Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Please…Not Again!

I’ll start at the beginning, guess that’s the best place to start anyway.

In 2012, I dealt with an injury. I was at the end of my Marathon training (yes, END) and I was heartbroken. Unable to run the Houston Full, I deferred to the Houston Half and ran the slowest Half of my life (not including Disney). 95% of the race was spent in excruciating pain. A couple of weeks prior to the race, I began physical therapy and in total, I spent 8 weeks with them overall. My PT crew was amazing and I learned a lot from them about injury prevention and strengthening.

Fast forward to now.

I ran a track workout last Monday night. Midway through my run, I noticed my right leg felt strange. Note: My prior injury was on my left leg – ITBand/Tendonitis. This new pain in my right leg wasn’t anything I felt before and I can’t describe it beyond saying it felt odd. I continued to run (of course) and finished out the evening strong. Tuesday morning, my right leg felt strange again and it hurt to walk but by the end of the day, I felt normal again. I ran for Boston on Tuesday night without any issues. Friday afternoon, I had plans to run 12 miles since I wouldn’t be able to run on Saturday.

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I began Friday’s run with Madalynn. She hasn’t had a chance to run lately with the warmer temps and Friday’s weather was perfect. I couldn’t resist her puppy dog eyes, so I took her on what I presumed would be her final “run” of the season.

I don’t like to run with her when the temps are greater than 75 degrees.

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She really enjoyed the run but we took it slow and by the end, she was dragging. I could tell it was time for her to return home so we stopped. My knee didn’t bother me a lot while running with Maddie, but I guess I’m immune to aches/twinges now. Either that or I really just didn’t pay attention. After dropping her off, I continued on way and picked up the pace.

As I finished mile 4, I noticed my right knee was HURTING. I went through a mental checklist and realized that I hadn’t changed out my shoes in a while. How could I forget that?!  So I went inside, changed my shoes and tried to stretch, then put on my knee brace with some atomic balm. I began mile 5 and didn’t get far. At all. I stopped and walked mile 5 and 6, then called it a day.

My knee hurts. Of course, this is the opposite knee from my prior injury and it hurts bad. Either that or I’m paranoid. No really, it hurts. I had trouble walking up the stairs at Minute Maid Park on Saturday/Sunday.

Besides icing and Ibuprofen, I saw my massage therapist today. He’s not just your average massage therapist. He’s an orthopedic massage therapist who specializes in sports related injuries. I don’t know what I would do without him. He spent 45 minutes today working on my right ITBand. By the end of the session, it was determined that my ITBand is irritated and so is the fascia that connects my quad to my knee. Great.

I’ll admit I’m kind of bummed but I’m also glad I don’t have a huge race around the corner, although I am running a 5K on Saturday. I plan on taking the rest of the week off and I will see how the 5K goes on Saturday. I don’t plan on pushing it, I have no hopes for a PR, and if I have to run/walk it, I will.

But for now, I’m hoping rest will help.

Have you ever dealt with an sports-related injury?

36 comments:

  1. Ugh, I have dealt with an injury. It was at the beginning of my journey, however, and both times I pushed FAR to hard to try to get through it and ended up sidelined last time for 10 months. I had Plantar Fasciitis and had no idea what it was and continued to run, thinking it would work itself out. It was so bad that I had trouble just walking to the bathroom some days. I learned that pushing through an injury can sometimes sideline you way longer than just resting. It's made me nervous though, anytime something hurts, I question if I should rest, so I went the complete opposite direction after being sidelined so long! I hope you get some rest and it clears up! Your therapist sounds great!

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    1. Oh no! That sounds awful!! I'm glad it's better and you are able to run again! I'd be paranoid, too!

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  2. So sorry to hear this! I am in the same boat!

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  3. Oh Karen, I am so sorry. I hope it is nothing big and you are back to running in no time. Today I am making an appointment for an MRI of my left foot. I had a small ache about 10 days ago and had an extra and that was negative. However, they told me if the pain came back I should have an MRI due to my running and age. So, it came back last night after a really busy day including speedwork, 30 min. yoga and 2.62 walk for Boston. Good luck!

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    1. Oh no, Pam! Hope the MRI turns out ok and is something that can be easily fixed! Best of luck to you!! Thank you! :0)

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  4. Your massage therapist sounds amazing - so glad you have him to help you out! So sorry for your injury- glad you sort of hopefully caught it early so it won't hold you back for too long.

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    1. That's exactly what I'm hoping for, I caught it early and I'm definitely resting! Thank you!! :0)

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  5. sorry, it's definitely not fun to go through injuries!! I know you know where i stand on this based on my last post :) PT totally worth it to have one visit and figure out what may be off

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    1. I know exactly what you mean! If I'm not better soon, I'll call up my PT for an eval.

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  6. I have arthritis in my knees and I'm very accustomed to having knee pain stop me in my tracks. Recently, my knee has been hurting differently than how it hurts for arthritis, and it seems that I also have some IT band issues.

    One thing that is helping is switching back to a different pair of running shoes. I had been running in something different from before, and switching back makes a difference. Have you switched shoes recently?

    I'm rolling, stretching, and will be adding some exercises. My chiro worked on my it band yesterday as well. What a pain (literally and figuratively!!)

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    1. I am going to switch over to a new pair of shoes now. I guess I didn't realize it had been a while! Ouch...yes, what a pain! Hope you feel better soon!

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  7. I've had ITBS since my 8 mile run about 6 weeks ago. I've been stretching and rolling like crazy since, and I have a half marathon this weekend.

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    1. Sounds like you have done everything you could do! Hope you have a great race this weekend and your knee doesn't give you any trouble!

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  8. No!!! I hope that it is nothing serious and you can get back to running very soon! The outside of my knee is what bothered me when I had IT band issues (the back of my knee hurt for a completely different reason). You are strong - you'll be back quickly, I know it!

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  9. AHHH stink! Shoot. That isn't fun at all!
    Prayers that it heals quickly and all goes back to normal!

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  10. I had IT band issues and moved to CrossFit on the recommendation of a former running coach who assured me that CF would cure it. There are a lot of claims to that effect on the internet. You do strengthen other muscles, but even two years of doing it didn't solve my problem. What eventually solved it was taking two months completely off. By the time I finally did that, I was so ready for a break from working out all the time that it wasn't too difficult. I've gotten back into running pretty slowly since about March and I'm doing my first real half (excluding walking Disney) since last May in two weeks. We'll see how it goes. I hope your injuries heal quickly. It's no fun.

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  11. I also took two complete months off running last Spring. It was tough but completely worth it and really helped my issues. Best of luck with your upcoming half! :0)

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  12. Oh no! That sucks! I wonder if something is in the air, my lower back started bugging me recently and I actually switched a run for the elliptical (totally unheard of for me). Thats usually how I deal with injuries. Find an equivalent cardio workout that doesn't hurt the injury. I hope you heal up quick!

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    1. That's what I'm interested in, finding an alternate workout that won't hurt the injury. If I had a gym membership, the elliptical would be great! I rode my bike last Spring and that seemed to help me bounce back easier.

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  13. Oh nooo Karen! Really hoping you're not injured. I'm dealing with a maybe injury right now too. It really puts a damper on things :(

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    1. It sure does, Jen! Injuries are not fun. Hope you are feeling better soon!

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  14. Oh, no! I'm hoping it's just a fluke and everything is OK. Thinking of you!

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  15. I hope you feel better. Yes rest is good. Have you heard of Deep Blue Rub? https://www.iact1.com/doterra/ShoppingCart/Shop.cfm?CurrPage=FrontPage&NextPage=CategoryDetail&CategoryID=93&pid=49006252973010934
    I love it.

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    1. Thank you! I've never heard of it but will look into it! I use a lot of atomic balm...

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  16. Oh yuck girl! Injuries are a pain (for real)! I've had tendonitis in my achilles, IT Band hip issues, and my most recent injury was a knee injury while training for the Disney full. Luckily I had a great sports chiropractor that helped me through that one. Hope your healing is fast girl!

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    1. Girl! Thank goodness you had a Chiro to help you out for the disney full! Thank you! :0)

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  17. Hope you are feeling less pain soon, I know its hard to rest when you want to be out there running, but take it easy.
    I have had foot and knee issues and its not fun :(

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  18. I'm sorry you're dealing with a possible injury. Fingers crossed that some rest will do wonders for you!

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  19. Ugh!! I am so sorry to hear about your knee. It is hard to take it easy - I hurt my (left) knee a few years ago (MCL tear) and had to take a year off for it to completely heal (thanks to a fantastic PT). Lately my right knee is acting up so I'm trying to do strengthening exercises. Your massage therapist sounds amazing!!

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    1. Oh no! Hope nothing is wrong with your right knee and I hope the exercises help! Best of luck to you! Thank you! :0)

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