Saturday Feb. 6, 2009

Bad news.

Went running the Thursday night with my neighbor Jeff. He runs slower than me, but I just needed to get some miles in so I invited him along. We ran 1 loop (2.5 miles), and my knee was feeling a little funny, but not hurting yet (foreshadowing). So I figured to just keep going and Jeff stopped. It started to hurt, same thing as last time:  “Runners Knee”. I had to walk for some of it, and ran a little bit of the 2nd loop.

Runner’s Knee is horrible because 1) rest doesn’t really help it 2) There could be a hundred different reasons why you have it 3) It does not go away unless you find the cure. Now every single person I know who has had it, has done different things. Obviously resting it and icing it doesn’t work. One guy suggested getting a shot for it (all the fluid is backed up). One suggested physical therapy. I might get an X-ray, but it won’t show everything, but there is a possibility it might find the problem (a big MIGHT). So I’m stuck, I’m going to go to a knee doctor sometime, but I’m not going back to the old doc because he didn’t know anything about knee problems. I’ll talk it over with my parents, hopefully we can find the problem soon so I can start running again… I’m so angry at this point.

Distance:3.5 miles

Overall Total Distance Ran: 80 miles

Sunday Jan. 31, 2009

WHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Yep, you guessed it. I went running last night! Man, if I have any advice for anyone out there, drink water, cut down on the soda! I drank a lot of soda the last couple of weeks (which I NEVER do) and I felt it. That, and the fact that I have not ran for a while. I was so busy all day yesterday in the library (seriously, mom would be proud) that I left to go running at 11 pm last night.

I stretched really good, and it was a chilly night. Since it was so late, there was no one walking and the road was all mine. I ran 1 loop (2.5 miles) and felt good, had to keep going. I was just excited to run again, and both my knees were feeling good (for once!). I felt slower the 2nd loop, but with some new “pump up music” I cranked it and kept going. I ended up running 2 loops (5 miles) and am happy with that. My right knee was a little sore today, felt a little funny. So I’m thinking take at least a couple days off for it to recover. Also, no more soda for me! I’m back baby!

Distance: 5 miles

Time: around 8:00 minutes per mile (estimated)

Overall Total Distance Ran: 76.5 miles

Sunday Jan. 24, 2009

Hey guys,

A little update for ya. I was planning on running this weekend to see how my knees were doing, but on Friday night my left knee (My “good” knee) starting hurting again. Talking to a friend, she thinks I might have a torn tendon. It only hurts when I sit on it when it is bent, and it gets locked into place. I have no idea how my runners knee is doing because I have not ran on it in a while. I did go biking last week and biked 10 miles and felt good. My plan is to run on either Wednesday night, or Friday night. Wish me luck, and thanks for reading

Overall Total Distance Ran: 71.5 miles

Wednesday Jan. 13, 2009

Well it’s going to be a crazy week! We started school today

Last night we actually went to the gym, I biked 7 miles. I wish I could have ran, but yesterday my LEFT knee was bothering me. Today, my RIGHT knee was bothering me. It has it’s moments, sometimes you don’t notice it, and sometimes I had to stop walking because it hurt so bad. I did ice it for a little bit, but it didn’t help. No running for me for at least another week, but I will be doing other things to keep in shape. Keep on truckin’

Overall Total Distance Ran: 71.5 miles

Sunday Jan. 10, 2009

So the lacrosse game was going well, my knee was feeling fine, no problems. In the 3rd quarter, I got hit with a stick in my left knee, right on top of it (my GOOD knee). I could not straighten it out. I put it in cold water for a long time yesterday, and in the afternoon it was fine. I think it is just a bruise on top of my knee. Today it still hurts and I cannot straighten it all the way. We’ll see what happens over the next couple of days… now I have 2 bad knees at the moment. No running this week… might take next week of also for my right knee.

Overall Total Distance Ran: 71.5 miles

Tuesday Jan. 5, 2009

I hope everyone is doing well after the holidays and break!

It was a very hectic week, I have been very busy. To top it all off, I got sick. I am still sick today (just a cold), but I wanted to try to run. Over the past week I have been walking about 3-5 miles a day, and felt it was time to try out my new running shoes.

So off I went, I was shooting for about a 4 mile run. I ran 2 miles and started to cramp up. Stopped for a little bit, stretched out, and started going again. I actually saw an old high school friend and he started cheering me on as he passed in his car. Then my knee started hurting. Dammit. I thought the shoes would help, but it started hurting and with my cramp, I had to walk. If you haven’t read my past posts, I have “Runners Knee Syndrome”. It could last anywhere from 2 weeks-6 months. I have been stretching and eveything, but looks like it wasn’t my time. I guess it is ok that I walked, especially considering I am still sick. I also had my first soda in a very long time. My dad brought me a root beer and I just had to have it. I ended up walking the other 2 miles. I’m not upset I had to walk, I’m upset about my knee. I will stay off it and stretch more every day. On Saturday, I have a lacrosse game, so we’ll see how it holds up.

Oh, and we talked about the half-marathon some more. So it’s down to 2, the first one is in Hawaii and is at the end of June. The second one is at the end of July in San Francisco. We talked about the positive and negatives about each one (hills, breathing the air – altitude, wind speed). I have a feeling it is going to be the San Franciso run, but it is not my call so we’ll see. I am just going to work on fixing my knee until then… Keep on truckin’

Distance: 2 miles

Overall Total Distance Ran: 71.5 miles

Sunday Dec. 27, 2009

Hello!

Good news… I got some sweet new running shoes from Santa! They are road shoes and feel great, so I am going to try them out tomorrow or Tuesday. I started biking last week, I forgot how tough it is ha. It is a good workout, and it didn’t bother my knee. I went hiking yesterday, my knee felt sore, but it didn’t hurt, so I guess that is a good sign. Thanks for reading, now go spend some time with your family!!! (or watch football like me)

Overall Total Distance Ran: 69.5 miles

Friday Dec. 18, 2009

Well I’m home! I have felt lazy all week, and need a run… but I am going to wait. There is some good news though!  A friend of mine from high school has moved into a house down the street (well his parents have) and we are going to go hiking a lot together. Probably not today or tomorrow, but soon.

I am taking it easy for now… I may hop on the bike and just go somewhere. I think I am going to just bike until Christmas. At Christmas I am getting road running shoes (I have all terrains now), so those will help my knee. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, and thanks for reading!

Overall Total Distance Ran: 69.5 miles

Saturday Dec. 12, 2009

So the whole week I was stretching my leg out. Every single day. Yesterday was the first day I didn’t feel a thing in my knee, so just as a percaution I waited till today to run. My biggest fear is not running for a while and getting out of shape, and having to train all over again from the start.

Jeff joined me on my run tonight. First 5 minutes of the run: “…. nothing…. ok… it is good…keep running….”. Then I started feeling it about 1/4 into the first loop. It got worse and worse, just like before. At one point I felt like I was getting stabbed in the knee with a knife. It was hurting. But I kept going, and Jeff is a slow runner so the pace was fine for me. I was able to make it through one loop and had to stop. I am going to stretch it tonight and of course for the next week to come. I’ll also ice it and take some advil tonight. I am going back home late next week, so I’m planning my next run to be at home probably next Friday or Saturday, depending on how my knee feels. I am pretty upset, I really just want to run. Sometimes when you are running and are on mile 5 and 6, you ask yourself what the hell you are doing. Now that I can’t run… I miss it. Hopefully I’ll be back to running again soon… Keep on truckin’

*Edit: I’ve been reading stuff over… recovery time ranges from 1 week- 6 months depending on the severity. So when I get back home I will try biking short distances and after Christmas try out my new running shoes.

Distance: 2.5 miles

Overall Total Distance Ran: 69.5 miles

Sunday Dec. 6, 2009

After a long weekend of waiting and seeing nurses, I went to a sports doctor. I was in the same amount of pain on Friday. I was limping everywhere, could not walk up or down stairs, I was in a great amount of pain. I even talked to a close friend who has a ton of injuries and he thought it was a very serious injury (scared the crap out of me). So there I was, in the doctors office, and he started stretching me out. He kept telling me to relax… but I was relaxed as possible. At one point he actually got mad because my legs were so tight he was having trouble evaluating me. Well we found the problem. Because over the last week I had not stretched out my hamstrings and thighs good enough, they put pressure on my knee. The pressure built up right behind my kneecap and eventually locked into place (literally couldn’t bend it). After a great amount of stretching (a couple hours), it still hurt a ton. I took some Advil and went to bed. Saturday and today are a lot better… there is still some pain but the stretching definetly helped. I found out that I had “Runner’s Knee Syndrom”, I’ll let ya look it up. I am not sure when I will be able to run again… I am shooting for a run on Thursday or Friday depending on the condition of my knee.

In the past, I do stretch, but I realized it is quick stretches. For instance, I hold a position for 5-7 seconds instead of 10-15 like you are supposed to. I realized in my last post I mentioned the “Runners High” and didn’t give an explanation haha. It is not a drug, they say runners have an addiction, but it is a healthy addiction. When you are running long distances, you actually feel good (once you get over the pain ha). It is that sensation. I have felt it a couple of times, usually around mile 5 or 6. I watched some marathon videos too, I got some good motivation. I’m ready to run… but my knee isn’t. I’ll keep you updated… hopefully it’s soon… Keep on truckin’

Overall Total Distance Ran: 67 miles