Tagged: knee injury

February 26th, 2008

I Have the Frickin’ Courage to Start…

But will my knee let me finish? That’s right, after another running hiatus, yesterday marked my third attempt at beginning a half/full marathon training plan. And my little, three-mile “run” was pain free last night. That is, after some Aleve and heating muscle massage creme and stretching. And my “running” involved 3/4 lap of running + 1/4 lap of walking for 23 laps at the Y. The running was slow and deliberate and boring. And omigosh, I’m not sure if I can keep up the sheer torture of running slow! Aerobically/cardiovascularly, I feel great. I probably do an 8- or 9-mile run with no problem and be ready for a half-marathon this spring, but I need to ease my knee into this.

My doctor says I have tendonitis in my knee, and everything I’ve read on recovery says to avoid overtraining, to stretch, and to stop any activity that makes it flare up. Well, who know what “overtraining” means? It’s defined on a runner-by-runner basis, so for me, I figure it means taking an extra long time to train for my big races. With that in mind, I started training for my November Springfield Marathon yesterday. That’s right…in February—36 weeks before the race.

Where in the world did I find such a training plan? I made it myself (with the help of Mr. Higdon. I used his two novice marathon plans and interlaced them. With the mileage plan from him, I made the fourth run of the week optional (if I don’t run, I cycle), and I added Tone to the Max (strength/cross training) and Yoga for Athletes (stretching) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wanna see it?

By taking 36 weeks to train for this marathon, I can take a week off if my knee flares up and not be too far behind on my training. If all goes well, I can still be ready for a (very slow) half marathon in April or May. Or I can do some 5- and 10Ks this summer.

It sucks that I have take everything so slow and easy because my heart and lungs are telling me to work harder and go faster, but if I want to be running for the next 40 years, I need to get better and establish good discipline now. Ugh!

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February 13th, 2008

Ice Storm Update: Back at Home & Work

Well, the ice is finally melting, and Chris and I were finally able to escape his mom’s house this morning. I say escape sarcastically because Martha is awesome! We have this great king-sized bed to sleep in at her house, and she has more food in her pantry than will ever fit in my kitchen. And her cooking is unbelievable. And of course, she has cable and a big-screen TV that we like, too.

Ravi, our black cat, was a bit anti-social this morning when we got home. Leaving him home was the best for him, but he was lonely and hungry this morning and quite unhappy that we had to turn around and leave for work. He’ll get extra tuna treats and snuggle time tonight.

I’m coming down with the flu, methinks. It’s all in my chest, and I feel like crap. But I’m at work anyway since I didn’t come in on Monday or Tuesday. Luckily, I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow for my knee, so I can have the doc check on my lungs, too. I’m doped up on DayQuil this afternoon, so things are a bit fuzzy.

That said, I’ll probably not work out the rest of this week. Rest and fluids are on my agenda. Plus, that will give my knee a few more days of rest.

No big plans for Valentine’s Day. We might go to dinner this weekend, but I imagine we might just stay in and enjoy being at home. Even though I’m married, I’m still not a fan of this holiday, but I still like doodles from my hubby:

P.S. And yes, that’s Ravi in the middle dreaming of tuna treats.

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February 11th, 2008

100-Mile / 8-Week Challenge: Week 6

I’ve seven miles to go until I meet my 100 mile goal for 2008! That’s right, I’m up to 93 miles in just six weeks.

I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow for my knee. I’m just going to my family doctor because that will be cheaper than going to a specialist right away. Hopefully, by this time next week, we’ll know what’s wrong with it. Then we’ll be able to make it better.

Chris and I are iced in today. Yep, an ice storm hit the Ozarks this morning, and the weather man said to stay home if you can, so that’s what we’re doing. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to go grocery shopping yesterday, so we’re out of orange juice and milk. That means I can’t make waffles or pancakes or mac ‘n cheese, which are our comfort food staples around here.

We were crazy last night and stayed up until nearly 3 to finish our Financial Peace University homework. We’re taking the course through our church, and we’re working to get our finances in order. Last night’s assignment was a working budget, savings plan, extra income plan, and cash flow. We started at 8 and worked until 3, but we finished it!

Hmm, not much else to report, so I’ll sign off for now. Just don’t be surprised if make some random posts this afternoon. These soap operas are pretty boring!

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February 4th, 2008

100-Mile / 8-Week Challenge: Week 5

Only three weeks of this challenge left, and I only have 29 miles left! That’s right, I’m up to 71 miles. Thank you, cycling class!

And it looks like I’ll be in cycling class a little more often in the next few days (or weeks). I had an excellent six-miler Saturday afternoon and probably could have gone another mile or two, but my knee flared up again. Pooh.

So I have a new game plan:

  1. First, find out what’s wrong with said knee by going to the doctor. Get whatever x-rays, MRIs, etc. that are necessary and suck up the price tag.
  2. Second, rehab like crazy and follow doctor’s orders. Find a good physical therapist if necessary.
  3. Third, get happy with Plan B. I might not be able to run the half-marathon in April, but I can go and cheer for Sarah (I already have signs). I will likely be spending a lot of time in cycling class, which will get me ready for the MS 150 in September. So far, cycling has not hurt my knee. Actually, the only thing that hurts my knee is running.
  4. Fourth, be content with the outcome. I asked the Lord to break me back in the summer, and he certainly didn’t pick the way I wanted. He took away Linden (stupid Germany), and he is messing with my running; however, I am going to rejoice in my trials even if I feel like the whole world is crashing around me.

That said, my “training plan” this week looks like this:

  • Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: 40-minute cycling class
  • Tuesday and Thursday: 60-minute Tone to the Max class + 45-minute Yoga for Athletes class
  • Saturday: Hmm, we’ll see. Maybe it’ll be nice enough that I can ride my bike outside.

In a related knee note, I wonder if bad knees are hereditary? My dad has had arthroscopic surgery for torn menisci for both his knees, one grandpa has had one knee replaced, and the other has had both knees replaced. I’d like to think that the manual labor they do/did (i.e. climbing on and off construction equipment and crawling under houses) is really the problem. Since I don’t do either of those things, I hope I’m not destined for knee problems, too.

OK, I’ve rambled way to much for one little post. More later…

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January 15th, 2008

Sore to the Max

Had an awesome, yet miserable time in Tone to the Max this morning. Heaven, have mercy, what our instructor did to us bordered on torture. Forget waterboarding! There should be Congressional hearings on Sumo squats. I’ll gladly testify!

Today makes two days of strength training and running in a row, so tomorrow I’m taking my first cycling class. I’m way nervous but my faithful friend HJM is coming with me. I love having this gym membership because I can try something different nearly every time I go. Cycling, yoga, and swimming are all out of my comfort zone, but I figure, if I’m paying for them, I should take advantage of them, right?

I ran three miles after class. My knee twinged a bit in the middle of my third mile, but felt fine with some walking and has felt fine all day. That’s another reason for cycling tomorrow—give my knee a little break. I’ll have more tomorrow!

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January 14th, 2008

100-Mile / 8 Week Challenge: Week 2

I’m off to a slow start on my own challenge: a mere 9.8 miles in sum. But in my defense, I am taking a two different strength training classes two times a week each, so I am getting in my exercise. I did two miles this morning walking and running (but mostly running), and my knee still feels good. I guess it really takes time off due to an injury to really appreciate being healthy! I’m calling the next two weeks half-marathon preliminary training; if all continues to go well with my knee, I’ll officially start training for the Country Music Half Marathon on Monday, 1/28! More mileage next week…I swear!

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December 4th, 2007

One More Week Off

I heard from and talked to the Physician’s Assistant this weekend about my knee. Good news, he doesn’t think it’s an ACL injury because nothing traumatic has happened to my knee. Instead, he thinks I’ve “angered” something behind my knee by overtraining and that it gets angry again whenever I run on it.

Normally, when I make someone angry, I send them a Facebook gift or make them cookies, but I’m not so sure that will work with my knee. Yesterday marked one week of not running, and I’m going to hold off one more. I’ll try a short run next week and see how it does, but I won’t push it. As soon as it tingles with a bit of pain, I’m turning around and walking home!

I hope to get back on the road by the New Year. Meanwhile, I’m weight-lifting at home and will probably go to the gym a time or two to use the bikes. Most of all, I’m trying to keep my eating in check so I don’t gain back any of the weight I lost while running (which amounted to maybe three pounds, but heck, who doesn’t like to keep the number on the scale as low as possible?

And since my running is pretty much at a standstill, I won’t be blogging much about running. Who knows what I might be blogging about in the next few weeks! Stay tuned…

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