Last week my legs felt pretty tired and tight. I attributed it to Sunday's hilly 18 miler and my increasing mileage. Trying to be smart and listen to my body, I stretched and rested and took it easier than my plan called for. I only ran twice.
I ran a really tough 9 miler on Wednesday. It was a flat route but I just felt tired and my legs were so heavy. I decided to rest again Thursday. Friday morning I ran a 10K route with Jenny and fet great. I was happy and figured that I was smart for resting.
A few hours later I was walking down the hall at work and my knee locked up. I couldn't straighten it. When I did it hurt so bad. The pain was on the inside of my knee and my knee was slightly swollen. I went back to my desk and took some ibuprofen and iced it. The ice felt good but when I was walking again later the pain came right back. I have had knee pain in the past from time to time but never like this. Usually I associate it with my super tight hamstrings and stretching helps. Massage also seems to help too. This seemed different.
I started freaking out, sure that my running days were over so I called the doctor. We have a really great orthopedic practice in our area so I called them thinking I wouldn't be able to get an appointment for weeks but they offered me an appointment for Saturday morning! I spent the rest of the day icing but the pain was pretty much constant.
The doctor did an xray and moved my knee all around. The x-ray didn't show any injuries. The doctor thinks it's just overuse and tight muscles. He gave me a brace and told me to rest and ice for a few days. He also gave me a script for PT. He said they can do some exercises and stretches with me that should help. I'm supposed to go back in a month for a follow up. If it gets worse or doesn't improve I'm supposed to call him right away and they will do an MRI.
After icing a lot yesterday and wearing the brace it does feel better. I notice the pain a lot on the stairs but for the most part it's getting better. I plan to take the next few days off from any exercise and spend a lot of time icing. Joe also gave me a gift certificate for a massage that I'm going to try to use tomorrow if I can.
Please think good thoughts for me. My training has been going so well up until this point.
Oh no. Hope it's not serious. I had knee pain a few years ago and had an MRI. It showedaminiscustear but I did exercises and woorea brave. Since my ankle injury, mt knee feels perfect. No pain,no brace. So just rest. I think you'll be fine.
ReplyDeletewelcome to the knee injury club. you did the right thing to go right in- rest and be nice to yourself when you do start running. I'm on the mend and it's made me so much more appreciative when I do run with little pain (it's still painful).
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