It’s official now:
my plans to run a fall marathon have been cancelled. They fell victim to the heat and deer flies
of July, followed by a bum knee in August.
I think this is my first genuine case of runner’s knee, and it’s very
hard to let it get completely better.
It needs rest, and what it’s been getting has been the
100 on 100 relay, which involved running 17.5 miles spread over three legs in a
single day. It’s also had a lunchtime of
ultimate Frisbee and a 5K. These competitive
occasions aren't conducive to going only as fast as the knee allows.
It’s not even that simple in reality. Once the knee gets warmed up it allows quite
a bit, but with a penalty to be paid at some future time. As a result, I end up hobbling to the kitchen
at work to get my coffee, then get a stabbing pain when I twist wrong getting milk
out of the fridge, but am almost pain free when out on a five mile run later
the same day. Perhaps I should just give
up coffee? I've tried decaf but it doesn't
seem to make a difference when opening the fridge.
Many times, the knee actually feels better after a
run. This is a relative thing,
however. It would be more accurate to
say that other things hurt worse, so the body’s natural reaction is to raise
the pain threshold, which makes the knee feel better. The flip side is that complete rest tends to
lower the pain threshold, so at least for me being sedentary means everything
hurts for no particular reason.
And like many runners, I run for the stress relief and
the social opportunities. When a body
part acts up, it interferes with my mental health and social life. It ends up being a three way hit. My knee hurts, I’m grumpy, and anybody who
really can understand is outside running or playing Frisbee.
Enough whining.
Next post will be about the new running plan and goals.
