Setbacks

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I seem to have had more than my fair share over the last couple of years when it comes to illness and injury. I have had septoplasty and a turbinate reduction due to respiratory issues, I had a bout of noravirus that left me out of running for nearly two weeks, I dealt with plantar fasciitis all through the fall and winter of last year, I had that weird quad soreness for weeks in late spring, and now, the knee pain. It seems to be never ending…

You may remember that on Monday morning, I said I was going to try to continue doing 1-3 miles of running each day until I am able to see my doctor. Unfortunately, by midday on Monday, I could tell that wasn’t going to happen. My knee hurt. I decided to mandate 3 days of absolute rest for myself. I took ibuprofen and iced my knee for 20 minutes each evening when I got home from work. And I pouted. I want to run!

Last night, I met with the group for a run. Some ran 5 miles, some ran 3 miles, I walked about 2.5 miles. It was a good walk. A friend I haven’t seen in a while was there and she decided to walk with me. It was nice to have company and it helped me forget that I was angry that I had to walk. My knee didn’t start getting a little achy until we were close to the 2 mile mark. I feel pretty good about that. It had gotten to the point that it was aching through every step of a one mile run.  So, progress.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get in to see my doctor until August 14th. He has a week-long vacation between now and then, so that isn’t too bad. However, I was just starting my ultra-training plan, and now that is all on hold. I was planning to register for it today (hello, payday!), but I don’t feel like I want to do that until after I see him.

So, what do I do while I wait?

Obviously, running is out. I am going to try to walk 3-5 miles about 3 days a week as long as it doesn’t bother my knee. I’m going to hit the spin bike 2-3 days a week, and I might get back to swimming. Swimming freestyle is hard for me because of my asthma, but I can breaststroke all day long, so that might be good. I also did a quick search for patellar tendonitis rehab exercises and found a good set of exercises from Massachusetts General Hospital that I’m going to start incorporating on a daily basis.

Hopefully, it won’t be long until I’m back to doing this…

Crooked Road 24 Hour Ultra 2012