Tuesday my training plan had a 9 mile steady run. 6 miles in my right leg started to hurt around the knee and calf. I ran/walked the rest of the way home. I read up on common running injuries that night.
Wednesday I had a brick with a 3 mile steady run. My knee bothered me a little during this run but not as much as the night before. I read up on running knee pain a little more.
Thursday, I had a tempo run. I warmed up slowly and although my knee was sore as I started, the pain diminished. I ran 4 miles at my tempo pace. My knee slowed me down but just slightly. I iced my knee and took Tylenol when I got home.
Today was my 19 miler. I did the run/walk plan as described on Jeff Galloway's website. I started my first few rounds slow as a warm up. My knee was sore but went away as I went. About 5 miles into my run and on my slow run pace to the second when I came to an intersection where I had to wait for heavy traffic. As I took my next few steps I was in the worst pain. It felt like my knee cap was on the side of my leg. I tried to rest and run again with no luck and ended up waling 1.25 miles home. I am icing as I type this.
After a ton of research I have self diagnosed (because that's always accurate :/) that I have runner's knee.
After reading I am not sure what has caused it. All of my mileage increases have been under 10%, I have been running on and off including on a tack team since I was 15 and never had an injury, I also wear proper footwear. Of all the causes I found online, the only one I believe is likely is the fact that my shoes need to be replaced.
My first injury, of sorts, bothers me. It also made me aware that my priorities are out of order. Good biomechanics are important and being pain free is as well, but what bothers me most is that I have my first marathon a month away from tomorrow and this run is very important and I can't complete it. I want to be able to run a good marathon.
I was trying to decide what do to on my walk home. I thought that since I couldn't run anymore I should go home and ride the trainer. I decided against it in order to rest. Then I thought that I would rest tonight and try my long run again tomorrow. I don't think this is the best idea either. I thought maybe I would do some extra swimming but I don't want to do that either because it isn't on the plan and why pay for coaching if I am going to ad lib on it.
One of the most aggravating things to me is that it is going to be a pretty weekend in the upper 50's here and it would be great time to run, I was off early today so I could run in the nice weather. Not being able to get it done this weekend means I will have to do it in the dark and cold next week after work.
Here are my questions:
Have you ever had this injury?
I have read volumes on the topic now but want to know from other runners, not my nursing and EMT books, how long did it take you to get back running and what did you do that helped?
Any other tips?
7 comments:
ouch! I'm thinking of the guys that I follow and don't know of any off hand.
I'll let it be know that you are looking for assistance!
No Burpee Contest for you!
ive suffered from this beast of an injury off and on since may....the worst flare up putting me out of (running) commission for 12 weeks, finally ended in a cortisone injection which took care of the pain for about 6 weeks. ive had two more flare ups since then and have been unable to get my mileage past 6miles since then. mine stems from weak hips and glutes, which is common in runners. im not disciplined about doing my PT, but i find that wearing a knee sleeve helps some with the lateral tracking problems. trails make it worse because of the added instability. i have GOT to get back on track with PT so i am not doomed to the road forever!
I'm sorry to hear that you are hurting. It can be frustrating.
A couple quick rules of thumb, if one side of your body is hurting then it is an injury, if both sides hurt then it is training. You know that you are injured. If you start the run and you are hurt you can’t expect the injury to get better by running more.
Three days will save you three weeks; three weeks will save you three months.
Ask your coach but I think you are going to be spending more time in the pool and (if you lucky) more time on the bike.
Nip this in the bud.
Oh man. So sorry Luke. I have had many injuries, luckily, never a knee. Seems you should see the Doc.
Bummer Luke. I've had patellar tendonitis before...mine was caused by a nasty hill repeat workout. I would rest a few days and then re-evaluate with your coach. Mine kept me running just on flat surfaces but everyone is different.
I have not had this injury, I had an achilles injury and I waited too long to get it checked out, missing the season of triathlons and had to do aquabikes, so learn from my mistakes and get it checked out
Sorry to hear that Luke.
It would be a good idea to see a PT. Definitely take it easy in the meantime. My wife ran on a stress fracture and had to miss a HIM and take months off.
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