Really bad pain in the leg getting into work this morning.
Well, here is the current dianosis from the doctor after x-rays. Well actually first he asked tons of running questions. He wasn't my regular doctor but he has read Born to Run. He was nice and said I looked like I was in my 30s and had lots of compliments about my active lifestyle.
1. My bad knee is not yet bone-on-bone. The cartilage layer looks like it is about half the thickness it should be with a normal knee. Good news.
2. No stress fracture showed up. Good news.
3. But, there is an unusual small bump showing up in the layer next to the bone. This layer is called the Periosteum. This is a membrane the lines the bone and can do corrective repair to the bone and cause some calcium build-up over time that can be seen on x-rays. This layer is rich in nerves and if irritated can be very painful. I believe I have at least a couple spots on my upper shin about two inches below the knee that are giving me great pain.
If you explore this area of your shin (upper, inner), there is no muscle there, but there are muscle attachments from the hamstring and shin muscles. Something has irritated the periosteum by pulling it or lifting it. The end-result is something like a shin splint, but the pain is in the bone, not the muscle.
So, it appears that treating it similar to a shin split will work. Rest and in this case heat treatments. The doctor recommended that I go see my orotho doctor who could perhaps figure out what is pulling on that area. He knows that not running 100-milers would certainly solve things but he wants me to continue and so do I. I'll wait a month so they can compare x-rays and also check out my knee after it recovers some. My bad knee REALLY got pounded. The worst I've ever felt by far, but it isn't swollen. I can feel a little fluid build-up inside, but the pain is on the tibia platform, all weight-baring pain. I bruised it pretty bad.
This entire problem probably started at ATY around mile 120. My upper calves became very, very tight and I suspect have some insertion points in that area. On the other side of the leg my shin muscles also got sore. During RR100, my lower shin muscle tore a little and swelled up during the first 20 miles. (The pain was nothing compared to my other problems, so I just ignored it.) So that tells me all those muscles were still too tight and probably pulling on that area big-time.
The doctor assured me that I will run again and felt confident that I will be healed up by Northcoast 24-hour in May. So, I'll go ahead and put my name in the lottery for Cascade Crest 100. I will likely pass on Buffalo 100 this year and just run with my son in the 50 | 