Running with knee pain is not fun and other obvious statements.

For the first time in my three plus years running, I think I have an actual running injury. I know this makes me very lucky, that this is my first one. I’ve had the normal aches and pains, taken a few days off here and there, but I am considering this one an actual injury. And it sucks.

 

 

 

All joking aside, I made it through marathon training without any injuries only to find myself with an injury this side of it. After the marathon, I took 2 weeks off from running. It was a well-deserved and heavenly break for my sore and exhausted body. Then I signed up for two races in one weekend, feeling super optimistic about getting back out there.

I ran a 5K one night and then the next morning, I ran a virtual half marathon. That’s when my knee pain started, in my right knee, near the end of those 13.1 miles. I rested it for a few days, took some ibuprofen, and hoped it would go away. It did and I was able to finish out the last of my miles for 2014 to reach my 700 mile goal.

Last weekend, I ran another virtual half marathon and this time it was my left knee. By about mile 8, it HURT. Like on fire, hurt. I ran easy, I wasn’t trying to break any records. My wonderful friends Corinna and Angelina who were running it with me kept me going and suggested walk breaks as I needed them. I admit, I was stubborn (as ALL runners are!) and ran more of it than I should. I was determined to finish those 13.1 miles off running. And I did. But, I then limped my way to Starbucks.

I rested it the rest of the day – ibuprofen, ice, elevation, and an epsom sat bath. The pain has definitely decreased, but it is still painful. Especially in the morning when I first wake up. Who knows how I’m sleeping – either it’s stretched out for too long, or I’m bending my knee for too long during the night.

So, here I am with this amazingly cool weather in my part of the world, dying to get out there and run, and my knee hurts. But I don’t want to hurt it more. So, I’m admitting for all the world to know that I have a running injury. Did I mention that it sucks?

I am going to give it a few more days of rest. The pain this morning and yesterday is definitely less than it has been all week, so that’s good. But I feel like it should be gone now.

 

 

The culprit? I’m almost positive it’s my shoes. It’s too coincidental that it started just as I went into a new pair of shoes. When I do hit the pavement again, I’m going to switch back to my trusty marathon shoes and see if I can get a few more miles out of them before I bite the bullet and buy a new pair. Why do running shoes have to be SO expensive?

All I know is, I want to be out there running and I have upcoming races to enjoy. I am not out to break any records this year (except for the goal of a sub-30 5K which is my year long goal) but I want to run and not be in pain.

 

 

Running injuries suck.

 

What do you do when you have a running injury besides eat a lot of chocolate and drink wine?