Running in the Rockies

10.15 mi in 10 min avg pace.

I took Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off in an attempt to let the knee rest and hopefully heal and decided to put the long run off until Monday. I ran 3 w/ the pup, also his first run in a couple weeks and his paw seemed to be okay- no limping anyways. We ran our usual 3 mile loop and I wore microspikes because the dirt road is packed snow and ice. The knee was feeling tight, but okay. I dropped the pup and the microspikes off at home and headed out for a 4.5 mile out and back.

The knee starting feeling worse around mile 5, sort of a dull ache on the outside and inner back section of the knee. I turned around at 7.5 and starting running back down and this is when things degraded pretty quickly. The right hip was feeling tight and the outside of my right ankle was starting to have a dull pain. By around mile 8, the upper section of the calf was feeling achy and when  I would mis-step due to ice, shooting pains would radiate around my knee cap. By mile 9.5ish it started to feel as if my lower leg was actually going to separate from my knee and my foot from my ankle- it was feeling very odd and somewhat scary because I felt like I had much less control of foot placement and I was having to dodge icy sections of the road. My upper right quad was also feeling very tight and almost numb. I finally gave in and started walking around mile 10, I walked for maybe 100 m and then tried to run again.. not possible. The knee was feeling very stiff now and lots of shooting pain. I decided to walk the steeper downhill section (downhill seemed to feel much worse than uphill), and then run the uphill section back to our house. But after walking for about a mile, the knee was not happy about running again and it really felt like my lower leg was going to separate at the knee. So frustrated and freezing at this point. The sun had dropped below the mountains and the temperature dropped very quickly. I only had on a very light weight underlayer and a long sleeved cotton shirt, tights, a hat, and gloves- but I was drenched in sweat from the run and walking the last two miles home in the wind and cold was less than ideal. When I got home I couldn't move my arms, hands, or fingers. I had to drive down to pick up the hubby from the bus stop and I took it very slowly since I was not really able to get my extremities to react quickly. Precarious to say the least.

Took a hot shower after we got back home- had to keep the hands and fingers out of the warm water for a long time because they felt like they were being burned.. not good. I stretched and iced the knee for a long time after dinner.

Really frustrated. How does this happen? I finished the marathon last month and had basically zero soreness afterwards. I go for a 4 mile run and an hour bike ride two weeks ago and the knee has not been the same since. There was no traumatic injury.. no seemingly overuse issue.. I'm just confused. And what's really discouraging is that I pretty much had the next 4-5 months to really focus on my running and fitness since my work load is somewhat reduced. Depressing.

Attempted to run. Hobbled 1/2 mile, outside of right knee down through the outside of ankle feeling very odd, similar to yesterday when it felt like the lower part of my leg would separate from the knee, and the foot separate from the ankle, but this time with more pain. At about 1/2 mile, I came down on the right foot and shooting pain went through my knee to ankle and I came to a sudden halt. It felt oddly similar to when I tore my MCL skiing a few years ago (same knee). I tried to stretch the leg and run again but the hobble was much more pronounced- so I turned around and walked back to work.

 Walking is okay- not great. Going down the stairs is pretty painful and going up isn't good either. I called my physical therapist, but she can't see me until Friday the 14th. I'm thinking about calling a knee specialist to get an opinion. I'm thinking it seems like IT band issues- but I'm not sure. 

 May try the bike or snow shoeing this evening.

Looks like I need to adjust my race schedule. First thing to go is the marathon in February. Incredibly disappointed.

PM: After considering the knee issue a bit more and realizing that the pain this time around was significantly worse than it was ~1.5 years ago when I was having some swelling and achiness post run (which was diagnosed as lateral plica syndrome + illiotibial band tightness), I decided to call the knee specialist I saw before. I figured it would be a couple weeks before he could see me, so maybe it would be prudent of me to go ahead and set something up.  In short, the great news was that he had an opening today at 4pm. The bad news is that he prescribed serious rest, ice, and anti-inflammatory meds for the next 7 days, then PT for an extended period of time and worst of all.. no running for 4-6 weeks. It was as I suspected, IT band issues/ tightness/ syndrome. He said I'm presenting classic the symptoms and just by moving the knee around and prodding various places around the knee that the IT band is incredibly tight and inflamed.

So, I'm incredibly bummed. But after sulking for a couple hours, I've determined to make the best of the next 4-6 weeks.. eat right, sleep well, and get strong. I forgot to ask about skiing (specifically telemark) and snow shoeing, but I can swim, bike as long as my right foot is free so as to not irritate the IT band, lift weights, and do copious amounts of yoga and pilates. I suspect at PT we'll be concentrating on old and new strengthening exercises and stretches and probably graston.. ouch.

I also realize that this is completely my fault. I slacked on the stretches and strengthening exercises the last 6 months or more. I am grateful that I was able to stay healthy through marathon training and even through and post-marathon. He suspects that when I attempted to work on my running form that I may have set off the chain of events and it's going to need some serious rest and rehabilitation to get it back into shape. If this doesn't work, he suggested we try a single steroid shot which may clear up the issue. He only does 1 shot though and if it doesn't work, the next option would be surgery. I'm not fond of either of those two options, so I'm going to work towards getting it healthy through rest, physical therapy, foam rolling (for 1/2 hour every day), and strengthening the quads, hips, glutes, and ankles. To stay in the habit of writing in this blog, I'll be writing about the road to recovery instead of the miles logged. Wish me luck.

A.M. Didn't make it out of bed before 5:50, will try for 5:30 tomorrow. After starting a fire in the stove, making coffee, and getting the pup and kitty fed, I got around to doing about 2 hours worth of stretching, foam rolling (ouch), and hamstring/glute strengthening exercises. I can tell that it's been awhile since I wasn't able to complete my full reps and I felt the burn. I walked the mile or so down to the bus stop and wow, it was windy! Almost 'stop you in your tracks' windy.. kind of fun actually. This evening I hope to get out for a short easy hike with the pup, bike for 1/2 hr or so, and do some upper body weights and core work. 

I've also decided to try and record my sleep and weight over the next 4-6 weeks in an attempt to keep myself honest. One reason I love running is that I get to eat a bit more than a normal person should, and I LOVE food. I don't think I over-eat any one particular thing or at any one sitting, but I love to cook and snack, and my night wouldn't be complete without at least a glass of wine or a dessert of some sort. We usually eat vegetarian and I'm gluten intolerant, so there is lots of rice and potatos, and squash right now (from our CSA- community supported agriculture). But my eating might be my downfall during this 'off' time, so I am going to weigh myself regularly and try to keep a log of the food I eat.  I know I could spare more than a few pounds already (I'm only 5'6.5") and that's even with a fairly regular running regimen.  Hopefully I can adjust my diet so I don't gain 10 pounds in the next month.

P.M. Too windy for snowshoeing, so I played fetch with the pup for a while. His paw seems to be almost heeled and he's not visibly limping anymore. Rode the bike for 1/2 hour, then lifted weights (bench, lat pull downs, dumbell curl, and tricep extensions). Foam rolled for only a few minutes on the IT band.. very sore from rolling this morning.

A.M. Slept in. All sorts of sore today from the stretching and strength exercises yesterday. Will try for a solid P.M. work out. 

P.M. Forgot my headlamp on the way out the door, so my hike with the pup was cut short. I think we only did about 2 miles. He loved every minute of it though, sprinting back and forth along our snow covered route. The light was amazing in the setting sun- wish I would have taken my camera. Had planned on some stretches and weights afterwards, but realized that it was getting on dinner time and the hubby would be home soon. He's done so much cooking in the past few days that I felt bad for being such a slacker. So, I opted to make dinner instead. Acorn squash and leek/onion/garlic/ olive oil pasta + parmesan cheese.. not bad for having no plan for dinner and 1/2 prep time. 

A.M. Tried to get some stretching and strength exercises in before leaving for work, but only got about 10 minutes in before I remembered that I had a doctor's appointment today to discuss the vaccinations I will need for our trip to Panama in april. Spent a solid hour looking for my medical records and vaccination booklet.. never found them. It occurred to me during this frantic searching that I really need to get organized at home. 

P.M. Got 3rd installment of Hep A/B booster in right arm and Yellow Fever in left + 1st oral vaccination for typhoid and anti-malarial drugs for the trip. Needless to say, I'm not feeling so hot and both arms ache.