty severe joint damage.
“Well, crap” I said.
By the time I left for work I was sporting a really bad limp and my chances of beating last year’s time at the Seattle Marathon (next week) were swiftly advancing from “slim” to “none.” My knee was painless when standing or sitting, but walking hurt like crazy, and going down stairs even more so. I spent the whole day dreading any activities that required me to move from my desk.
I was feeling much better Wednesday, but any time I walked more than a block the limp would return. Thursday and Friday saw more progress, and by Saturday I was limp free and felt it was time to test things out. Â I suited up and took it nice and easy, but by .75 miles I was already starting to hurt and turned around. The last downhill caused my knee to toss up some warning flares of pain, but didn’t lock up. So, progress, but not enough.
Next week’s marathon is out, and because it’s run but jerks, there’s no refunds or rollovers to next year, so there’s $125 out the window. I wouldn’t mind so much if that money was going to charity, but that probably isn’t the case.
Moving on… I’ve booked a flight to Miami for the marathon there at the end of January. I haven’t actually registered for the race, yet, though, and I may not until I see a PT and figure what the heck I did to my knee and how long it’ll take to heal. Worst case scenario is 5 days on the beach, which is a pretty darn good worst case.
I’m sure that, whatever is wrong, I’ll heal in time for full Ironman training in the spring. Speaking of which, I’m now at 30% of my charity raising goal. If you have a few bucks laying around or could skip that afternoon latte, I’d appreciate your support.
Bummer! Have hope for the PT. I had a very similar knee issue- I couldn’t run for a month and it was starting to look like forever. I finally went to the PT, they gave me a couple simple exercises, and I could run again within a few days! Now, there are many different types of knee issues, but if yours is the kind caused by a muscle weakness/imbalance, there is hope for the Miami marathon! But the alternative isn’t so bad either. Good luck!
Thanks Rhea!